A Series of Wearable Objects
The project is devoted to a series of wearable objects. Using the combinatorial method of creating masks and corsets, the author tried to reassemble the human image. Wearable objects transform the body into material for the study of corporality, so that it becomes possible to create new body configurations and construct new identities.
This project began as a study of the material carrier of identity, namely the body. The world around us is evolving, and we are transforming along with it: many aspects of life become rudiments, new models of communication between people are built, our identity is duplicated in the digital space, and virtual and augmented reality contributes to the development of the variability of our ‘physical’ self. The ideas of posthumanism offer new alternative vectors of human development and comprehend the self-consciousness of the posthuman. The human body «subtly reacts» to the changes taking place in people’s minds, and integrates into a new reality.
The author notes the approach of the «new reality» and explores the «boundaries» of the human body in it. Using the combinatorial method of creating masks and corsets, the author tried to reassemble the human image. Wearable objects transform the body into material for the study of corporality, so that it becomes possible to create new body configurations and construct its NEW identities. Visual images created by combining different parts of the body raise the following questions: what shapes our physicality? What defines it? To what extent can it be transformed?
As models, the author chose people he knew who wanted to participate in the process of taking casts. Since porcelain shrinks by 20–30% after baking, the final products became significantly smaller as compared to their original size. This fact directly influenced the approach to creating the objects. Firstly, it was decided to use parts of the casts in fragments, which made it possible to avoid a clear discrepancy with the original sizes. Secondly, the author also resorted to lengthening the masks by connecting two products. In this case, it is important to note that the methods of joining objects were largely determined by the physiological structure of the human face.
The breast casts were fragmented and divided into several objects. Dressing and fixing objects is much easier when they are something like a bikini top — you can select and set the length of each object individually and determine the interbreast distance. Objects that covered a slightly larger area needed to be curved to follow the body contour, so that they could be worn as comfortably as possible.
