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The process of constructing a dress-form chair 

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The process of constructing a dress-form chair 

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Drawing off my last Investigate work, I made a full scale version of the dress-form chair. In terms of seeing a 'trace' of myself in the final work, it was important that I be able to interact with the piece as a chair; sitting in it calls attention to its cradling of my human form, and our similar sizes reduce the hierarchy between myself and the object.

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Photography by Marlee Weill and Natalia Mesa

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Process Photography: Natalia Mesa

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In Investigate, I began by exploring the seam. Drawing off Catherine Dormor's philosophies of seaming, where seaming represents the in-between as ideas are joined together. I embarked on experiments surrounding the seam, considering how else I could conceive of the seam as a meaning-making mechanism.

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In my first round of experiments, I considered the decorative stitch, asking what it means for a material to be stitched back onto itself. The experiments surrounded stitching and structuring, considering how a seam can be extended to both serve as a decorative element, and as a shaping, structuring mechanism.

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As Catherine Dormor connects seaming with tracing, and considering my last experiment, where I traced my human form in textile, I began to consider the traditional fashion design process, where fabrics are pinned and stitched on a dress-form mannequin, and then taken off, becoming a trace of the object in textile form. As I had previously worked with textiles and furniture in my last experiments, I considered the chair form as an object designed to caress the human form; the chair form therefore inherently straddles a line between human and object.

I also considered Claire Wellesley-Smith and Emma Shercliff's views on the stitch as a relationship building enterprise-- was the stitch creating relationships between the textile and the object? Between myself and the work?

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At this point in investigate, I began to consider how to scale-up the seam, making large, long fabric straps and macrame knotting to replicate a process close to seaming on a larger scale. This process was valuable as the enlarged size contributed to a more embodied stitching process, using my whole arm to stitch rather than a few fingers. Additionally, I experimented using the knot as a trace, notting around a material, and removing the knot to create a textile trace.

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I returned to the chair-form at the end point of Investigate. Again, considering the dress-form mannequin, I drew from dress-form construction to make a small chair model that I could easily pin-into, pattern and drape for.
Exploring notions of textile work, relationship-building, and identity through contextual research, and furthermore considering seaming as trace, I asked how a chair, with its likeness to the human form, could represent a trace of myself.  I created garments for the chair that mimic my personal style, crafting a piece of work that I felt deeply connected to as a 'trace' of myself.

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Celia Pym - textile work as a process of tracing the human in an object

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Celia Pym - textile work as a process of tracing the human in an object

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I started with a fashion experiment, considering how the decorative stich could be used alonside folding and added weight (washers and nuts), to create new shapes, ruffling, and silhouettes.

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I moved on to consider the stitch and joinery, how the same, elongated decorative stitch could be used to join non-textile materials. Here, drilling holes in found wood and chip board to construct a stool.

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Replicating this process, with an acrylic sheet lasercut with a stitching grid, and found tin boxes

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As I worked to finish up the last piece, I considered, through the process, the embodied nature of stitching. Stitch by stitch my body became entangled with the yarn.
I decided to try to capture this by stitching my hand to the object. What was most interesting, was when I took my hand out from underneath the stitches, and discovered a trace of my body within the object. Connecting to Dormor's seaming-as-trace, I asked, How else could I use the stitch as a tracing mechanism?

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Wrapping, folding, and stitching a found textile over a chair. Taking the chair off, attaching a bottom (a recycled bin lid)

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INVESTIGATE: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KEY CONTEXTUAL SOURCES

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INVESTIGATE: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KEY CONTEXTUAL SOURCES

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After stuffing-- a new semi-chair is created from the trace of the other

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With this piece, I started with the same process of folding and stitching, using textile to trace around the chair. As I worked, however, I became less interested in what would happen if I took the fabric off the chair, and more interested in the character created through the textile. Can the stitched textile create a 'trace' of humanity onto a non-human object?

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Evident here is the embodiment of the stitch working at such a large scale

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Completed work, calling back to stitching structure by using knotting to hold up pillows made of the same material.

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Example of knotting around wood. Removing the wood revealed a trace of the inner material.

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Knitta Please: Yarn Bombing, Using textile techniques to bring a sense of character to everyday spaces 

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Knitta Please: Yarn Bombing, Using textile techniques to bring a sense of character to everyday spaces 

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It is important to note that Knitta Please is not the only yarn-bomber; they are representative of a large community of yarn-bombing practitioner/activists.

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The 'naked' chair. Drawing from the construction of dress-form mannequins, constructed from wood covered in foam-board, covered in a layer of neutral calico fabric.

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Finding silhouette using pins, and constructing garments.

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Me and my work-- the resemblence between us, through the stitched textiles we wear, is tangible.

Photo by Hui (Amy) Li

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The Realise portion of stage 2 was an opportunity to communicate my findings during investigate-- Considering the chair as a human/non-human form, stitched textiles as an opportunity to leave a human trace in a non-human object, and the act of stitching as an embodied means of inserting myself into the work.

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My contextual research during Investigate formed the bases of my concept, and constructed the questions I would address and expand during Realise. My research during Realise was concerned with how I would communicate these findings and questions; I drew off of speculative design, theatre-oriented bodily performance, and prop and costume theory to create a work of design and a communicative editorial.

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Judy Tadman: Structured Textile sculptures

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Judy Tadman: Structured Textile sculptures

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Franz Erhard Walther- Textiles and humans in space

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Franz Erhard Walther- Textiles and humans in space

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REALISE: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KEY CONTEXTUAL SOURCES

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REALISE: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KEY CONTEXTUAL SOURCES

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Draping for the interaction between myself and the chair 

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Draping for the interaction between myself and the chair 

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This process took a very fashion-minded approach. Draping in calico, marking on the form (me and the chair) and tracing those marks onto brown paper, creating pattern pieces to then cut out in the fashion fabric.

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For the trousers, I took a less techincal approach-- creating a pair of what looked like underwear, and attaching straps to the chair in the shape of my seated legs. These pieces attach to a flat piece on the seat of the chair with buckles, so that I can strap myself in.

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I had intended to create a publication as my outcome; something along the lines of a book felt appropriate for telling the "story" of my project.
As I worked though, the separation of pages created distinctions between each image, and between myself and the chair. This was antithetical to communicating the relationship between the two of us. A one page editorial spread was more appropriate.

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Photography by Marlee Weill and Natalia Mesa

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Photography by Marlee Weill and Natalia Mesa

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Jan Erichsen: Object-Oriented Performance Art 

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Jan Erichsen: Object-Oriented Performance Art 

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Katie Stout: Textile/Character driven furniture 

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Katie Stout: Textile/Character driven furniture 

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Bruno Munari: Performance interactions between human and chair 

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Bruno Munari: Performance interactions between human and chair 

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Mary Beth McGinnis: Expressive, Hand-made Upholstery

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Mary Beth McGinnis: Expressive, Hand-made Upholstery