Concept | INTERFERENCE¶

5 Ws¶

what¶

INTERFERENCE explores the different possibilities for color revealing and concealing in a fashion context, by using a combination of biofabricated plastics and polarized light.

Polarized light is light that has gone through a polarizing filter, and as a result, the light waves all vibrate in a single plane. Normally, light waves vibrate in many different planes and this filter only allows waves vibrating in a specific plane to go through.

When you place a piece of translucent material between 2 polarizing filters and shine a light through it, something magic happens and you can see very bright colors appear. This is not created by any type of dye or pigment, it is created by light!

Here is an example where i am playing with sliced acetate.

Key terms & concepts:

Birefringence: Birefringence is the optical property of a material having a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. Wiki

Some common birefringent materials are crystals, plastics, cotton fiber, biological materials such as collagen, tendon, bone, corneas & some proteins.

Polarization and cross-polarization: Article Wiki

Photoelasticity: Wiki

Interference color chart: Wiki

who¶

The project is meant for people who appreciate the aesthetic experience of fashion and art.

when¶

It will be developed over 3 months; January, february and march 2024.

why¶

On a personal level, for this project I want to focus on a facet of my design practice that I have neglected a bit: color. Most of my design career so far has been in sports product design and development, always solving problems with an athlete in mind. I haven't had much opportunity to work on a more artistic approach. I wanted to work by incorporating color (and lack of color) at the center of the process. In the past, i have found color to be a distraction and have chosen to focus on form and think of color last. When i use colors, i use it parsimoniously and as an afterthought. This exploration would mark a departure from this and bring color at the center, while still enjoying the subtle beauty of a monochrome design.
To explore the possibility of design for polarization.
To deepen my understanding of the optical phenomenon created with polarized light.

References projects, research papers, expos, performances etc¶

I documented some of the inspiration research i have done in the Implications & applications week