13. Implications and applications¶
What the week looked like¶
This has been an insightfull week, looking inwards and thinking deeply about what is it that i would like to work upon. Finding a way to carry forward the new things i have learnt across these past weeks and months, and tie it together with knowledges that already exisit within me.
When i knew i was going to join Fabricademy, i had wanted to work with waste, DIY techniques and hair. It is quite curious that as my taught assignments wrap up, i have pivoted back to these past directions through a fresher perspective.
Takeaways from Global Session¶
Oscar Tomico's session this week looked at introducting us to a few different perspectives to approach our final project and proposal.
A LOT of the details stood out from his session and these were the directions i found interesting to think about:
- to rethink fashion and textiles through the lens of interaction design
- to rething how materials behave and design materials to behave in certain designed ways
- to challenge what currently is 'good' design and rethink current 'aesthetics'
- to imagine the possible relationships we can have with technology; could these be personal and intimate
- to look at first person research
- to decentre yourself and make yourself vulnerable in an attempt to understand how things relate to each other
- to cohabitate: thinking-with living-with making-with and designing-with
- to imgine new visions for sustainable design
- to imagine hybridity: multi-scale, multi-species, hybrid bodies, hybrid space, hybrid environments
- to investigate plant-human-computer interactions from a critical and ethical perspective
Checklist for the week¶
Process¶
Ever since i learnt about Hair being a Bio-material, i have wanted to do something with it. And especially getting to know that there are various artist/ designers making creations with Hair as a material, I knew the first fixed detail in my final project will be HAIR as the CORE MATERIAL.
Knowing that, i created a grid for me that put down everything i was passionate about, and link it to how it could come together as a project. This helped me streamline what i wanted to propose for the direction for my project.
What¶
Digging deeper into the directions i could take with Hair, while being true to what i was also passionate about, I have decided to look into creating accessories made with Hair.
Something that i have also found super interesting in my research is how some Designers and Researchers have talked about Hair being the material of the future.
Zsofia Kollar's research looks at humans being as a sustainable material of the future, with the ability to keep growing Hair. She setup Human Material Loop tha collects and processes waste human hair and develops high performance textiles for various industries
It was intersting to also read this paper called Designing Hair by Oscar Tomico's where they write about imagining Speculative Design explorations on Hair and points towards the possiblity of hair as an arena for designerly work.
Why¶
Apart from my personal multi-layered fascination with Hair and my keeness to explore it as a raw material, this article by Zsofia Kollar on Human Hair History was exteemely moving and eye opening.
Reading about the annecdotes about Indian histories intertwined with hair made me realise i wanted to approach thsi project through the lens of creating a project rooted within my Indian Cultural Identity.
Who¶
When i thnk about Sculptural Hair, i immediately think of the amazing creations made by the Drag Community in India and how they have been pushing the boundaries of how they express themselves and their activism. To me, Hair has been a tool of expression and a marker of idenity in India (as well as globally), and it is the perfect material to use to tell a story here.
Some of the famous Indian Drag Artists who work i have looked at are Rani Kohinoor, Glorious Luna, Lush Monsoon, Maya the Drag Queen, Betta Naan Stop and Durga Shakti.
I do not particularly imagine them wearing these, but rather i am coming from a place of awe and making something inspired by their work and storytelling through their Drag and Performance.
Where¶
In India, we have Urfi Javed who is a social media influencer who usually showcases really out-of-the-box wearables, and i imagine someone like her to MAYBE partake in wearing something that comes out of my project.
Apart from people, i feel the pieces that come out from my project could also lend themselves to Performance Art and in Exhibiotn and Gallery Spaces, as an Interactive cultural piece, within the realm of activism and awareness.
When¶
Based on my understanding, by the act of using Hair, an unconventioanl material to make aesthetic pieces, soemthing that sterotypically people do not feel comfortable wearing as accessories, I would situate my project in the realm of Speculative Fiction and Futures- a project that places itself in a Preferable Near Future.
How¶
I looked at works of Studio Sanne Visser, a material design research studio with a unique emphasis on using human hair as a resource. I found their Community driven approcah to collecting waste hair, and then converting it into yarns which eventually are converted into ropes and rope based products.
I also came across works of Studio Savin were they work with waste hair extensions and weave with and across the hair to create sculptural pieces unlike anything i have seen before. Some of theses sculptural pieces also work as accessories, if you are adventurious to wear them.
Another Artisan Designer that i was introducted to and has become one of my favourite hair artist is Antonin Mongin. From weaving, to creating accessories, to screen printing; Antonin's body of work with pushing the boundaries of hair has blown me away and left me in awe of his practice. His paper titled 'The Artistic Craft of Cut Hair: Hair as a Material for Practice Based Research in Textile Design' has been extremely informative and inspiring to read.
Having looked at all the existing spectrum of explorations, i forsee using the learning of Circular Open Source Fashion, Bio Materials, Textile Scaffolding and Open Soure Hardware.
These past weeks, i have also been in touch with Salon owners in hopes of getting access to waste hair. But this being India, and Indian hair being extremely valuable, i have been facing a categorical NO to all my requests. For the time being, i will attempt my explorations with Hair extentsions, since they are available more easily here in India.