S/S 2029
is a collection of physical and virtual fashion exploring adaptation to the digital age as a collectively experienced psychological upheaval.
S/S 2029: Prototype worn by Henrí.
S/S 2029 is a collection of looks that mix realities. Each wearable is an integration of a custom augmented-reality app and real-world costuming. The collection addresses cultural digitization as a turning point in brain functioning, self-identity and social interaction using the familiar visual languages of haute couture. It explores several ways fashion and technology may embrace each other in the near future, as lifestyle and tech brands that can create experiences of self-expression assume significant power over our worldviews.
S/S 2029: Jester
Augmented reality in the form of photo filters is already used to obtain and sell facial information to corporations and law enforcement. The Jester look from S/S 2029 envisions queer spectacle that builds on corporate tech without paying for it in data. The iPhone on the front of this headpiece runs an Instagram filter that turns the person looking at it into a flower, so both the performer and the audience are transformed. The phone is internet-disabled so the filter can't transmit facial data back to Instagram, protecting the audience.
The collection misuses Instagram’s proprietary augmented reality software, Spark AR, to explore the tension of social media experiences where promotion and intimacy are integrated. This integration produces an anxiety about the importance of differentiating between reality and illusion, which become less separable with time. What happens when one’s appearance can not be successfully parsed into illusion and reality? A peace has to be made with unknowing.
S/S 2029: Headpieces III - VI exist in identical IRL and augmented-reality versions.
Clockwise:
Headpiece III worn by Darcy. Headpiece IV worn by Frank. Headpiece V worn by Zoe. Headpiece III worn by Cassie. Headpiece VI worn by Zullay.
S/S 2029: Headpiece VII worn by Charlotte Doll.
S/S 2029: Headpiece II worn by Nina Nightengale.
S/S 2029: Headpiece I on view at the Sullivan Galleries for "A Constellation of Instances." The headpiece triggers its AR components to appear when viewed with its paired app.
S/S 2029: Headpiece I worn by Miss Aya.
EXHiBiTiON
2021
Ground Floor | Hyde Park Art Center Chicago, IL
2020
Launch | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL
The Future of Our Plans | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL
In Even the Oldest Utopia There is a Song Too Short to Sing | UGLY Gallery Chicago, IL
2019
A Constellation of Instances | Sullivan Galleries Chicago, IL
Handmade By Robots | Salme Harju Steinberg Gallery Chicago, IL
I Love The Way They Look At Me | NOISE Gallery Bloomington, IN
