HUGALICIOUS
hugJackets by Studio 5050
I noticed a little while ago that Despina from 5050ltd had posted a set of super snazzy pictures of her hugJackets. As a continuation of her very lovely and time-tested (1995) loveJackets. {previously blogged here and here} The hugJackets “demand a deliberate act of union” encouraging physical touch and intimacy. The project utilizes conductive fabric quilted onto the front of the jacket and (from the photos) LEDs with sound to accentuate the consumation of an embrace.
Designed along a similar line of thinking, Joey Berzowska’s Touch Memory garments also explore embodied intimacy. Her Finger Dresses, Spotty Dresses, and Feathery Dresses reveal “intimacy maps” through visually reactive changes on the surface of the garment.
Spotty Dresses by XS Labs
Feathery Dresses by XS Labs
It is interesting to note the stance each project takes on the “intimate” act. The hugJackets, like the loveJackets before them see intimacy as an “explosion.” Light and sound burst out from the garment, signifying an ejaculatory quality to the expression of physical union. The Touch Memory garments riff upon this celebratory mode, as with the Feathery Dresses, yet also veer towards reduction with Spotty Dresses, removing and erasing one’s (physical/emotional/psychic) camouflage. (The Finger Dresses fall somewhere inbetween.) Additionally, the Touch Memory garments suggest a reactive layer upon the body, with a desire towards preservation and mapping, whereas the hugJackets see the product of their physical connection as the effervescence which shimmers at the point of contact.
update:one more old post on hug/touch projects
April 6th, 2005 at 11:29 pm
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