Name: Eva Solo
Date: 23/10/19
Professor: Marcela Godoy
PROJECT TITLE:
Safeguard
PROJECT STATEMENT:
Safeguard, a fashion wearable created from recycled materials, is a piece calling the attention humans of the danger they create for Mother Earth. The instinct to protect the human body is a survival mechanism preinstalled into each and everyone of us, and I invite the viewers to take the same extent of care when interacting with our collective household of our planet. Recycling waste isn’t the end goal that will convolute ecological change, but it is an obtainable start to implement a change in society’s perspective on their existence, purpose, and legacy.
RESEARCH
Through the investigation of waste circulation, in the Yuntai apartment building complex in Puxi, one of the trash collectors shared how grateful she was for finding this niche of work in collecting raw materials and selling them. Although she expressed how difficult her job is on a daily basis, the payoff is fully supporting her and her family’s needs. On multiple occasions she reiterated “塑料是我的保护“ meaning “plastic is my protection“, which then lead me to explore how a material deemed as worthless due to its purpose being fulfilled in one lifecycle to some, can support others financially in a brand new lifecycle. Richard Brubaker shared insight knowledge about how the community of trash collectors interact in China, and noted that the price of materials varies purely based on who is brining the material to sell at the night markets. This field of work does not have guidelines to follow in order to make profit, but rather is effective to those who can strategise, calculate, and adapt. The trash collector, I was communicating with, said her routine immensely changed after the new waste regulations were implemented in July and the pricing of styrofoam and plastic fluctuated as more people were disposing their materials correctly into the bins at the set times, and on some days she could not find anything lying around. Her strategy was telling the residence of the complex that instead of having to worry about when they have to take their plastic waste outside or what bin to place it in, they could just leave it by the door and she will gather them every morning before 7am. In this case, it is a mutually beneficial relationship as the residence don’t have to log their recyclables outside and she can continue to resell them every night. Her story is very surprising to me as I had no previous familiarity in such type of independent work and I wanted to create a wearable in representation of her culture.
Something else that serves as protection for humans and is made up from different types of plastic is a bullet/stab – proof – vest. Solders, police, security personnel, – all depend on this invention to be their protection, similar to 余, for survival. The irony in us protecting ourselves with plastic and then simultaneously destroying our Earth with that same material made me further consider how our rapidly developing society has all together forgotten the care our planet needs to thrive, grow, and develop. We are more focused on the industrial or technological advances that can stimulate profits on a grand scale. We consume without consideration, so I tested myself in the Ecological Footprint Calculator to see how many planets do we need if everyone lived like me.
The result came out at 4.5 Earths, which makes me reconsider some of my daily activity and how I can alter them for a more sustainable and minimalistic approach. Their affiliate link allowed me to explore some of their recommendations particularly tailored to my answers such as how to prevent food waste and energy conservation. Although they noted that recycling isn’t the end-point for a societal change, it is an important step in altering the perception to our consumption. Through recycling people are made much more aware of their consumption habits and the extra steps needed to discard waste often results in more conscious-based decisions when spending funds.
SIGNIFICANCE
Through this project I am exploring a raw man-made material that serves both as protection and destruction for our Earth and its residents – plastic. Through the shape of a bullet proof vest I am calling the attention of the viewers to associate reckless consumption to danger on a grand scale. The incorporation of an abstract depiction of our earth as the focal point, layered with the well-recognised symbol of recycling, symbolises that the same way we protect our vital organs in our human bodies, we also must protect the place we inhabit with the same strive. Having a visually bold piece catches the eye, and in some cases draws the viewers to investigate further on the intent of its creation and the purpose – which is my goal progressing into the design and production phase.
For the full effect of this piece, I would create an installation of an army-aligned mannequins wearing the vests hovering over a dense plastic waste cloud. The message would translate to us, as humans, having the power to not only take care of our ego-centric needs but in turn be able to conserve our planet from the tremendous amount of useless consumption we partake in. The commentary about being in control not only for yourself, but for the collective results in ripper fruits for everyone. If we all put away our selfish needs for one hours a day, and take the time to learn, understand, and then behave motivated by ecological awareness we could transform the Earth within our lifetime for the better. My wishes are very grand, and to some labeled as unattainable, but through my creations I will continue to speak on what resonates with my moral compass, and hopefully sometime in the future be able to introduce some of these concepts even to the most sceptical on the topic.
DESIGN & PRODUCTION
As I selected a design of my liking and incorporated the elements from my research phase, I gathered recycled poster material from around our campus and began prototyping. This phase was approached with an understanding of waste production, and keeping in mind the intent of this project, I made sure to reuse tape, cardboard, and paper to create the least amount of waste possible while still being able to explore enough and adjust my design.
After the measurements were locked in, I made my way to the sewing machine and tested out different patterns for the straps. I chose a bright green thread and focused on a simple yet bold design by repeating the lines close to one another, especially for the back strap which I wanted to hold a lot of visual weight. Toying around with the idea of protection meant the aesthetic of my creation needed to convey a level of confidence / trust. To the best of my ability I kept my hands steady while working with the sewing machine to create straight lines and a clean aesthetic. Not yet being a mater of this skill, I needed to adjust where and how I was going to attach the separate pieces to mask minor defects for the final showcasing.
Layering the pieces together needed a firm adhesive to keep them as stable as possible and I turned to hot glue to set them in place. Copper wiring that was left over from a different project allowed me to install the adjustable back strap by its bendy yet firm physical form. The recycling sign was intended to be sown on the front piece, but this method lacked the spotlight attention I wanted for the focal element thus I chose to create a more three-dimensional sign with texture using the layering of glue and paint. The colour of the recycling sign isn’t green as I chose to use green for the abstract depiction of the Earth, which to me aligns with the concept of recycling not being the final solution – and the state of the Earth being the primary focus.
Adjusting the vest of the mannequin also took a few trails, till I chose to place it right over the chest where the human heart is: The Earth birthed us, and now it is our turn to take care of our host. The crossed straps in the front are also symbolic to the idea of being choked – not having the ability to breath – like our land suffocated with landfills.
The Earth is so beautiful and clean from the pictures NASA provides for us, but my interpretation of the black and green paint swirling on top of the ellipse is a foreshadow commentary on what the plastic pollution is currently doing. If we keep up the tempo of this level of waste toxicity our Earth won’t have the blue oceans and green fields, all we’ll have is residue of fallen urbanisation and mountains of trash exceeding the Everest.
Manifestation for a better quality of life for us, as well as our plant, doesn’t end in our thoughts – it should result in action. Through this process I was deeply considering how our society can shed the ‘I’m just one person, it won’t make a change’ mind set, and although I do not have a cohesive answer just yet, I am one step further on the ladder of discovery.
For the final display idea, I imagined four direct spotlights: one from the top right corner, one from the top left, one from the bottom right, and one from the bottom left. As my chosen materials have the property of being reflective – the light placement would illuminate the focal design element, and translating the message of protection of ourselves being important (as the vest protects the body) but also a call for the need to prioritise the protection of our Earth, with a suggestion to start with consumption awareness through recycling waste.
CONCLUSIONS:
The aim of my production was to symbolise the protection our planet needs by translating the message through a visual humans can resonate with. With the goal of grabbing attention through the bold design of a bullet-proof-vest, the emphasis of the focal element invites the viewers to consider their footprint on the Earth we inhabit. The placement of a vaguely distinguishable Earth on top of the faded recycling sign allows for recognition and attempts to provoke further questions. When a concept taps into a person’s empathy, they are more likely to react to the issue at hand which is translated by the message of using plastic to protect our bodies, thus the need to protect the Earth from the plastic. Although I spiralled to numerous considerations and thought loops of the meaning of this piece, I do recognise that the fairly simple design does not translate all that I would want it to. I mentioned the benefit of having an installation and how that would further push my ideations to the audience, but the piece still needs verbal explanations to fully connect the dots which I see as a place for improvement. Ideally I would want this piece to stand on its own and capture the message without my explanation, which could mean adding more design elements, even potential text references – in short explaining what each design decision symbolises. Further adjustments would include an even bolder aesthetic: adding multiple chest crossing straps that wrap around the neck to further develop the idea of a suffocating planet. If I had the opportunity to create my own display mannequin, I would explore how I could shape a human body with the texture of the Earth further symbolising the need for its protection on a human reliability level. We are the Earth and the Earth is us, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to develop some of my newly born thoughts through art and share them with my community.
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