What Is The Body For “Me”
Personally, I have many unanswered questions about what the meaning of the body is for me. For example, where do I come from? What is my identity? What is the body? What is my body? What can my body do? How can I use my body? What does my body mean for me? What is the role the body plays with clothes?
For me, I feel my body is another me with whom I share with the world;
my body is a tool to let me express myself emotionally and perceive connections with this world;
my body is an amplifier that makes me feel the subtle changes in every moment in every place I have stayed;
and, my body is a recorder, transforming everything I have experienced into memories.
Sometimes,
I feel my body is a house where I live that allows me to settle down my mind;
sometimes,
I feel my body is a backpack, which carries all of the experiences I have had and travels with me;
sometimes, I feel my body is a mirror that reflects what I sense in the world and also knows the perspectives from outside to understand me;
sometimes,
physically, my body becomes armor to protect myself;
sometimes,
I notice my unique characteristics through the shape of my body;
sometimes,
my body presents my strong vigor and is the way I interact with the environment that surrounds me.
These fragments are like different pieces spread around my body, and now through the journey of my thesis, I can collect them, finding, losing, gathering, and putting them back together like a puzzle.
Since my body is like a puzzle, I have a deeper desire to find out every possibility about my body. I would like to witness the continuous transformation of my body in different life stages. I can see that my appearance has already begun to change. For instance, wrinkles have shown up on my skin, the textures have become less flexible, the curve of my body is slowly deforming. As these features are part of “Aging,” part of the natural procedure of decay, I see this phenomenon as a memory recorder. Our wrinkles are like the annual ring of the tree. I used this notion for the project “Sensorial Wearing” (︎check links here) when making the clothes. Their texture and surface were inspired by wrinkled skin. The creased facade overlapped layer by layer and it symbolizes that the more the wrikles piled up, the more life experiences you went through. It, also, showes the beauty of slow transformation in our bodies.
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As for the relationship between the body and clothes, I consider clothes as my second skin. From the internal part of the body, the clothes reveal the space of my body, like how the volume of my present in the different types of fabric, soft or tough. Take, for instance, the clothes from Japanese fashion designer, Issey Miyake. In his most famous clothing line “PLEATS PLEASE,” no matter what type of body you have, his clothes will always fit your figure. Even though the body experiences the change of pregnancy, the clothes will still suit you perfectly afterwards. It means that your body creates its own look through Miyake’s magic clothes. The fabric from “PLEATS PLEASE” is a medium, it provides a platform to let your body shows its uniqueness. Similarly, the shape, color, and style of clothes convey the feeling of how you want to present yourself to other people. For example, take the clothes from Yohji Yamamoto. The whole collection of clothing is based on black. He once said, "Black is modest and arrogant at the same time but also mysterious."5 The outline of his clothes looks like moldable movable sculptures. He mentioned that the role of making clothes is that "I make clothing like armor. My clothing protects you from unwelcome eyes."6 From this perspective, the clothes of Yamamoto utilize properties of showing and hiding. They can show a side of you that you would like to show, or they can mask your true look, or they become your voice to speak out.
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Since I feel that clothes are part of my body, the garment and body are interdependent. Simultaneously, the clothes provide new vitality to the body as the human form gives life to clothes. Thus, I want to bring the concept back to the original point, the body. I am transforming the fashion designer into the artist. Being an artist provides me more dimensions and more freedom to develop more possibilities, to go deeper and begin to answer my questions about the body and myself. In terms of the process of making clothes, I prefer to break the classic production rules of clothing. I do this not only to stop limiting myself with pattern making and sewing skills but also to open myself up to the fabrics. I reconfigure and deconstruct clothes, even turning clothes back into fabric. I let the shape of the body speak with the material. Besides, I see these properties of the body, the expansion, flexibility, strength, and tension interacting with fabrics. I want to show these powers through my materials and transform them into artworks. It is not only what we wear and what we see on the surface but there is also something behind, underneath the clothes that is more important and interesting for me. I want these values to be present in my work.
5.Yohji Yamamoto Quotes https://www.azquotes.com/author/29493-Yohji_Yamamoto
6.Ibid.
Personally, I have many unanswered questions about what the meaning of the body is for me. For example, where do I come from? What is my identity? What is the body? What is my body? What can my body do? How can I use my body? What does my body mean for me? What is the role the body plays with clothes?
For me, I feel my body is another me with whom I share with the world;
my body is a tool to let me express myself emotionally and perceive connections with this world;
my body is an amplifier that makes me feel the subtle changes in every moment in every place I have stayed;
and, my body is a recorder, transforming everything I have experienced into memories.
Sometimes,
I feel my body is a house where I live that allows me to settle down my mind;
sometimes,
I feel my body is a backpack, which carries all of the experiences I have had and travels with me;
sometimes, I feel my body is a mirror that reflects what I sense in the world and also knows the perspectives from outside to understand me;
sometimes,
physically, my body becomes armor to protect myself;
sometimes,
I notice my unique characteristics through the shape of my body;
sometimes,
my body presents my strong vigor and is the way I interact with the environment that surrounds me.
These fragments are like different pieces spread around my body, and now through the journey of my thesis, I can collect them, finding, losing, gathering, and putting them back together like a puzzle.
Since my body is like a puzzle, I have a deeper desire to find out every possibility about my body. I would like to witness the continuous transformation of my body in different life stages. I can see that my appearance has already begun to change. For instance, wrinkles have shown up on my skin, the textures have become less flexible, the curve of my body is slowly deforming. As these features are part of “Aging,” part of the natural procedure of decay, I see this phenomenon as a memory recorder. Our wrinkles are like the annual ring of the tree. I used this notion for the project “Sensorial Wearing” (︎check links here) when making the clothes. Their texture and surface were inspired by wrinkled skin. The creased facade overlapped layer by layer and it symbolizes that the more the wrikles piled up, the more life experiences you went through. It, also, showes the beauty of slow transformation in our bodies.
As for the relationship between the body and clothes, I consider clothes as my second skin. From the internal part of the body, the clothes reveal the space of my body, like how the volume of my present in the different types of fabric, soft or tough. Take, for instance, the clothes from Japanese fashion designer, Issey Miyake. In his most famous clothing line “PLEATS PLEASE,” no matter what type of body you have, his clothes will always fit your figure. Even though the body experiences the change of pregnancy, the clothes will still suit you perfectly afterwards. It means that your body creates its own look through Miyake’s magic clothes. The fabric from “PLEATS PLEASE” is a medium, it provides a platform to let your body shows its uniqueness. Similarly, the shape, color, and style of clothes convey the feeling of how you want to present yourself to other people. For example, take the clothes from Yohji Yamamoto. The whole collection of clothing is based on black. He once said, "Black is modest and arrogant at the same time but also mysterious."5 The outline of his clothes looks like moldable movable sculptures. He mentioned that the role of making clothes is that "I make clothing like armor. My clothing protects you from unwelcome eyes."6 From this perspective, the clothes of Yamamoto utilize properties of showing and hiding. They can show a side of you that you would like to show, or they can mask your true look, or they become your voice to speak out.
Issey Miyake by Irving Penn
Yohji Yamamoto
Since I feel that clothes are part of my body, the garment and body are interdependent. Simultaneously, the clothes provide new vitality to the body as the human form gives life to clothes. Thus, I want to bring the concept back to the original point, the body. I am transforming the fashion designer into the artist. Being an artist provides me more dimensions and more freedom to develop more possibilities, to go deeper and begin to answer my questions about the body and myself. In terms of the process of making clothes, I prefer to break the classic production rules of clothing. I do this not only to stop limiting myself with pattern making and sewing skills but also to open myself up to the fabrics. I reconfigure and deconstruct clothes, even turning clothes back into fabric. I let the shape of the body speak with the material. Besides, I see these properties of the body, the expansion, flexibility, strength, and tension interacting with fabrics. I want to show these powers through my materials and transform them into artworks. It is not only what we wear and what we see on the surface but there is also something behind, underneath the clothes that is more important and interesting for me. I want these values to be present in my work.
︎Material Feeling
5.Yohji Yamamoto Quotes https://www.azquotes.com/author/29493-Yohji_Yamamoto
6.Ibid.