THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES?
Seeing The Invisible, Dematerialization in Fashion and Art
We live in a world where the virtual existence is slowly replacing the physical. Where the image of possessing material objects has become paramount, more important than the possession of the object itself.
From Instagram to Vine and Snapchat, social media is the live stream of our daily lives; We are Instafamous, narcissists. Showing off what we purchase virtually through the use of social media is more satisfying than actually owning the material item. By the time we’ve uploaded an image, the item is out of date. At the Academy of Art University, students of Hersha Steinbock, Fashion Trend Analyzer, were challenged to identify these processes in consumer behavior, people who live on the edge, true movers. Through their research they found that ‘the edge’ is really digitization, the idea of converting information into a digital format. It relates to the consumer mindset, reassessing value and the possession of material goods, the perception of the self. Consumer theorists argue that when people crave such images and their respective social meaning, the materiality of goods then becomes unimportant, which can produce dematerialization. Photo: Dita Von Teese in Francis Bitonti’s 3D printed dress
Dematerialization is becoming or appearing to be immaterial; Defined as a movement across fashion, arts, technology and science to physically reduce or remove the amount of materials used for production, without sacrificing function. It is stripping away the materials to the point of bare minimum.
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But if it is social and cultural considerations rather than functionality that drives consumer purchasing, we enter a materiality paradox. What are we seeing? If the image is suddenly dematerialized, are we staring at a blank screen? Has the world we’ve created with the need to strip down to the basic and fundamental suddenly got even with us? Does it inhibit design? Is it a case of the Emperor’s new clothes?
Photo: Suzanne Lee’s yeast bio-couture garment
Actually it turns out that it further pushes the boundaries of design, driving the creative process. It is a part of the fashion cycle. True movers, innovators such as fashion designer Francis Bitonti, who created Dita Von Teese’s 3D-printed dress, are using techniques such as cellular automotion, to print tangible objects, which can be worn just like handmade garments.
Argentinian fashion designer, Nadir Gordon who created the 3D-printed swimsuit, says it allows you to create something which is “almost impossible to construct with fabrics and the traditional ways of creating a garment. It’s an experiment that defies the paradigm that dictates the way a garment should be built.” It’s a true merge of fashion and technology. Although the consumer mindset is adopting digitization and the possession of the image over materiality, while we are still human “fashion is still part of the material world”, says Steinbock. “Even though dematerialization can influence fashion design, and change the consumer marketplace, fashion’s about material, literally, it’s about touching, and the sensual aspects of fabric next to the body, that’s what it’s been since 3500 BC”. But what was once the past, doesn’t always dictate what will be.
The emergence of dematerialization concept has coincided with the fear that humanity will exhaust both its material and energy resources due to mass production. Some say it has come from a reaction to the wastefulness and exploitation of fast-fashion industry. Below summarizes some of the dematerialization trends found through student research, which cover areas of fashion, art, and architecture:
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Fashion's ‘Computational Chic'
Re-Materialize, creating zero-waste, as seen by designers like Daniel Silverstein who uses a draping technique using the full yardage of fabric put into each piece, not using unnecessary amounts of materials.
Photo: Daniel Silverstein’s Collection
3D Printing, products are printed layer by layer. It can be performed without huge machinery, at hundreds of remote locations with near-zero waste. Also used in architecture to create sustainable habitable structures.
Bio-Couture, developing sustainable materials from microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and algae to cellulose, not exhausting our resources. Designer Suzanne Lee created, an experiment in growing garments from vats of yeast, bacteria, and sweetened green tea. German artist, Sarah Illengerger created a dress from organic materials such as food and plants to create a completely biodegradable garment. This was created to ask humans to rethink our own physical makeup and how our behavior affects the world around us.
Bio-Couture, developing sustainable materials from microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and algae to cellulose, not exhausting our resources. Designer Suzanne Lee created, an experiment in growing garments from vats of yeast, bacteria, and sweetened green tea. German artist, Sarah Illengerger created a dress from organic materials such as food and plants to create a completely biodegradable garment. This was created to ask humans to rethink our own physical makeup and how our behavior affects the world around us.
Photo: Cute Curcuit’s Pink & Black Houte Couture Collection
Digital Couture, as seen by companies such as Studio XO, and Cute Circuit. A founder of Studio XO, Nancy Tilbury says “new computer-aided-design (CAD) tools are enabling us to design things that have only been a figment of our imagination. We can now see in Cad, 3D print, render, manipulate technology in a flexible way.” Cute Circuit, is a wearable tech company from London, England that creates technologically advanced garments free from hazardous substances, that enable downloading of patterns and colors.This allows for a high degree of personal variability and modifiability in order to wear the same item in over 300 ways, reducing the need to purchase.
Art + Architecture
Conceptual art, the idea is paramount, material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, and unpretentious.
Photo: Phillip K. Smith’s ‘Lucid Stead’ building in Joshua Tree, California
Optical Illusion, as seen by artist Phillip K. Smith who created Lucid Stead, a house made of mirrors, LED lighting, and custom electronic equipment to create a space that taps into the quiet; personal perception is realigned with one’s sensory priorities.
Life Cycle Building, built to be completely disassembled and transportable to a new location. This exemplifies the issues of construction and deconstruction with minimal waste. It can be moved, reused, and expanded or reduced as needed, lengthening its lifecycle.
Life Cycle Building, built to be completely disassembled and transportable to a new location. This exemplifies the issues of construction and deconstruction with minimal waste. It can be moved, reused, and expanded or reduced as needed, lengthening its lifecycle.
Photo: Sou Fujimoto’s Serpentine Gallery, London, England
Permeable Light, as seen by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, who built a design using thousands of steel bars woven with transparent discs, with chairs set on the bars at various levels for visitors to shape their own experiences. It rethinks the way buildings should look and behave. Space that transcends the physical, and the dissolution of matter through or by light. Thick matter appears to be dissolved or consumed by light itself.
Living Architecture, photocells are used to reproduce artificial structures providing dynamic materials that co-construct against the real living environment.
Living Architecture, photocells are used to reproduce artificial structures providing dynamic materials that co-construct against the real living environment.
Photo: Magic Leap’s real-world virtual 3D object
Virealism, startup Magic Leap has created a lightweight wearable VR/AR ‘solution’ that can apply life graphics in real time over the world. It projects accurate images onto the eyes, making it possible to see virtual 3D objects as if they were a part of the real world.
Fashion is the edge of a paradigm shift, a shift that alters the meaning of material ownership and consumer behavior. We can digitize, dematerialize, democratize, and demonetize entire industries. In other words, you can download yourself into the cloud, select the look you want to try on, share the image, and, if you really want to bring it home - pay for it using the bitcoin. The future will show that being ecologically light doesn’t sacrifice high satisfaction.
Fashion is the edge of a paradigm shift, a shift that alters the meaning of material ownership and consumer behavior. We can digitize, dematerialize, democratize, and demonetize entire industries. In other words, you can download yourself into the cloud, select the look you want to try on, share the image, and, if you really want to bring it home - pay for it using the bitcoin. The future will show that being ecologically light doesn’t sacrifice high satisfaction.