Final major project #5 Further research into fashion and politics
Designers have shown how to subtly address a problem as the examples mentioned in the previous blog post, but I wanted to understand how people would react when the message is explicit.
Amy Suo Wu created “Thunderclap”, a project which is part of a larger project called “The New Nüshu,” using clothing to highlight He-Yin Zhen, “(1886-1920?), whose groundbreaking theoretical texts on Chinese feminism were translated into English for the first time in the 2013” (Columbia University, 2020). He-Yin’s writings remind us that feminism is not only a contemporary concept or a Western movement but also one that was articulated in imperial China (Thunderclap, 2017). Amy Suo Wu designed this to “camouflage into the streets of Beijing by co-opting shanzhai fashion, the Chinese phenomenon that features nonsense English together with a QR code, as a covert system to publish sensitive knowledge that is designed for a Chinese context” (Thunderclap, 2017).
I wanted to see how effective having writing on clothing was and did an Instagram poll as shown in the picture. It confirmed my decision to present text. However, there were many things highlighted that I did incorrectly such as the questioning and realising that QR codes are commonly used in china which the audience I was presenting this too isn’t used to as much. The problem with the question as I wasn’t specific enough and it depends on where you see a design like this.
The last part of researching this topic was looking at projects where the design created controversy. Adam Harvey produced a burka produced out of silverware to shield the thermal energy emitted from a body. Harvey’s work gained a lot of attention even by US authorities seeing this as a security threat wondering if this is way to “disappear to exist under the threshold of detection of military surveillance” (Aksioma, 2019).
References:
Aksioma (2019) Adam Harvey: Computer Vision, Surveillance, and Camouflage . Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6V8K2hkAjo
Columbia University (2020) ‘Chinese Fashion Project “Thunderclap” Spreads Writings Featured in the Weatherhead Book on Asia “The Birth of Chinese Feminism” ‘ . Available at: http://weai.columbia.edu/chinese-fashion-project-thunderclap-spreads-writings-featured-in-the-weatherhead-book-on-asia-the-birth-of-chinese-feminism/
Feller, M.(2020) ‘ Natalie Portman’s Oscars Dress Is A Tribute To All The Female Directors Who Got Snubbed’, Elle, 10 Feb. Available at: https://www.elle.com/fashion/celebrity-style/a30839105/natalie-portman-dress-oscars-2020-female-directors/
Tarlo, E. (2010). Visibly Muslim: Fashion, Politics, Faith. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved April 22 2020, from http://dx.doi.org.arts.idm.oclc.org/10.2752/9781847888624
Thunderclap (2017). Available at: https://thenewnushu.hotglue.me/
Whitfield, Z. (2019)’What Does It Mean To Be Political With Fashion In 2019?’, Refinery29, 18 October. Available at: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/politics-in-fashion