Organic vs. Industrial
"Please, Wear Your Manners..."
Medium: Secondhand Dress and Napkins
Size: Size 8 Girl's Dress
2017
Exhibition Text
Karen Armenta
Please, Wear Your Manners, 2017
Organic vs. Industrial
This piece is meant to model the innocence of children among the harsh reality of the world we live in. The controversial topic of child labor is implemented into the meaning of the mediums used to create this dress. Made from a ready-made dress, this dress is adorned by paper napkins to convey the delicacy of innocent children and the manufactured dress is to represent child labor among children who are forced to work.
Please, Wear Your Manners, 2017
Organic vs. Industrial
This piece is meant to model the innocence of children among the harsh reality of the world we live in. The controversial topic of child labor is implemented into the meaning of the mediums used to create this dress. Made from a ready-made dress, this dress is adorned by paper napkins to convey the delicacy of innocent children and the manufactured dress is to represent child labor among children who are forced to work.
Artistic Inspiration
"Donna Karan." Zoe Bradley Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
|
"PHOEBE." Arabella's Statements in Metal. N.p., 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
|
Looking into creating a fashion piece for my organic vs. industrial piece to introduce the idea of fabric, form, and to an extent architecture, I began to research artists who specialized in dress-making and matched technique-wise on the ideas I had planned for the start of my piece. This was very difficult to do because most fashion designers do not give their dresses names, but rather, the collection. After continuous search, I found Zoe Bradley, a fashion designer/artist who specializes in making intricate dresses out of paper. Another artist, Arabella Tattershall uses other mediums to create dresses that represent nature.
I found inspiration in these pieces because of their texture. I wanted my piece to look effortless and innocent, yet strong and elegant in an industrial way. I also was attracted to the lengths of the dresses. I was torn between choosing a long dress or a short dress to draw inspiration from so I looked into different styles and fabrics. I also tried to find inspiration in artists that specialized in creating dresses out of paper, which was the medium I wanted to work with.
I was also inspired to create a dress out of paper, specifically napkins, because of a video I saw on YouTube that my mom showed me. At first I was a bit skeptical about the idea of a napkin out of a dress as a organic vs. industrial piece, but I then thought about the meaning of the piece some more and thought it would be a good fit. I took into consideration the medium and how it would be interpreted through the message I was trying to spread through this dress. After watching this video, I followed the steps taken by her closely and drew inspiration from it. This video is in Spanish.
I found inspiration in these pieces because of their texture. I wanted my piece to look effortless and innocent, yet strong and elegant in an industrial way. I also was attracted to the lengths of the dresses. I was torn between choosing a long dress or a short dress to draw inspiration from so I looked into different styles and fabrics. I also tried to find inspiration in artists that specialized in creating dresses out of paper, which was the medium I wanted to work with.
I was also inspired to create a dress out of paper, specifically napkins, because of a video I saw on YouTube that my mom showed me. At first I was a bit skeptical about the idea of a napkin out of a dress as a organic vs. industrial piece, but I then thought about the meaning of the piece some more and thought it would be a good fit. I took into consideration the medium and how it would be interpreted through the message I was trying to spread through this dress. After watching this video, I followed the steps taken by her closely and drew inspiration from it. This video is in Spanish.
Levantatetelemundo. "Adamari te muestra cómo hacer el famoso vestido de Alaia | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Sept. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.
Planning
Originally, I had planned to use aluminum as a medium and create different textures for a dress, but I decided to go for something more delicate so I went with the idea of napkins and how fragile they are, much like children are. I wanted to adorn napkins onto a ready-made dress to express the idea of how child labor is being enforced onto innocent children, thus ruining their innocence, youth, and ability to enjoy their childhood. I loved the idea that if a child were to wear this dress, the whole design of the dress would be completely ruined because of how fragile the fabric napkin is, which could be symbolism to the harshness of reality among a child's state of being.
I had sketched out three potential designs for dresses more along the lines of an industrial feel to also mimic the idea of child labor. I also played around with three different ways of folding the napkins to represent how easily manipulated children can be. Also the different ways to fold a napkin was easier to help create distinguishable designs for potential dresses.
The first sketch resembles much like a tree and shows the more innocent side of children in an architectural way. I wasn't going for that so I sketched out another sketch. The next one was more of my liking, it was elegant and simple, yet industrial in its own style. I didn't go with this sketch because I didn't really see the connection of children's innocence because of how elegant it seemed. The last sketch was more what I was looking for. It looked suitable to be worn by a child and the industrial texture looked fun and lively in a structured way. I went with this one because I felt that it would portray the meaning of the piece better than the other sketches.
I had sketched out three potential designs for dresses more along the lines of an industrial feel to also mimic the idea of child labor. I also played around with three different ways of folding the napkins to represent how easily manipulated children can be. Also the different ways to fold a napkin was easier to help create distinguishable designs for potential dresses.
The first sketch resembles much like a tree and shows the more innocent side of children in an architectural way. I wasn't going for that so I sketched out another sketch. The next one was more of my liking, it was elegant and simple, yet industrial in its own style. I didn't go with this sketch because I didn't really see the connection of children's innocence because of how elegant it seemed. The last sketch was more what I was looking for. It looked suitable to be worn by a child and the industrial texture looked fun and lively in a structured way. I went with this one because I felt that it would portray the meaning of the piece better than the other sketches.
Sketches
Process
I began to fold a napkin to use the same technique for every napkin that I would use. I extended the napkin and folded in half, reopened it, and folded the ends down evenly on the middle. From there, I brought the ends of the napkin together again towards the middle creating a paper airplane look and turned it around to reveal the complex side of the napkin fold. I used the back side to adorn the dress because I though that it would add more to the industrial essence of the dress.
After folding many napkins, I began the process of hot gluing the folded napkins onto the dress layer by layer. I started from the bottom and worked myself around the dress, slowly working from bottom to top, adding one layer onto another, to create the effect of ruffles among the dress. Ruffles are a common textural theme in children's style of clothing so I incorporated that into this dress as well. Towards the top (hem of the dress, I began to create a new pattern and switched up the way I patterned the dress and layered it. After completing the dress, I added more layers to wherever it seem like it needed some more. The point of that was to hide the dress among the napkins and avoid the manufactured dress to be in sight.
After folding many napkins, I began the process of hot gluing the folded napkins onto the dress layer by layer. I started from the bottom and worked myself around the dress, slowly working from bottom to top, adding one layer onto another, to create the effect of ruffles among the dress. Ruffles are a common textural theme in children's style of clothing so I incorporated that into this dress as well. Towards the top (hem of the dress, I began to create a new pattern and switched up the way I patterned the dress and layered it. After completing the dress, I added more layers to wherever it seem like it needed some more. The point of that was to hide the dress among the napkins and avoid the manufactured dress to be in sight.
Experimentation
I experimented with the techniques of folding napkins. I wanted to amp the design of the fold I was initially using, but it turned out to be way too complex to use for the design of the dress and I found it difficult to glue on to the dress and maintain its form and texture so I opted against its use for the dress.
Further along the adorning of the dress, I reached the hem of the dress and played around with how I would change the style of the top. I liked the idea of inverting the napkins when I placed it so the points would be facing in rather than out and vice-versa. I went with this because it seemed fun and it gave a different vibe/feeling from the patterns going on towards the bottom of the dress. In addition, the meaning was more focused because of the change in patterns, as the change in placement of the napkins created an innocent, fun form on the dress.
Further along the adorning of the dress, I reached the hem of the dress and played around with how I would change the style of the top. I liked the idea of inverting the napkins when I placed it so the points would be facing in rather than out and vice-versa. I went with this because it seemed fun and it gave a different vibe/feeling from the patterns going on towards the bottom of the dress. In addition, the meaning was more focused because of the change in patterns, as the change in placement of the napkins created an innocent, fun form on the dress.
Reflection
The whole process of adorning the dress went very smoothly. I struggled with preventing the napkins to be glued onto the base silhouette of the dress. I aimed to adhere the napkins onto the lace of the dress to keep the flow, feel, and breezy nature of the napkins instead of it being static on the dress. I also experimented with different patterns and textures when it came to how I folded the napkins and placed them on the dress.
I did not expect this piece to turn out the way it was. I expected it to be more industrial but in a way, I prefer it the way it is now because it maintained the same innocence of that of a regular little girl's dress. I'm still skeptical about whether or not people will understand the message behind this piece and would take it the wrong way. I fear that my audience would not acknowledge this piece and would think that it's just fashion. I want people to look at this piece and question why I did what I did and why I used napkins and why I decided to adorn a ready-made dress rather than make one from scratch completely out of paper.
I did not expect this piece to turn out the way it was. I expected it to be more industrial but in a way, I prefer it the way it is now because it maintained the same innocence of that of a regular little girl's dress. I'm still skeptical about whether or not people will understand the message behind this piece and would take it the wrong way. I fear that my audience would not acknowledge this piece and would think that it's just fashion. I want people to look at this piece and question why I did what I did and why I used napkins and why I decided to adorn a ready-made dress rather than make one from scratch completely out of paper.
Connection to ACT
Identify cause and effect relationships between your inspiration and your artwork.
My artistic inspirations used fabrics that were easy to manipulate texture-wise and I think that my work was influenced much by how easily I could manipulate my medium in order to mimic the artists I drew inspiration from.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Most of the research I conducted were of fashion designers so my topic was more in terms of fabric and different ways meaning, movement, and feelings could be incorporated into the art of fashion and fashion designing.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that not a lot of artists have experimented with real-size paper dress making and that is very uncommon to find artists taking the risk with this fabric choice for dresses. I have also found that fashion isn't all about appearance, but also texture, color, fabric, and meaning play a vital role in the contribution to fashion trends int social media/culture.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was of youth/innocence and how reality can be harsh to juveniles who have been sheltered. As the title of my piece suggests, children are expected to know everything, when in certain cases, some children do not because of how reality can be so cruel and often destroys their innocence/youth.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I predicted that there would be many fashion designers that would have experimented with paper for fabrics but that was not the case when I w=conducted research for artistic inspiration.
My artistic inspirations used fabrics that were easy to manipulate texture-wise and I think that my work was influenced much by how easily I could manipulate my medium in order to mimic the artists I drew inspiration from.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Most of the research I conducted were of fashion designers so my topic was more in terms of fabric and different ways meaning, movement, and feelings could be incorporated into the art of fashion and fashion designing.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered that not a lot of artists have experimented with real-size paper dress making and that is very uncommon to find artists taking the risk with this fabric choice for dresses. I have also found that fashion isn't all about appearance, but also texture, color, fabric, and meaning play a vital role in the contribution to fashion trends int social media/culture.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was of youth/innocence and how reality can be harsh to juveniles who have been sheltered. As the title of my piece suggests, children are expected to know everything, when in certain cases, some children do not because of how reality can be so cruel and often destroys their innocence/youth.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I predicted that there would be many fashion designers that would have experimented with paper for fabrics but that was not the case when I w=conducted research for artistic inspiration.
Bibliography
Levantatetelemundo. "Adamari te muestra cómo hacer el famoso vestido de Alaia | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Sept. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2017.