remembering reskin

Strange things happened out there. Rapunzel came to town for a short while, here being modeled by Michael - I did warn him...and now folk are back at work in their own environments wondering in what ways the experience is going to have changed their lives. The weather was grand for a Scot - limb loosening warmth from the word go - although recent pictures show mad hail storms and slush drifts that we'd be more used to in Auld Reekie.

Anyway, it's time to write the report and thank the SAC for funding me, and ANAT for inviting me. The piece I made while there (see below) is hopefully now part of the Visual Arts Scotland Show at the RSA on the Mound, Edinburgh, and I'm really looking forward to developing this line of work as soon as I get the chance - hello dorkbot? In the meantime you should definitely check out the reskin blog and lots of stuff on flickr - take a look at the very cool prototype section for everone's wonderful work.

Stille

‘Stille’ is a neckpiece which explores the boundary between intimate space and public performance. It attempts to capture that moment when we gather ourselves, perhaps find some kind of inner space, before a performative event.

The formal emphasis on texture and multiple elements is decorative, inviting attention, and yet the colours are subdued, allowing the wearer to downplay the extravagance of the piece. Colours and patterns have been inspired by a first visit to Australia, drawing on the Owl Eye Moth, gum tree barks and grasses, while the concept itself began with the flight of a Rosella overhead, and that momentary flash of brilliant colour – a shockingly bright event across the dryness of the surrounding land.

Sounds were collected over the course of the project, new sounds to this visitor from Scotland, like the birds calling first thing in the morning; and the many sounds of water, from the drainpipes on the single day of rain we’ve had in the last three weeks, to the surf and cicadas of Kaiola. These have in turn inspired the sounds that are available to the wearer as they roll their head to the front and sides; we are so used to the notion of surround sound as something large scale and imposing – here in contrast it is an intimate event.