Idle Wanderings

kelly rose leece. creative technologist.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Metanoia, 2018 (Framework)

METANOIA - Kelly Rose Leece

Metanoia presents an interactive smart dress, as created to respond to live donation data at a formal charity ball. The dress, worn by the Master of Ceremonies, is comprised of two parts - a bodice and a skirt. The latter is fitted with fibre optics that are connected to LEDs in three circuits, which represent the real-time data of donations being made at the event. When a donation is made, the fibre optics light up in three varying stages of extravagance that depend on the size of the donation. This project was completed in collaboration with a second year Bachelor of Creative Technologies student, Olivia Hobman, for an upcoming event to fundraise for the TYLA (Turn Your Life Around) Youth Development Trust.

The process through which we completed this project allowed us to develop a work that communicated our intentions professionally and clearly. We began with thorough research into current formal dress trends, existing wearable activations, the charity, and the individual that would be wearing the garment, Black Fern Tyla Nathan-Wong. From here, we considered the type of garment that we wanted to create, sketched out a few initial concepts, and playtested these by putting them out to social media to get feedback. This feedback was utilised to develop further iteration of these design, and this cycle continued until such point that the design needed to become physical in order to fully develop it. When we reached this point, I roughly cut out and pinned sections of paper together to physically prototype the various iterations of our design. From here, a design could be finalised and the prototypes were recycled to help develop a pattern for the dress. I then began the process on using the pattern to construct the garment. This entire journey was completed in close collaboration with Olivia while she developed the back-end of the activation, in which we frequently checked in with one another to ensure that all areas of the project would work harmoniously together.

With Metanoia, Olivia and I were able to use technology to bend the rules, conventions, and boundaries of existing practice to create a truly innovative and effective outcome. The brief asked for not only a wearable technologies piece, but also a elegant garment to suit the prestigious nature of the fundraising charity event. This placed a high level of importance our ability to make sure that the technology wasn’t too showy or gimmicky. Therefore, our work needed to present a seamless integration of technology into fashion. Our ideology was heavily influenced by the perspective of Richard Nicholls, fashion designer and creator of Studio XO’s Disney collaboration dress, as inspired by Tinkerbell. As described by the individual that united the companies to make the collaboration possible, Matthew Drinkwater, it was;

...imperative for [Nicholls] that what went down the catwalk was ‘fashion’ not ‘tech’. The gasps were audible as the dress appeared, it was a huge moment for fashion technology. We’d built something that was truly desirable. (Arthur, 2014)

The garment was not to be a great spectacle for the sake of using technology in a wearable way but rather to contribute to the ultimate end goal of a fashion piece. This perspective was somewhat similar to our own. However, there was one major difference; we wanted to use the concept in a formal, highly elegant space. Fashion, within Nicholls and Drinkwater’s industry, serves to break rules and boundaries regardless thus offering the designers more space in which their garment to perform to achieve their end goal. Elegance, however, presents specific etiquette and meant that our work needed to be precise, classy, and cleanly executed in order to be appropriate. A major contribution to how we achieved this level of innovation came from the development of our own practice to facilitate this seamless integration. Olivia’s strengths work in favour of the functionality of the project, such as the programming and circuitry, whereas my own focus on the design and construction of the work, including the sewing and other hardware. We played to these strengths and each utilised the set of tools we had to operate as the specialist within those areas. However, we also made a significant effort to regroup frequently and make all major decisions or investigations together. This unified the various components of the work. As a result, we became a close-knit, well-functioning machine and this unity is reflected in the final outcome. I believe that without this approach, it could have easily become that we were working so independently that the our halves of the project will not have worked sympathetically with one another when we eventually reached a stage of attempting to fit them together. A consistent understanding of what else is happening in regards to a piece of work allows the practitioner to be mindful of how their work will influence - and be influenced by - others and creates a space to make necessary changes that all contribute to achieving the desired outcome in a more powerful way.

This project is unconventional in its use of technology and design to embody the charity’s branding and values. As previously mentioned, the design process was prefaced with extensive research into the charity at which point we learned that the trust operates in alignment with four pillars. These are;

Whanau [family],

Health,

Wairua [Spirit/Soul],

And Education (TYLA, n.d.).

We wanted to determine how a donation-triggered activation could communicate these ideas, particularly the concept of whanau as this particularly captured our attention. Through an ideation process, we discussed and determined that concept of visualising a network could allow us to reflect this value. We were also hoping to play with light as a metaphor for the idea of hope implied by the trust’s full name (Turn Your Life Around). Thus, we felt that fibre optics were the ideal medium to achieve both of these outcomes. Additionally, the research process allowed me to breakdown all of the branding on TYLA’s website, including the colour story. This was a vital tool when selecting fabrics as we made a point to keep well within the appropriate colours to ensure that all areas of the work were on-brand. Given that I am not a design, public relations, or marketing student, I did not have much existing knowledge about branding. Metanoia, however, has allowed me to explore this practice further and helped me to realise that a brand is not just a logo or a jingle on the radio but rather an entire crafted experience. There is endless potential for how technology could push these brand experience into a new field of its own - a wider context that is beginning to develop through the growth of experiential marketing and brand activations, demonstrated by recent achievements by brands like Steinlager (APN, 2017) and Xbox (Nudd, 2016). These experiences immerse consumers into the brand’s vision and allow them to feel truly part of the product. This practice challenges existing marketing tools and force brands to break conventions in order to stand out - a practice that is still in the very beginning stages and has space for endlessly growth and possibilities.

REFERENCES

Allpress. (2018, April). Geraldine charity ball a success. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/life/103468687/geraldine-charity-ball-a-success

APN. (2017). Rugby fans fight for their territory in airport domination. Retrieved from http://www.apnoutdoor.co.nz/news/rugby-fans-fight-for-their-territory-in-airport-domination/

Arthur, R. (2014.). Is This The First Example Of Truly “Beautiful” Wearable Tech? Retrieved July 30, 2018, fromhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelarthur/2014/09/15/is-this-the-first-example-of-truly-beautiful-wearable-tech/

Diaz, K. M., Krupka, D. J., Chang, M. J., Peacock, J., Ma, Y., Goldsmith, J., … Davidson, K. W. (2015). Fitbit®: An accurate and reliable device for wireless physical activity tracking. International Journal of Cardiology, 185, 138–140.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.03.038

Jozuka, E. (2017, February 1). This graphene dress lights up when you breathe. Retrieved July 31, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/style/article/graphene-carbon-dress-wearable-technology/index.html

Liebermann, D. G.Katz, L., Hughes, M. D., Bartlett, R. M., McClements, J., & Franks, I. M. (2002). Advances in the application of information technology to sport performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 20(10), 755–769. https://doi.org/10.1080/026404102320675611

Nudd, T. (2016, June 29). Love, Grit and Hypothermia: The real story behind Xbox's insane 'Survival Billboard'. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/creativity/love-grit-and-hypothermia-real-story-behind-xboxs-insane-survival-billboard-172308/

Smith, S. (2016). Garden programme to help with at risk youth and Otara community. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/82438867/garden-programme-to-help-with-at-risk-youth-and-otara-community

TYLA. (n.d.). About TYLA. Retrieved from tyla.co.nz/about-tyla.aspx

Walsh, N. (2014). Fibre Optic Dress. Retrieved August 8, 2018, from https://www.instructables.com/id/Fiber-Optic-Dress/

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Metanoia, 2018

Metanoia (n.) 

the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Mechanics

Since my blog has mostly been about my contribution which has not included how the dress actually works, I wanted to include a few words from Liv about the circuitry and programme. Just so there was some sort of insight into the functionality:

“The circuit consists of:

Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 board

12V power source

5V voltage regulator to power the board

3x 12V amber LED strips

3x NPN transistors to control the strips through the board’s general input/output pins

We chose the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266 for its compact size and WiFi chip. For a wearable garment, a small footprint is crucial. The WiFi chip lets the dress react to the donation data live while also allowing it to be wireless.” - Olivia

“For display purposes, we set up a phone to simulate the online donation form in which the user can choose an amount to donate with buttons. For the event itself, when a donation payment goes through the paystation API will send an XML document containing the donation amount to the web server run by the feather board. When this data is received, a method is run which turns the LED strips on for a short period of time. The amount donated dictates which method is run and so how many of the LED strips are turned on.” - Olivia

While I’m talking about the functionality, I realised that I hadn’t yet shared how the three different stages of activation look like as depending on the size of the donation. These shots were taken before the fibres were fully insert into the skirt and are merely pinned in place at this point in time but still show the effect.

Left: $25 activation

Middle: $100 activation

Right: $250+ activation

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Adding the Fibres

Once the skirt was ready (which you can read about here), we needed to get the fibre optics in there. To do that, the fibres would need to be attached to the LEDs first and that means that we needed know what we were doing to do with the LED strip. We wanted there to be three different levels of activation and after a lot of discussion between Olivia and I, we decided that we would have three circuits of LEDS and would light up depending on the donation size. We used the donation categories on the existing donation platform on TYLA’s website to figure out these values and decided that for a;

$25 donation - 1 circuit would be activated.

$100 donation - 2 circuits would be activated.

$250+ donation - all 3 circuits would be activated.

These three circuits would fit around one another to keep the waistband only as wide as one LED strip. To start this, I measured the Tyla’s waist length and cut a strip LEDs to match. The full strip in comprised of sections of 3 LEDs, so I cut these sections within the waist length and arranged them to figure out which circuit they would below to. I want there to be even spaces between each section on the same circuit, so that one section from the other two circuits would fit between them.

I then soldered lengths of wire between these spaces to form the three circuits. I used hot glue to protect the soldering from breaking or influencing the other circuits, and then attach the circuits to a length of satin to keep them all together on one strip.

My next job was to tackle the fibre optics. We had 50 metres of fibres to play with and had a few conversations about how to divide this to get the most out of it. We debated having all of the fibres the same length, but I felt that a range of lengths would look the most dynamic and captivating so I managed to convince Olivia to go ahead with this. To get the most out of the length of fibre optics we had, we began by cutting it all into metre-long lengths as this was the longest any strand would be to fit inside the skirt.

From here, I divided the pile of metre lengths into four different sections;

One section to be kept as a metre long and run the full length of the skirt.

One section to be cut in half to have two 500mm lengths.

One section to be cut to give 600mm and 400mm lengths.

One section to be cut to give 700mm and 300mm lengths.

I cut went through and prepared these lengths, placing them in piles of each length to me to work from next.

I counted the total number of fibres, the number of each size length, the number of LEDs and the number of sections. I did a bunch of maths to figure out which fibres would go where to give an even distribution of the different sizes.

My brain hurt after this, but that was surprisingly the easiest part. I still needed to attach the fibres to the LEDs. Remember how I tested this a while ago (which you can read about here) and found that hot glue worked perfectly? Well, I discovered that this worked well for small test piece but was not strong enough for the longer, HEAVIER lengths of fibre optics. I needed to return to the drawing board and play around to find something that would be secure enough to withstand performance on the human form. There would need to be two fibres per LED so I tried connecting the two with heat shrink, hot gluing them in place, and stitching around the heat shrink to the fabric strip. This worked really well so I continued this for the rest of the LEDs.

Once I finished this, we plugged every circuit in to make sure that the LEDs were all attached properly and it was perfect! They were ready to be added to the dress, which was my next job.

The LED/fibre strip was prepped and ready to get added to the skirt. I fitted this into the gap made in the waist band and carefully stitched the seam close to hold the fibre strip in place. The strip itself was hidden but the fibres stuck through the seam to carry the light through. 

Unfortunately, we did have one of the soldered point break on us during this process. We had to unpick some of the stitching to get back in there and very careful resolder everything, being very careful not to set any of the fabric on fire.

We just had a few final touches to add, and then we would be all done!

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Skirt

After complete the front piece of the bodice (which you can read about here), I wanted to focus on the skirt. I started by sewing the sides of each layer together (the satin lining, the tulle, and the organza outer), as well as the hem. However, this seemingly straight forward process did present a bit of a tricky situation. Before overlocking, I tested a scrap of each fabric in both the overlocker and sewing machine to make sure that machines would cope with the temperamental nature of the delicate fabrics we wanted to use. This test was super successful and presented no issues. HOWEVER, this was not the case on a larger scale. The overlocking machine pulled the fabrics slightly in the direction that it was going through the machine. I didn’t realise this until I matched the bottom hems up to pin the two halves together for sewing and found that the top edges didn’t match up nicely.

Luckily, I added some extra length to the skirt pattern in case of any disasters so we were prepared for any situations exactly like this. I still stitched the sides together like this as I had planned, and then measured things out to mark out a new, straight edge that I then cut along and overlocked. This worked well to fix the issue and we were back on track!

I then wanted to start layering the pieces together. Making these line up evenly proved to be difficult when I was working from home because I didn’t have my mannequin with me. I ended up using one of my kitchen chairs to help this process, and pinned everything in place before I started sewing. I began with just the organza and the tulle (the satin would be added later - I’ll explain this in a bit). 

I then went along and began with a single stitch seam along the top edge, leaving the bottom open and separate. Note, I went back through and overlocked this edge after I took this image. 

I then moved onto working on the waistband. This is where things started getting very technical. I started by overlocking a length of satin and organza together;

I then pinned the organza/tulle combo inside out to one long side of the waistband and the satin inside out to the other. I stitched this all in place, flipped it all around and folded the waistband in half (a fold I ironed over to reinforce). This resulted in the skirt being the right way out with the lining attached to the inside of the waistband, the outer layers attached to the outside of the waistband, and the waistband remaining an open pocket for the LED strip to fit into - hidden away. 

This is explained in this really rough cross-section that is not the best but still helps nonetheless;

Once this was done, Liv and I were being dorks and getting excited, so we stuck our test fibre optic strip under the organza/tulle layers to see what it would look like. It was so magical and we were stoked with where we were at. We loved how the light diffracted through the shimmer in the organza to look exceptionally sparkly.

My next step is to start getting the fibres actually in there.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Bodice

Once all of the pieces were prepped, overlocked, and ready to go (which you can read about here), I was ready to begin sewing - which was mildly terrifying. Before I could do anything, I needed to tack one of the pieces of satin to the piece of organza to form what would become the outer layer - given that the organza was too sheer to fulfil this role by itself.

From here, I worked in the same way I did when I made the draft (which you can read about here) and began working on the darts. I fold, pinned, and added a straight stitch, just the same as I did with the draft. The new edge was still too small to overlock, but I did go over this edge with a zigzag stitch to help prevent fraying. I did trim this edge to make it a bit neater and then repeat the process on the other piece of satin that would become the lining for the bodice.

I then went around and pinned the outer and the lining together inside out, ensuring that I lined up the darts on each layer as closely as possible. Then, I completed a straight seam around the edges, leaving the two sides open to later flip the bodice the right way out. It was at this point that I realised that I was stupid and forgot to sew the straps before I stitched everything together. 

I wanted the straps to seamlessly fit from the top corners of the bodice. To do this, I had to undo a few millimetres of stitching in these sections, fit the end of the straps into this small gap, and stitch over these a few times to secure them in place. This got a little fiddly but I managed to do a clean job in the end.

I then overlocked around the edges to further secure every layer together and prevent fraying. Again, I left the sides open to allow me to turn it back the right way out. 

Finally, I turned everything back the right way out and gently ironed over the edges to smooth it all out;

My next job is to start tackling the skirt.

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[STUDIO] - First Steps

Once I had tested and refined the pattern to the point that I was happy with, I could go ahead with getting everything prepped for sewing. When I was making the “draft” (which you can read about here), I noticed that it was difficult to cut anything with precision if I just pinned the pattern to the fabric as it still moved around while I was cutting. Therefore, I wanted to find a different method to ensure that I could move the fabric around but still see exactly where I needed to cut. I decided to use chalk to carefully trace the pattern onto the fabric, as the chalk would rub off later so as not to hinder the final outcome but would last last enough for me to cut the pattern out. 

This worked really well for the satin lining but became an issue with the crystal organza, which is very fine and pulls very easily. As a result, the amount of pressure that I needed to use so that the chalk would actually show up would pull the threads to make the fabric sit unevenly. I needed something that would trace the outline of the pattern but required minimal pressure to transfer onto the fabric. I chose to use a marker in a colour that was only slightly different to the fabric itself (so it wouldn’t be too obvious later when it wouldn’t come off like the chalk would have) and dotted a fine line around the edge of the pattern.

I cut out;

2 x bodice (satin) 

1 x bodice (organza)

2 x skirt half (satin)

2 x skirt half (organza)

2 x skirt half (tulle)

I then overlocked every edge very carefully, except for the tulle which looked better as a raw edge and the darts in the bodice which were too small for the overlocker to manage. 

My next focus is going to be sewing the bodice, which is probably going to get pretty fiddly...

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[STUDIO] - Testing the Pattern

After I finished developing the pattern for the bodice (which you can read about here), I needed to test it out so I could iron out any kinks before I used it on the actual dress. I found a few scraps of satin similar to what we would actually be using to test it on, so In could find out exactly how the pattern would behave in the final output. As the pattern is only one half of the symmetrical cutout, I folded the fabric in half, lined the edge of the pattern up to the folded edge of the fabric, and pinned this down. I then carefully cut this out.

Once I had cut this out, I unfolded it and started by focussing on the darts. I would repeat all of this later with another scrap of fabric for the linings but needed to do the darts on each piece first so these would be inside between the outer and the lining to keep them hidden. ANYWAY, I used chalk to mark our where the seams would go to make sure that I was being precise.

I then pinned these together before stitching to make sure that the seams were nicely lined up before stitching them together. Note that I made sure that I was working on the matte side of the satin which would be the inside of the bodice. I then repeated this whole process with a scrap of cotton for the lining.

I then pinned the two pieces of fabric together inside out and stitches around the outside edges. I left the two sides open which I then used to turn it all back the right way out. I pinned this all to the mannequin to see how the “draft” bodice would fit. I was happy with the majority of the fit, but decided that I wanted it to be a little longer. To rectify this, I used the existing pattern to trace onto another piece of cardstock and added another few centimetres to the bottom edge to make it longer. I then tested the skirt pattern with other scraps of satin to ensure that the length, shape, and fullness were what I wanted. This was successful and there were no changes that I wanted to make to the skirt.

The next steps for me will be to use the pattern to cut out the pieces I need to begin putting the dress together and make sure that everything is overlocked before I begin to sew.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Making a pattern

After working on my prototypes of the garment (which you can read about here), I determined that there would be some more detailed elements that would require a lot of precision to pull off. As a result, I wanted to spend some time developing and prototyping a pattern to ensure I did a clean job of the dress. I used the original prototype for the bodice, traced around it onto cardstock and added a 15mm seam allowance.

To make the pattern for the sides/back of the bodice, I used the same process by taking the paper sections from my earlier prototyping, and adjusted these to better fit the measurements. I did get a little primitive here, using sections of cardstock to measure the mannequin and figure out the dimensions that I felt would create the fit I desired.

I wanted the skirt to be quite full, so decided to use a half circle skirt design. This was a pretty tricky pattern to figure out, because I needed the pattern to fit into the size of the fabric that we had purchased. We got a pretty extensive length of fabric but the roll it came from was only so side. I decided to create a pattern that was one half of the overall half circle. There was a lot of maths involved with this, starting with using Tyla’s waist measurements to figure out the circular waistband dimensions. Given that it was to be half circle, I doubled her measurements and used this as the circumference to calculate a radius. I used the radius to make a compass to draw the circle on a very large sheet of cardstock. I then measured out the desire length of the skirt at multiple points from the circle I’d just drawn and used this to sketch the wider end (the bottom) of the pattern. I then added a 15mm seam allowance to every edge and cut this out. 

From here, I’ll need to test out these patterns to ensure that they result in our desired outcome and rework any problems I encounter.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Fabric samples + relationship to light

We really wanted for our work to embody the prestigious nature of the event while incorporating the brand colours. Therefore, it was really important the fabrics we featured in the garment were representative of the overall TYLA brand experience that we were hoping to achieve. I went to Spotlight and selected a range of formal dress fabrics to sample which I then brought back into studio for us to play with.

I picked up samples of a range of fabrics, including two different types of satin, a crystal organza, a tulle, and a lace - all of which in different TYLA related colours. The design (as shown here) includes a relatively full skirt, so I began to layer the different sample together to see what worked well. I was particularly captured by the crystal organza and how it sparkled, and thought that it could be really magical with the light glittering through. However, it was very thin so would not only need to be layered to fill out the dress but also so that the dress wouldn’t be see-through. Olivia and I both really liked how its layered with the tulle and one of the satins as a lining, and luckily the colours matched really nicely as well. 

I also wanted to experiment with how we might integrate the fibres into the dress. This was a little bit of a process to be able to prototype. We borrowed scraps of fibres from other friends that had worked on related projects with the material to explore what sort of fibres would work the best with our project. Considering both our design and a need for the fibres to be resilient to endure being worn during the event, we determined that we wanted the thinnest, side glow plastic fibres that we could find. The thin plastic is highly flexible, while the side glow give the flowy look we desired. Figuring this out was only half of the battle. We also needed to find a supplier, which threw a challenge our way when the first supplier we found turned out to be out of stock - after we ordered them. Once we got our refund back, we struggled before eventually finding an overseas supplier that we chose to order from. We were a little nervous about how long it would take for them to arrive but luckily that arrived pretty quickly. After their arrival, we snipped off a short length to test out. I played around with tacking the fibres to a satin sample similar to what we’d use for the lining which worked really well. I don’t have a photo of it but I also played with how the fibres would be attached to the LEDs that would supply the light to them. I found that carefully hot glue a sample to the LED strip was very successful as long as I held the fibre in place until the glue had fully cooled and hardens. 

My next steps will be to develop a pattern for the dress. I don’t want to just try and free-style the different components of the dress, because it’s for a formal event and needs to be immaculate. 

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Paper Prototyping

After investing some time into sketching out my first ideas and getting feedback (which you can read about here), I was still a little unsure about the design for the back of the bodice so I wanted to bring the idea into the physical world to prototype it. I managed to get Tyla’s measurements from Amber so I could set up my adjustable mannequin to reflect her size and shape. There was however an issue in the waist where the mannequin was not able to properly adjust to Tyla’s proportions so the mannequin would not be completely accurate and I’d need to bear this in mind throughout this whole process.  

From here, I sketched out the vague shape for the bodice on a large sheet of paper, cut it out, and pinned it on my mannequin.I trimmed, folded, and pinned this for a few hours, iterating the prototype until I was happy with the overall look and shape. I particularly noted a need for one major dart under the bust to fit the lower seam to the body neatly. Another dart could be also be added to the underarm area, however I wanted to wait until I could do a fitting with Tyla herself before I added this in just incase it would fit her better without it.

Once I was happy with the shape of the bodice, I really wanted to prototype the straps as the feedback we received from our play-testing (as described here) was very inconclusive. Thus, I folded over a few strips of paper and began to play around with the different configurations we had brainstormed previously, particular either straight or crossed-over. It was during this process that Olivia pointed out that it could be interesting to see what the garment looked like with both configurations together. 

I fell in love with it, I felt that it added the right amount of interest and detail without being too distracting or taking away from the minimalism of the design. We decided that this hybridised version would be our ideal solution, so I added a quick sketch to our existing sheet of iterations for later reference.

Our next stage would be to explore fabric options and prototype how we might integrate the fibre optics into the garment.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[SPACE, IMAGE, & SOUND] - The Something Gallery

The Something Gallery - A Statement

Kelly Rose Leece & Patrick Tuohy

The Something Gallery serves as an experiment to see if a manipulated and crafted white gallery environment could facilitate a conversation within each participant about their emotive response to pieces within a gallery space. In a traditional, white box gallery, art is assumed to be separate and unaffected by its environment. However, we believe that, in a manner similar to that discussed by the renowned Pavlov’s Dogs experiments (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972), the art world has been conditioned into the emotive response that the pieces held within the white box space are those of high prestige - simply because they are in this space. From here, audiences will treat the works with reverence and behave in the space accordingly. Simply put, we believe that the environment influences the emotive response, which in turn, influences the behaviour of the individual within that space. Our focus was to explore the behaviour of the participants as a weak signal within the gallery environment, and we aimed to achieve that by manipulating the conditioned emotional response that would trigger the behaviour.

The Something Gallery was not designed to be exactly the same as a modern gallery, but rather a representative simulation of one. While choosing a space to set up in and iterating layout designs, we knew that the gallery had to be white-cube-like enough to represent that sort of space, and illicit the same response, initially, as a more traditional gallery would. However, we were also aware that The Something Gallery had to reveal itself as being a distorted version of a modern gallery in order to break the gallery “spell” and prompt discussion. One factor that had to be dealt with during our development was that the work we were doing was for a university project. This seems like an obvious statement, but a participant entering a space they know to be hosted by a reputable gallery would likely have different expectations of what they are going to experience than if they were to be introduced to an exhibition hosted by students. It was important to the deconstructive element of the something gallery that the space is initially viewed in the same light as other contemporary galleries. Because of this, we tried to make the deconstruction of the gallery a more subtle element that rather than something that the viewer initially noticed. We initially planned on using the t-walls in the Creative Technology studio spaces to construct a more maze-like gallery space, but after considering other options, we realized that the preconceived notions of student projects, the more informal, carpeted look of the studio area and the disruption it would likely cause other students would all contribute negatively to what we were trying to accomplish. To make the Something Gallery seem even more legitimate, we also created and distributed posters around the campus with the time and place of our ‘debut show’(which should be noted as the singular instance of the work). If we were to approach this project again in the future, we believe that the most influential consideration we could have would be to take the concept and apply it in an external, reputable space. This would offer an interesting insight in the concept we aimed to discuss, especially when compared to the results we achieved with this particular rendition of the project.

One difficult decision we encountered was the nature of the art to feature in the gallery space, with a particular focus on the artist itself. This element of the show is purely symbolic, having traditional hanging wall art, or sculpture, is key to making the gallery an actual gallery. Initially we planned to feature art by another student or external artist, but were unable to find work that suited our needs. We also looked into purchasing some cheap, traditional pieces but weren’t successful there either. We ended up using work by an creative technology graduate (Johnson, 2016). Once we had set up the Something Gallery and finished our exhibition, it became clear that participants quickly realized that the art took a more symbolic role and engaged more with the space itself. It should also be noted that we opted to keep the artist anonymous and excluded all traces of the artist’s identity from the promotional material. We noted that it was commonplace for galleries to place a heavy emphasis on the artist themselves in a manner that almost suggests celebrity status. We wondered how this might influence our exploration of the prestige implied by gallery space and thus opted to not only use the work of a lesser known artist but also to keep their name from being promoted.

Our project was inherently experimental. When constructing and ideating, we didn’t necessarily know how participants would react, and we were not working towards eliciting a response in them apart from creating a space for conversation and awareness. It was important for the aforementioned ‘debut show’ to be the first and only occurance of the gallery to ensure that the experience is unscripted and authentic. If we had hosted a test run to gauge how our concept would work and if there were any changes we could make to further encourage a particular message, the experiment would have been too scripted, the audience too manipulated, and therefore, limiting our ability to genuinely understand how our participants felt about white box galleries. On the other hand, this also presented a challenge to us as we were unable to predict the outcomes of the experiment and were thus faced with results we did not anticipate. For example, we were presented with participants vocally arguing over what was appropriate within the space, and individuals that wanted to destroy the artworks themselves, which we did not forecast. However, the unexpected ended up being the talking points of the experience and many left deep in conversation about what had taken place and how they had behaved - the exact conversation we had hoped to achieve.

REFERENCES;

Cain, A. (2017, January 23). How the White Cube Came to Dominate the Art World. Retrieved from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-white-cube-dominate-art

Dan Graham (2017, September 15). La Petite Escalère Retrieved August 19, 2018, from http://www.sculpturenature.com/en/dan-graham-petite-escalere-sculpture-garden-installation/

Duchamp (n.d.). Étant donnés. Retrieved August 15, 2018, from http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/324.html

Johnson, C (2016). Rustism [Installation].

Kalashnikovv Gallery (2015, June 08). Deconstructing the art space – Gauteng Tourism Authority. Retrieved from https://www.gauteng.net/blog/kalashnikovv-gallery-deconstructing-the-art-space

Kesner, L. (2014). The predictive mind and the experience of visual art work. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01417

Kusami (2002). The obliteration room. [Participatory installation]. Queensland Art Gallery, Australia.

Lydon, M., Bartman, D., Woudstra, R., & Khawarzad, A. (2011). Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change. New York City: The Street Plans Collaborative, Vol 11.

Marina Abramović & Ulay (2017). A Living Door of the Museum. Retrieved from http://channel.louisiana.dk/video/marina-abramovi%c4%87-ulay-living-door-museum

O'Doherty, B (1976) Inside the White Cube: the ideology of the gallery space. The Lapis Press. San Francisco.

Rescorla, R. A, & Wagner, AR. (1972). A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and non reinforcement. In AH. Black & W.F. Prokasy (eds.), Classical conditioning II: current research and theory (pp. 64-99) New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.x

Rosefeldt, J (2015). Manifesto [13 Channel Installation].

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Meeting with the client

I just quickly wanted to pop on here and say that we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down with Amber Taylor, the Client Outreach and Communications Manager within Research and Innovation here at AUT - the individual working alongside TYLA to bring the charity event to life and the one that approached Colab with the idea of this project to begin with. She paid us a visit up during Studio one afternoon to have a chat with us about her ideas. 

We started the conversation by asking her about her vision for the dress and the technologies that she pictured being integrated with it - at which point she mentioned that she was super flexible but had wondered about augmented reality because she was interested in how we could keep the audience engaged and participating. It was at this point that we expressed our ideas for fibre optics and the playful, competitive nature to the activations of said fibre optics (which you can read about here). She loved the idea and thought that it was even more suitable for the level of engagement that she wanted to achieve with the garment. 

At this point, there are a few things that are needing to be confirmed, but we do know that the final fundraising goal is $100,000 which will be useful for us in terms of how the activation might work. She also raised the point that we’ll need to ensure that the electronics are resilient enough for Tyla to be able to sit down in, which actually ties really well with some of my research for my research practicum so I was pretty stoked about that. In general, the experience of meeting with Amber was awesome, and definitely helped reassure us that we were on track!

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Early concepts and iterations...

After investing a fair amount of time into detailed research (which you can read about here and here), I found myself at a point where I had gain enough knowledge that the design itself began to form itself in my head. To recap, I was very keen on exploring a two piece garment, with a halter neck top and floor length, somewhat fuller skirt skirt. I felt that this was representative of current trends from my wee exploration - something that I believed to be imperative in assisting with the close alignment between technology and fashion. I considered a few different potential fabric choices that I believed would be appropriate for the luxurious nature of the high-end charity ball, including tulle, satins, and laces. I then used all of these thoughts to sketch out a few different design options that came to my head;

I then wanted to sort of playlets these concepts, and thus set up a poll on a public forum (Instagram) to gauge how people responded to these designs I felt that this was a great audience to reach out to as the platform itself is on trend and therefore, the people that use it would be the appropriate sample to source feedback on trendiness. 

The response was not only impressive, but also very clearly narrowed down the concept to two options (the top right and bottom left sketches above). I asked around to find out why people preferred these garments. The most common comments that came up indicated;

The sample enjoyed the minimalism and clean cut of the bottom left design.

The sample also enjoyed the more open, low cut back of the top right design.

As the result of this feedback, I wanted to combine the winning features of the two designs to achieve another iteration. I sketched out a few alternatives that took this feedback on board, including a few different options for the straps on the garment as well. I again posted this on my Instagram story to get people to vote on their preference;

The most interesting thing that this play testing reveal was that the sample I was working with strongly preferred the garment with a lower back, but were very evenly divided between the two arrangements for the straps. My next steps will be trying to determine how to narrow this down, and I think I’d like to bring that stage of prototyping into the physical world to get a different perspective on the garment.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - TYLA Foundation

As I discovered with my last project, What We Left Behind (which can be read about here), my design process is most productive when I don’t force it but rather allow the research and knowledge about the story behind the design lead the way. Thus, I was keen to learn even more about what I was trying to achieve before I tried to actually achieve it. I was starting to get to a productive place, but wanted more. SO! Olivia and I did some digging about the charity itself and the values that our garment needed to embody.

Established in 1996, TYLA stands for “Turn Your Life Around” and is a youth development trust that delivers “tailor-made programmes that help inspire at-risk youth” aged 9 to 18 (TYLA, n.d). Each programme operates in alignment with four established “pillars” that are;

Whanau (family)

Health

Wairua (spirit/soul)

Education

I believe that these pillars are going to be essential considerations in the design process. How can we reflect the brand values through visual cues that embody some or all of these ideals? What representative motifs could we use? How can clothing itself tell the right story? 

We also wondered - mostly for our own benefit so we’re not on a wildly different track than we should be - what the event itself could resemble so we began a little investigation. We took particular note of a charity ball held April of this year to raise money for the Geraldine Emergency Services. Held at Stonebridge Country Estate, the 250 in attendance managed to raise an impressive $25,000 for the charity through an auction that included high-ticket items, such as helicopter flights and accomodation (Allpress, 2018). The luxurious nature of the auction items provide a pretty clear indication of the high-end scale of the event, making it very clear that we need to expect something on the more indulgent, classy side. 

I also was very keen to ensure that our work stays on brand with TYLA’s vision and representation. I decided to have a look at the branding on their website, and broke down the colour story for us to keen in mind when looking at fabrics;

When I go to look at fabrics, I’ll keep this chart with me to help myself choose pieces in the right shades to reflect the brand and image. After this research process, I’m starting to get a clear idea of what I want the garment to be and to represent, thus making me feel ready to begin sketching out a few designs.

References

Allpress. (2018, April). Geraldine charity ball a success. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/life/103468687/geraldine-charity-ball-a-success

TYLA. (n.d.). About TYLA. Retrieved from tyla.co.nz/about-tyla.aspx

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Timeline

Early on, Olivia and I wanted to get right on top of things so we made a timeline to keep ourselves on track. Things are going really smoothly at this point so I’m glad we have this timeline to keep us accountable for managing the project.

[kellyroseleecetechnologies]

[STUDIO] - Design Inspiration

As always, I wanted to dive pretty deep into some research before I started trying to come up with a design/concept, given how well this worked out for last semester’s project. I wasn’t sure exactly where to start with this at first - did I want to start by looking at the activation, so I did a brainstorm to consider activations that I thought could be interesting (which I described here) and went from there. As I described in my video (which can be found here), I was particularly keen on looking into fibre optics (I’m not sure why, I just think lights can be such a magical experience for the audience but I wanted to utilise lighting in a bit more of an interesting way) so I began my investigation there.

This first thing I came across was a piece described by Matthew Drinkwater as “a stepping stone to designers genuinely using hi-tech materials within their collection as a matter of course” (Arthur, 2014);

The piece was a collaboration between Disney and a London-based design/technology studio called Studio XO, who were brought together by the aforementioned Drinkwater and was inspired by the famous character, Tinkerbell. The garment itself was created by Richard Nicholls, featuring cascading fibre-optics that transformed the piece into a magical experience suitable for Disney. I was really captured by Nicholls and Drinkwater’s purpose, described by the latter as being;

“...imperative for Richard that what went down the catwalk was ‘fashion’ not ‘tech’. The gasps were audible as the dress appeared, it was a huge moment for fashion technology. We’d built something that was truly desirable.” (Arthur, 2014)

The seamless integration between activation and high fashion is exemplary for the direction I wanted to take the brief for mine and Olivia’s dress. I believe that is due to the designer’s focus on the flow of the garment. The vertical cascade of the fibre optics highlights the way a standard shift dress of a similar design would naturally fall on the body. It is sympathetic to existing conventions of clothing construction which how the integration is so tidy.

This is drastically different to a more artistic, costume-like approach taken by an Instructables user that Olivia found, that considered wearable fibre optics in an additional way;

This garment, inspired by the look and behaviour of jellyfish (Walsh, 2014), considers the technology in a more playful way, creating a piece that highlighted movement such as twirling or dancing. My personal fascination with this piece is the performative dynamics of the garment; the way you put the garment on and it encourages a change in your behaviour. While the visual component is not as high-fashion or elegant as would be suitable for the brief, the idea of playfulness has really captured my attention. This were the first few thoughts that I had about the social response to the performance of our garment. As I mentioned in my diagram when I described how I could align this project with my research practicum (which you can find here), I wanted to find a component of the donation/activation experience that would help to continue that process to create a loop. I wondered how we could consider a more playful concept, such as bringing a bit of friendly competition, would impact for the experience of the wearer and those around them. 

However, these pieces were pretty static and were not activated by a human interaction of some kind. I really wanted to get a gauge for how activation would impact the performative dynamics of a garment and came across this interesting piece;

The garment, brought to life by fashion company CuteCircuit, focussed on the unique material, Graphene. The material was described by CuteCircuit’s co-founder, Francesca Rosella, as;

“If you look under an electron microscope, you can see how the structure of graphene is made up of what looks like hexagonal crystals. We used that structure as a starting point to design the dress.” (Jozuka, 2017)

The integration of graphene in the design is especially interesting when one considers the further integration of the material in the actual functionality of the dress. The garment, lined with graphene-enhanced sensors, records breathing movement and is processed to activate the LEDs within the garment. This is what truly matters to be with wearable tech/activations - that the activation has a purpose and is relevant to what is it representing. I feel like it’s really easy to be gimmicky and just try and activate something because you can. However, the clear relationship between the design and the technology gives the technology a actual meaning. It contributes to the story that the garment is trying to tell.

Inspired by this, I took this on board and wanting to start considering how to actually design the dress itself - technology aside. I really wanted the garment to fit well with current trends in fashion to relate somewhat with Drinkwater’s ideas of fashion technologies. Therefore, I dove deep into what was currently on the market to get a gauge for what people might be looking for - considering easily accessed stores that one might just find at the local malls. The first thing I noticed was HALTERNECKS EVERYWHERE;

Naturally, I was keen to utilise this feature in the garment to keep it on trend. I’m also keen to make the garment two matching pieces (a top + skirt) to keep things interesting. My next plan of action is to research to find some more information about the charity itself to consider how it could be incorporated into the garment, and then start doing some sketches to begin thinking about to design the piece.

References

Arthur, R. (2014.). Is This The First Example Of Truly “Beautiful” Wearable Tech? Retrieved July 30, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelarthur/2014/09/15/is-this-the-first-example-of-truly-beautiful-wearable-tech/

Jozuka, E. (2017, February 1). This graphene dress lights up when you breathe. Retrieved July 31, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/style/article/graphene-carbon-dress-wearable-technology/index.html

Walsh, N. (2014). Fibre Optic Dress. Retrieved August 8, 2018, from https://www.instructables.com/id/Fiber-Optic-Dress/