Rei Kawakubo / Comme des Garçons
Dresses
Label: COMME des GARÇONS
Spring/Summer 1997“Not what has been seen before, not what has been repeated; instead, new discoveries that look towards the future, that are liberated and lively.” This was the message written by Comme des Garçons in the spring of 1997.
Shown here are outfits with down pads sewn inside, creating irregular mounds on the surface of the clothes. The shape of the body is deformed by the clothes, and this shook up the standardized concept people have of their bodies. Twentieth-century fashion discovered the body; however, the clothes seemed to conform to the shape of the body. Kawakubo tried to free the clothes from their enslavement to the body, and discovered this new shape.The Comme press release for this collection stated: “The theme … is body meets dress, body becomes dress, dress becomes body.”2 We already know that cosmetics have “become body” in the form of liposuction or cosmetic surgery; for our nineteenth century predecessors bodies became dress via the corset. Nowadays the “First World,” or post-industrial, body has already been reconfigured by the technology of the 1980s: the personal computer, the Sony Walkman, portable telephones, soft contact lenses. These “harmless devices” contribute to a new body, “one thoroughly invaded and colonized by invisible technologies.”3 The question, therefore, is not whether you are a subject or an object in Comme des Garçons’ padded collection, but what kind of a new subject, or future subject, you are. It is not so much that the new technologies force us to rethink the relationship between body and identity; rather, they have already invisibly extended the parameters of our bodies and, it follows, our consciousness. One could speculate that Comme’s padded extensions, which “morph” the body into new forms, are, simply, a series of poetic speculations on the theme of embodiment in the modern age.
there's our catastrophe
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Posts tagged cyborg feminism
“There is a tradition of linguistic purism in Icelandic, and neologisms are frequently created from pre-existing words. Tölva (“computer”) is a portmanteau of tala (“digit; number”) and völva (“oracle or seeress”).”
from “the truth about the uncanny valley” at popular mechanics
hello! this is super interesting. for reference — in 1970, roboticist masahiro mori posited that realistic robots are creepy because they are not quite real enough to pass for human, not quite fake enough to be easily pegged as fake. that is, they fall into the “uncanny valley”. I am frustrated by a lot of discourse around the uncanny valley — the assumption is generally that of course incongruity/difference/strangeness are repulsive. which has pretty gloomy implications for human society! and especially for those of us with uncanny bodies/behaviours. like, people discussing the uncanny valley will often analogise between the not-quite-right android and the moving corpse and the sick person, and theorise that the uncanny valley response is inherent to our neurology, helping us pick out and avoid sick people or even people outside our social/cultural group. but if different social groups respond differently to the uncanny then that might indicate that it is not inherently repulsive, that we don’t possess a built-in defence mechanism against the Other.
‘The Spirit of Juliet’ - Miho Hatori
“I was born in 3080, made of body type C40
I got a piece of Juliet’s cell
Once she was living here
Suddenly my heart strays
I want to touch your heart
I know my heart doesn’t exist
But my data says I miss you so deeply
I’d rather to have this feeling, even if I lost my peace
My cyber impulse was uneven
Memories of her start to grow in me
The Spirit of Juliet
Once you know it’s here
The Spirit of Juliet
Once you know it’s here
The Spirit of Juliet
Once you know it’s here
Please come back to me
Please come back to me
Please come back”I was trying to explain to ourcatastrophe why I like this song a little while ago.
I think it’s to do with a few very specific details, like the trumpet (trombone?) kind of getting quieter as the song starts, so it sounds like it’s way off in the distance, and how the lyrics are kind of futuristic or slightly cyborg-related, and yet there is all this sort of antiquated (or would be, given the song is “set” after 3080) sound going on, like the xylophone and harp in the background, the sort of quiet marching band way of playing the snare drum and the trumpet, where you would expect songs with a theme like this to have more electronic stuff happening, or be purely electronic. Oh, and then when the chorus kicks in, and Miho Hitori sounds just totally otherworldly because there is all this echoing going on with her voice. Oh, AND the fact that there is electronic stuff going on, but for me, at least, it isn’t what I take away from it after listening, which is nice, sometimes.
I could probably explain better, but I’m having a hard time explaining things at the moment.
I do really like electronic whirring sounds but I agree that the lower-tech sound here is really good. the mix of apparent technology levels has a post-apocalyptic feel to it which I approve of. anyway, thanks for the addition to the cyborg feminism files!
here is some back brace fash. this thing is so hard to style! it’s a bit like an alien goth corset. i am really tempted every day to wear my showering brace out, which is white and way strappier and pretty amazing. i’m definitely gonna rock it when my back is healed but i think i should stop fucking around for now and just like, let my bones heal instead of making up mad outfits and wearing the wrong brace out. also—- dancing is so fucking hard without moving my hips! but on the upside my thighs are getting way better at squats because i’ve gotta lift anything i pick up totally with my knees and i’m not allowed to bend at all. ok i guess now you’re all up to date with how hard life is with a broken back (ie: fashion issues, dancing issues)
caitlin have you read this post at threadbared on medical accessories, fashion, and cyborg feminism? I think it is relevant to your life/interests
The Joueuse de Tympanon was built in 1772 (watch video) and presented to Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, then later restored by Robert Houdin in 1864. Houdin was renowned as an inventor, clockmaker and even as a magician, creating many mechanical marvels of his own. Some figures often simply mimicked the actions in time with a musical box inside the machine, but this automaton really plays the instrument.
robyn — indestructible
actually I like this video a lot, like heaps
