Posting my Masters Thesis, Master of Design, Majoring in Fashion.

FALLING-APARTNESS

VESSELS OF DECAY

June 2023

Abstract

Falling-Apartness: Vessels of Decay

Falling-Apartness takes the position that there is inherent decadence in decay. Objects and places that have been discarded are eventually reclaimed by decay where they exist as a shadow of former vitality until oblivion. This research project seeks to disrupt the temporality and placement of decay in clothing by pushing the structural limits of its tangibility and function. Through this, the project seeks to challenge the role of clothing as providing shelter, warmth or protection by designing clothing that seeks to expose the vulnerability and mortality in its wearer as it decays by ripping, un-weaving and crumbling apart. Perspectives on decay, clothing, fashion and death are explored through writers such as Daniel Trigg, Ghassan Hage, Walter Benjamin and Giacomo Leopardi. The Aesthetics of Decay, a set of principles, were incorporated as they observe the key reactions of the relationship between clothing and wearer. Practice-based and reflective-practice methodology are implemented to position iterative design and diarising as methods to gain new knowledge as part of an original investigation involving practice and the outcomes of that practice. Falling-Apartness seeks to explore and contribute to the dialogue between decay, clothing, fashion and death. It is a recognition and inquiry into the decay between whole and disintegrating, life and death.

Keywords: Clothing, Decadence, Decay, Fashion Design, Found Objects

NOTE:

You must fix your heart,

And you must build an altar where it swells,

When the storm, it gains and the sky, it rains,

Let it flood, let it flood, let it wash away,

And as you stumble through your last crusade,

Will you welcome your extinction in the morning rays?

And as the swarm it calls, we lay in the foundations of decay.

- My Chemical Romance, Foundations of Decay 

Acknowledgements omitted.

Attestation of Authorship

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person (except where explicitly defined in the acknowledgements), nor material which to a substantial extent has been submitted or the award of any other degree or diploma of a university or other institution of higher learning.

List of Figures

Takato Yamamoto, The Magus, inked illustrtation, 2004. 6

Takato Yamamoto, Vampire-Metamorphosis II, inked illustration, 2007. 11

Takato Yamamoto, Burial Games, inked illustration, 2007. 11

Margit J. Füreder, The Decision, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 2020. 13

Hussein Chalayan, The Tangent Flows, photograph of garment buried with iron, 1993. 17

Hussein Chalayan, The Tangent Flows, photograph close up of garment patina, 1993. 17

Hussein Chalayan, The Tangent Flows, photograph of model wearing buried dress at show, 1993. 17

Coffin, Buried Blouse, with model Jabez Perida, 2023. 19

Martin Margiela, 9/4/1615, photograph, collection on display, Netherlands, 1997. 20

Martin Margiela, 9/4/1615, photograph, collection on display, Netherlands, 1997. 21

Coffin, Mood I, mood board of printed images, 2022. 33

Coffin, Mood II, mood board with printed images, 2023. 35

Coffin, Mood III, mood board with printed images, 2023. 37

Coffin, Feeling Form, thrown clay, 2022. 39

Coffin, Feeling Form, thrown clay, 2022. 39

Coffin, Fragmenting Surface Ia, thrown clay, sodium-silictae, 2023. 40

Coffin, Fragmenting Surface Ib, thrown clay, sodium-silictae, 2023. 40

Coffin, Fragmenting Surface IIa, thrown clay, sodium silicate, 2023. 41

Coffin, Fragmenting Surface IIb, thrown clay, sodium silicate, 2023. 41

Coffin, The Facade of Decay, thrown clay, magma glaze, 2023. 42

Coffin, The Facade of Decay, thrown clay, magma glaze, 2023. 43

Coffin, Raku Firing Series a, thrown clay, raku glaze, 2023. 44

Coffin, Raku Firing Series b, thrown clay, 2023. 45

Coffin, Raku Firing Series c, thrown clay, 2023. 46

Coffin, Kumara Kono, woven harakeke, 2022. 48

Coffin, Kumara Kono, woven harakeke, 2022. 49

Coffin, Kumara Kono, woven harakeke, 2022. 50

Coffin, Woven Sleep, woven second-hand duvet inners, 2023. 51

Coffin, Rust Ia, iron, buried fabric, 2022. 52

Coffin, Rust Ib, iron buried fabric, 2022. 52

Coffin, Buried Blouse, blouse, 2023. 53

Coffin, Buried silk, silk, 2023. 53

Coffin, Buried Japanese Silk, Japanese silk, 2023. 53

Coffin, Buried cotton knit, cotton, knit, 2023 53

Coffin, Buried cotton blend, cotton blend, 2023. 53

Coffin, Buried Army Surplus, canvas, 2023. 53

Coffin, Buried Blouse Soiled, Cotton blouse 54

Coffin, Unlined Diary sketches & contemplation b, ink on paper, 2023. 56

Coffin, Unlined Diary sketches & contemplation a, ink on paper, 2023. 57

Coffin, Dirt Encrusted Pearls & Blouse, Buried blouse & Pearls, with model Jabez Perida, 2023. 63

Richard Avedon, From In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, a fable by Richard Avedon with model Nadja Auermann, photograph, 1995. 69

Richard Avedon, From In Memory of Mr. and Mrs. Comfort, a fable by Richard Avedon with model Nadja Auermann, photograph, 1995. 70

Coffin, Buried Blouse & Pearls in motion, buried blouse & pearls, with model Jabez Perida, 2023.