Fashion Praxis Lab

Sarah Corbett of Craftivist Collective visited Parsons to present her ideas on craft and gentle protest, and how activists need to get past the “tantrum” of reaction to become more strategic (and “slow” as in thoughtful) in the way they execute their work. Giving examples of “pretty protests” (getting out of the black hoodies and into the flower-patterned dresses) and identifying allies outside of the affected groups help build wider alliances and longer lasting momentum.

Craft activism and critical making often missies the strategic perspective; how to add political leverage towards systemic intervention and change (move beyond the “tactics” of resistance) and who to utilize non-violence to build affinities and turn skeptics into allies. In this way the very slowness and introspection that craft embodies can open room for dialogue and reflection. Craftivists have a lot to learn on how to better leverage non-violence and proactionary work from icons such as Gandhi and MLK.

There are all these unfulfilled selves out there – dressed selves who were just awaiting to emerge – selves who already had their garments ready for the occasion; the occasion that never came. What happened to that self? Why did it not have a place in your life? What held back the emergence of that facett of your self?

Do not despair. Now these interrupted selves have their own monuments, they are no longer denied a place in the annals of history. We can mourn the loss of all those potential beings we could have been. What a loss.

A memorial to the wearer of that crisp white shirt. A tomb to the unpainted nails. A mausoleum to the unused hoodie. “Selves known only unto God.”

What is a way to commemorate the interrupted lives of all the dressed selves we could have been? What garments/accessories do we have in our wardrobes which we don’t feel comfortable wearing, but which we once perfectly thought we could be. These things which somehow proved to be just a bit too much, or not for our current peers and context, or just simply “not me?”

Now, what happened to that potential self? Why was it not allowed to come out, to blossom, to fully grow into a mature new self?
We will build small monuments of commemoration, a grave to the unknown self who was sacrificed in the no-mans-land of lost aspirations.

When: Monday October 23rd, 18.00
Where: Parsons Making Center, 2 West 13th Street
Bring: A garment/accessory which is not worn, for some reason – and some cardboard for monument building!
& feel free to fill in a Commemoration Form for your monument – MoSS commemoration form

Sourcing Journal Online reports today on two fires, a garment factory in China and a textile factory in Bangladesh, that claimed the lives of six and three workers respectively. (The headline reports 11 deaths, however the source articles report six and three.) The Fashion Praxis Lab demands safe and just working conditions for everyone, everywhere, always. We hoped never to fly the flag since we began work on it in February, however upon reading the news this morning – during work on a book on labor, no less – we had to.

Book-Sprint-On-Demand! Between May 23rd and 27th, the Fashion Praxis Lab hosts a book sprint on the topic of Fashion and Labor at Parsons School of Design. As its point of departure, we will reexamine parts of Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition, especially the distinction between labor, work and action/praxis, to see how these categories may help us see the labor of fashion from new angles: from the perils of sweatshop labor, design labor, glamor labor, and internment labor to the mythical deeds of excellence that are the aesthetic actions of true courage.

On March 2nd, 2016, the United States Supreme Court heard the most important reproductive rights case in almost 25 years. The decision, likely to come down in June 2016, will determine whether Texas can shut down nearly all abortion care providers in the state and prevent 5.4 million women of reproductive age from accessing the healthcare they need. Using craft as activism, artist Chi Nguyen — in partnership with the Textile Arts Center and the Center for Reproductive Rights — is holding a series of stitch-ins to make physical the number of women whose right to safe and legal abortion is currently at risk. With each line representing an individual woman, the 5.4 Million and Counting project is only finished when all 5.4 million lines are embroidered.

The public is invited to Draw the Line by joining or hosting a stitch-ins, or by sending in their own 10×10” swatches with as many tally marks (卌) as they would like to embroider. All swatches will be patched onto a larger quilt to demonstrate the public’s support for safe and legal abortion.

The Fashion Praxis Lab will host a stitching session on Tuesday May 11th, 6:30-8:30pm at Room U503 (63 5th Ave, Manhattan- NY). Materials will be provided.

If you cannot join the stitch-in session but would like to participate, please follow the directions below:

• You can use a 10×10 inch swatch in any material and color. A contrasting thread color is important to ensure that your tallies are visible.
• Once finished, indicate the number of lines you have embroidered on a notecard. Please write your name on the same card if you would like to be acknowledged by the project.
• Send all materials to:
Kelly Valletta, 5.4 Million and Counting Project Textile Arts Center
505 Carroll St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215

The Politics of Pockets: an exploration into material inventions
(and interventions)

This talk and workshop delves into a history of pockets. Drawing on archives, patents, utopian feminist literature and science and technology studies I explore pockets as socio-political mobility technologies that shape, and are shaped by, moving bodies, gender relations and the politics of place. I aim to suggest that these material inventions (and interventions) can be examined as a critical means through which different bodies are made to fit, both physically and ideologically, with ideas about being in and moving through public space. We will make some pockets, re-imagining how they fit our bodies, clothes and contexts. In doing so, we will start to question the nature of these holding devices – asking what kinds of work they do, who they enable or inhibit and what they can tell us about mobility and power.

Kat Jungnickel is a researcher and lecturer in the Sociology Department, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research explores mobilities, digital technology cultures, DiY making communities and inventive methods. www.katjungnickel.com

Come and explore the politics of pockets and add new capacities to your work wear!

Tuesday, April 5th, 6-8pm
Room L702 (2w13th street)