Frankie Fassbender
Crustacean Collar and Helmet
Prompt: "This project investigates relationships between the inner world and the outer world. In our new daily reality, each of us experiences an inside and outside of spaces in entirely new ways. Physical spaces, we found a temporary home." In this project, I was tasked with developing a body part cover inspired by exoskeletons’ anatomy, and it explores forms of protecting us from the world. I had to question how shells could be perceived as a metaphor for my own state of mind, my emotions, and my physical being.
This project combines aspects of medieval armor with the protective structure as crustaceans’ cephalons (their heads/protective shells). I borrowed the slat-like armor structure of the shrimp’s abdomen and even aspects from other animals like Goblin Sharks (which can protrude their jaws from their mouths) to create a dynamic, wearable helmet and collar that depicts the innate human inclination towards physical protection and safety. created this with chipboard, foam, and paint to best capture the structural concepts from the various exoskeletons I researched while also maintaining many rigid medieval armor structures. In conclusion, by combining skeletal and exoskeletal/crustacean elements, I aim to represent the contrast of both feeling the need for human connection, but also the inherent reflex for protection as well.
