SIGRÚN UNNARSDÓTTIR

I saw this designers work on www.dazeddigital.com, inspired by objects and people who belong to each other in one way or another, I thought that the idea behind the garments has been realised in an intelligent sophisticated way. The garments are made from; oilskin, 100% wool, 100% cotton, wool-jersey and reindeer leather from Unnarsdottir's native Iceland. She also made the material for the orange raincoat herself which I think looks great...maybe i should have a go at creating some unusual fabrics.

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Vexed Generation

After attending last weeks research lecture where we learned about design influenced by social atmosphere. After the lesson we were told to research a designer who produces socially responsive clothing (which I’ll talk about in my next post). However, after researching socially responsive design in a number of books it became apparent that while there were a lot of individual products addressing individual social need there were few designers/ companies that made it their core motive. The one that did and came up repeatedly was ‘Vexed Generation’, a company co-founded by my lecturer Joe Hunter (partner of Adam Thorpe). As we received information about the companies aims and key issues that motivated their products I thought I’de write a bit about the socially responsive designs of vexed generation.

In the early 1990’s when Americana was still a big look over here Vexed Generation decided they were more concerned with issues people in Britain faced. As the company was based in London an issue they decided to tackle was the issue of air pollution. They did this by making ‘Vexed Ninja’, a jacket with a collar which could be zipped up to cover the mouth and nose. Inside the collar was a fabric able to filter out pollutant particles in the air. Although the collar was designed to work as a filter it also partially concealed the wearers identity, a theme Vexed Generation went on to explore. The 1990’s was a time in which the government spent billions on surveillance systems so Vexed created a number of garments intended to raise the issue of identity protection and surveillance as a means of social control. Whilst, at the same time, giving the customer back some power to protect their bodies and their identities. Around this time there was also a lot of political unrest with the poll tax reforms sparking riots and demonstrations. The British criminal justice act was changed and was putting civil liberties, like the right to assemble in large groups and protest, under threat. Vexed generation confronted the issue with identity concealing garments made from technologized textiles such as corwool (a cordura wool blend), phase change materials like outlast along with ballistic Nylon and Kevlar for extreme protection. This use of materials which weren’t being used for fashion garments at the time gave their clothes a unique look which was picked up by other fashion retailers who started to offer clothing with a similar aesthetic, however, they did not offer the same level protection. Vexed Generations clothing is arguably the ultimate combination of protection. The design help to conceal and protect the wearer’s identity the use of fabrics protects from not only weather and climatic conditions but also from abrasion and impacts. But perhaps most importantly, they offer psychological protection by the concealment of the face and also when confronted by police in riot gear the use of design and technologized fabrics goes some way in restoring the power balance. Vexed Generation clothing allows the wearer to be involved, get active and obtain first hand information whilst retaining a degree of safety and anonymity.

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High Society - The Welcome Collection

The exhibition examines the history of drugs ( familiar and unfamiliar) from their plan origins and their early use through to their development into the synthetic chemicals they are today. I looks at the use of these drugs in the context of history and culture, weather the drug use was for recreational , experimental, religious or medical purposes; all documented by texts, photography, video and art.

From apothecary to laboratory looks at documentation of drug taking past and present and the effects, with books from the 17^th and 18^th century detailing opium in every possible respect to 1990’s photolithograpths depicting the interests of a crack addict.

Self experimentation looks at the many scientists, artists and philosophers retrospectively that have thought self experimentation crucial in understanding drugs and their effects on the body and mind. Examples I found particularly interesting were the writers; Thomas de Quincey and later Fitz Hugh Ludlow who both became dependent on drugs (opium and Hasheesh) and recorded the pleasure and pains of their relationship with their chosen drug, all in the name of research. Also the ‘seven sisters of sleep’ by Mordecai which describes a variety of drug substances and their effects on consciousness, a book which was supposedly picked up by Lewis Carroll shortly before Alice in wonderland was published. Even with all the past self examination and recent advances in neuroscience, we still can’t fully explain subjective experiences that drugs produce and why each persons experience can differ so greatly.

Collective intoxication looks at the social aspect of drug taking as shared experience can be such a powerful aspect within drug cultures. I think the most interesting thing about this section is the insight into how differently drugs are used in other cultures to our own. At a time when western attitudes about drugs were shifting to a negative people looked to other cultures and non-western ways of life where drugs can be seen as a way of reaching a higher level of understanding about reality and self. Cultures where drugs were seen as divine not demonised.

A sin, a crime, a vice or a disease looked at the illegalisation of drugs. By the end of the 19^th century there was a broad consensus that the drug trade needed to be controlled, many ideas were proposed but fell into three broad categories; education, medicalisation and criminalisation, these remain the basic tools of drug control today. The exhibition showed information about legislation, along with propaganda and health information leaflets produced by many different organisations with various underlying agendas.

My favourite parts of the exhibition were defiantly the self experimentation section as it showed how altering conscious and mind, or observing the work of people who have, can be a great source of inspiration. And the collective intoxication section as it shows how subcultures can have a massive influence on social ideologies and highlight ways of living that are so different from what we know.

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