Yaad.....

The presentation for fianl in class can be seen at :

itp.nyu.edu/~rjs425/Yaad.ppt



Above, is the representation of the malenge of technology and traditional artwork

below shown are the conductive threads extensions that connected to the conductive fabric to complete the circuit.

Yaad, my blouse is hand embroidered by me and is a part of a very traditional exercise of creating things for one’s trousseau. It brings out the Rabari Tribal handwork from a place where color is synonymous to life- the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in India.
The garment is a fascinating patchwork, with a glistening array of floral patterns a fascinating patchwork composition that is sewn by hand and embroidered with shiny sequins and beads. The cloth is first soaked in salt water for a day and then dried in the sun. The patterns are then traced out onto the cloth and spaced out keeping in mind the required space for the stitching. The embroidery is usually a collage of different patterns such that the based cloth is never visible. I selected to keep it simple and tried not to make it flashy as it is usually the case. I chose floral patterns with a row of peacocks. Usually most animal or animate figures come at the base of the garment while the lighter elements are arranged or dispersed all over the garment. The colors used are bright, joyous and seemingly random and an elegant fusion of magenta, red green and blue hues is maintained so that the garment is not just a piece of art but instead a blouse that can be worn occasionally. To differentiate from the traditional blouse, I have completely left out the use of mirrors and have sparingly used sequins. Mirrors are usually used to reflect off evil spirits. The light reflected would bring out the color of the thread used by reflecting light off them. To this traditional piece I wanted to add my touch of technology without really destroying its traditional appeal. In place of the mirrors, I used LEDs to do the same purpose.

Introduction:

Traditional art and crafts have always intrigued me and having talked to creators of this type of art work and my personal experiences with working in traditional art forms, I have observed that most of these art forms have their patterns inspired from nature and its elements. Whether it’s the making of a garment or art work that uses natural dies or the design patterns that are usually prints of birds, animals and plants; every single element is an expression derived from the environment around them. Using this as a basis, I wanted to create a garment that would be a traditional work of embroidery with inherent presence of technology in it.

Reading - The Fingerprint of the Second Skin

Having grown up reading and watching Sherlock Holmes solve almost impossible mysteries through logic and traces, I almost believed that Sherlock Holmes had special powers. Its funny how those non-living traces and marks on bodies and clothing actually become the basis of solving a problem. Moreover as observed in the reading, altered properties due to wear and tear of the clothes worn become great input for forensic studies. The reading thus, gave a realistic aspect to the kind of investigation done by Sherlock Holmes.
Till date often footwear and footprints were used for investigation along with clothes that were stained or had anything foreign on it. But the interpretation of patterns on jeans that define unique characteristics, come out of usage patterns and inherent properties of the material itself.
Clothes are mostly taken for granted and rarely the unique formation of barcode like patterns created out of the patterns of usages goes onto becoming a major differentiation factor among jeans apart from the make or brand.
Clothes define a language that is almost like the DNA of a garment that remains inherent and individual to each person or wearer. It will be interesting to watch how this language translates into proof and leads to gives justice and define the way forensic studies are carried out. This becomes the basis of new language, new representation, and after reading the Talking Knots article, it almost feels like on a daily basis through the wear and tear of our clothes we are creating a new language unknown to ourselves.

Senses

The gift of senses that we have has always added an element of magic to the human body and rather than considering the body as a machine (like in the Some Simple Reflections on the Body article by Paul Valery), it accentuates feelings and thought and adds an element of life to it. I loved the topic and feel that though I did get to create a wearable for it; I did not do justice to the topic since it has so much scope to ideate for.
Sense of touch was something that I wanted to explore. The touch defines a degree of closeness and touching something is always reassuring rather than just seeing it. Taking thing forward to the idea of how touch is used as an identification and assurance of the correct, I wanted to apply it to the humans and the ways we connect to each other. Any new connection between humans has some kind of touch associated with it. Whether it is the introduction of somebody new or reassurance touch is always there. This got me thinking about the ways of greeting and connecting through a handshake; that happens to be the most common form of greeting and is also a touch. A lot has been written about defining a person’s personality based on his handshake. This was interesting since shaking hands is something that we do so often that we don’t even have to think before thrusting the hand forward to greet somebody. I wanted to add an element of difference to my handshake and that’s when I came up with the idea of the funny handshake.

I created a hand gear that when worn, creates a little vibrating feeling in the hand of the person who is shaking hands with the wearer. The person who is shaking his hand with the wearer does not realize that he is actually initiating that action by closing the circuit when he shakes hands with the wearer.

Readings - Talking Knots

Civilizations , lifestyles in the past and lost cultures have always been one of my favorite topics. And this reading was specially interesting since I visited the Museum for Natural History in the spring break and loved the artifact uncovered from South America. The article defined a new communication medium that was drawn out of things that are so ordinary in the lives of people. This remined me about a folkart that i learnt, it is called Madhubani or Mithila painting and is named after the place of its origin. It was done on handmade paper, walls of houses, silk and saries too. This art carried out by women to kill time and very often depicted stories, folklores, Gods and Goddesses and their own family propsperities. But like the khipu knots the real meanings of most of these works of art is unknown. Each color used, each image depicted seems to have a significance in itself and inassociation to the other images around it in the painting. While this defines a traditional way of representation very much like any other written script, the Khipu defines a new way of communication and representation where the sense of touch and sight. Its surprising how knots become manuscripts and chronicles of events through intricate weaving. It would be even more interesting to see how the entire system would work in case of adding an element of electronics to it.

LUNCHMAN

The other day I saw my little cousins packing their lunch and snack bags, and that got me wondering when I ever did that. I guess I was just a wee bit spoilt since I had a lunch man bring me lunch to school. He would pick it up about half hour prior to my lunch break at school and hence I always got fresh and hot food for lunch. This was all though school and I can’t recall a day when I would have carried a lunch bag on me. My grandmother spoilt me further by bringing in food for me to school the day the lunch man missed picking up my bag.
I miss that indulgence especially since I have to now cook, and remember to carry as well as bring back the container that I carried my food in. I always forget my flask or lunch box in the office or in a class. Tried of buying new food savers every week, I came up with the idea of LUNCHMAN - making a lunch bag that was mobile as a part of the wearable assignment.
To make LUNCHMAN, I hacked 2 remote controlled cars. While the one that used infra- red did not too work well since the receiver, though in the line of sight, was always inside the bag and that offered interference for the incoming signal. I then tired the same with a radio controlled car. This worked great and also covered a greater distance if the antenna range on the remote was increased. While looking at the bag there is no way of knowing that there are wheels on the bottom and that it moves.
My LUNCHMAN is ready to bring me lunch when I ask it to.!!

Readings

The Design Process

Following a methodology in design is something that is not only taught but also followed rigorously in all areas of designs. The process gives definition and structure to something that is considered a creative act, thus give meaning to every step taken in this creative course. I would consider the act of solving a math problem as a creative process since we look at arriving at the simplest and correct solution in the shortest number of steps and the least amount of time.
Having done a course in Product Design, I have been grounded with a number of the methods mentioned in the reading. It was surprising to see how designing for completely different areas still has the same base structure of approach. While the process usually starts with the problem identification, in each case, to get a better understanding of the problem extensive literature survey is of foremost importance. Along with this to get to the root of the problem before solving it, a user study is necessary to get a true representation of the problem. This is usually done through a combination of observation, communication and questionnaire or simulation of the situation to get a clearer understanding of the problem. In doing so, we can identify other associated problems and sometimes ideas that one think could be solutions would now seem to be additional problems. This is where the problem definition helps by prioritizing and defining the areas that need attention. Thus problem definition seems so focused and yet extensible to other design ideas.
The ideation process that follows is the solution generating stage. Among the techniques mentioned in the readings I have often used the brainstorming method, and have also directly addressed issues in a product by providing direct solutions for them. The Synectic method, the Manipulative verb method and the mind mapping methods, explained in the reading seem very interesting and creative approaches and after the reading I would consider them to be better than just brainstorming. Like it is said in the reading, a lot of the good ideas come up after sleeping over an idea or after a brainstorming session, and these methods are great food for the idea generation.
The selection of ideas among the generated ones is an even harder process since we are asked to choose between the best of our own ideas. I guess maybe that’s why, using empirical and graphical means of selection where selection is done on the basis of the highest rank, or most features is usually used to select the idea.
The final step of evaluation, as mentioned, characterizes the actual start of design since the decision taken to go with solution needs to be authenticated to be the best solution to a given problem. And thus the design cycle begins again.

Rang De

I love the season spring, it defines a new beginning and everything positive, everything beautiful. It is a period of lush green nature, bright colors and festivity. A lot of Indian Marriages are scheduled during this time. Our marriages are elaborate affairs that involves dance, music and fun that spans over a week. And with the spring in the backdrop, it is a scene of happiness in totality.

Though I am not sure about what I really want to do, but I do want to explore traditional Indian themes through a wearable that is techie and yet could be culturally associated with India. This is more to do with the fact that I love bright colors, noise and the hustle – bustle of daily life, clinking of metal, the sound of frying something, the wearing of brightly colored saris with almost non existing blouses, the use of Red in almost everything that is considered holy, and beautiful brides draped in 9 yards of cloth that has the fine work of a weaver and craftsman who had in mind the perfect bride while he weaves and sews sequence and thread to great a masterpiece. I am still not sure as to what I want to do, but yes it will be an extension of that’s craftsman’s work.