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Minor Tweak:

I was looking at the space and thought an object was missing, I didn't want it to become a new sculpture, but more so just add to an existing one. I realized that I hadn't added my helmet to the install yet, and it was the only missing piece that featured in the sublimated photos. I think the helmet connects the hanging bags sublimation to the rest of the work, as I like the idea that the sublimated photos and the garments create a circular flow that goes around the room. Where all the objects move around the space in coordination with the sublimations that are near them.

Once I had added the helmet to the feet sculpture it was if it had been there the whole time, and without it the sculpture looked a little bland. The process of putting the helmet into the sculpture wasn't very methodical, but more of a gesture to the way the objects are placed in my world between being worn. Creating a moment of tension between being worn and there next adventure.

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EOY statement:

Caden Larsen Unnatural Habitats 2022 Sublimation, Photography, Found objects, Made garments.

I am the provocateur providing a moment. Fashion, art and the audience are my tools. My practice focuses on playing with made and found clothing, wearing them in public, making a scene and subverting people's expectations. The aim of the game is to be as loud as possible, creating a sense of visual cancellation, making people have to see you, and forcing the gaze of the viewer to inspect you the wearer, with a moment that absorbs their attention.

My practice explores play and making fun situations that spill over into the public realm. I play with camouflage and high visibility clothing to make unexpected combinations to provoke the public attention. I explore this idea through the politic of ‘carnivalesque, a term theorised by Mikhail Bakhtin 1, exploring the border between art and life and the communal performance with no boundary between performers and audience 2. I think my practice has a particular attraction to humour and curiosity, Mikhail Bakhtin discusses the idea of life shaped according to a pattern of play, and my work aims to provoke a pattern of play captured from the viewer's perspective. To expand my perspective on this politic I’ve sought understanding through the deceptive nature of hidden identity, and the ‘second life’ that public displays of wearable art can have on the viewer. The idea of the ‘second life’ is a term I have adopted from Mikhail Bakhtin, “It creates a zone in which new birth or emergence becomes possible, against the sterility of dominant norms” 3.

I see a translation of my practice into the Bakhtin’s carnival, which doesn’t exist within a single place, but more as an expression for people that aim to create their own perspectives outside existing social normality. In the carnival everything is bright, eye-catching, drawing your attention everywhere you look, over-stimulating. Everything is rendered ever-changing, playful and undefined. Conventional hierarchies are overturned through inversions, debasements and profanations, performed by normally silenced voices and energies 4. For Bakhtin, the carnival is like a safety valve for society - a space for play and fun, that lets us let off steam so that we can go back to work 5.

Statement references:

1: Michail Michajlovič Bakhtin, and Hélène Iswolsky. 1984. Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

2: “In Theory Bakhtin: Carnival against Capital, Carnival against Power | Ceasefire Magazine.” n.d. Ceasefiremagazine.co.uk. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/in-theory-bakhtin-2/.

3: “In Theory Bakhtin: Carnival against Capital, Carnival against Power | Ceasefire Magazine.” n.d. Ceasefiremagazine.co.uk. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/in-theory-bakhtin-2/.

4: Michail Michajlovič Bakhtin, and Hélène Iswolsky. 1984. Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

5: “In Theory Bakhtin: Carnival against Capital, Carnival against Power | Ceasefire Magazine.” n.d. Ceasefiremagazine.co.uk. https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/in-theory-bakhtin-2/.

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EOY install minor tweaks and feedback:

I've been so happy with the comments that both my supervisors and pairs have made about the install, the whole process felt really fluid and I think that translates into the casual sort of approach the draping creates. Which tangents quite well with the garments being hung, as if they are ready to be worn again.

Clips:

I discussed with my supervisors whether or not the bulldog clips were a bit unformal, but I also like how the clip creates a wider draping in comparison to a nail. Plus I don't particularly want to nail into the prints. Mainly because the elastic in the material may cause it to rip. After discussing the situation with my supervisors, we came to the conclusion that the bulldog clips were fine, so I've decided to stick with using them.

Nails:

Small tweak to display, I was advised by my supervisors to change the nails to stronger ones. Mainly because of weight, just so its smore structurally sound. The idea is that the install could be displayed for a long time and should be treated as if it will, just good practice.

Some minor adjustments:

I brought a couple more items in to display, they were the only items missing from the garment sets in the sublimated photos, and I figured they mosswell be included. The feet shoes were in a pile in the corner when I brought them in, and realized it was actually quite a good casual form. So I just moved them over, it worked out quite good too because there was a dead space, and the feet shoes fill the void space.

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Cover:

Outside:

Inside:

Inside Image Reference:

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Catalog (part 1):

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Catalog (part 2):

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Catalog (part 3):

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Catalog (part 4):

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Catalog (part 5):

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Catalog (part 6):

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Final Catalog essay

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Isa Genzken Install research

I believe that I have moved passed mannequins in my work, but that's not to say that how the garments in Isa Genzken's work are displayed are any less important to how I display mine. Isa creates a sense of care free placement of her found objects on the mannequins, this approach is something that I'm taking into account for my own work. I think its important that for my work the garments are cohesive, but they feel as if they have been placed is a idol state ready to be used, or are between use.

Isa's use of spacing is also something I'm quite interested in with install, the mannequins feel cohesive in colour and form, creating pockets of colour and shape that interact and relate to each other. I'm quite interested in how my work can flow around the room, give hints to the relationship with the sublimations as you move around. This is intentional to draw the viewer in, make them further examine the objects, a sort of treasure hint to find all the pieces. Kind of like how Hugh hides his sculptures disguised objects in plain sight.

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First Practice install in EOY space (walk though)

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First Practice install in EOY space (part 2)

This sculpture was actually very spontaneous the legs of the Hi Vis ghillie pants seemed to fit perfectly onto the bottom of the sculpture, and then it was a matter of draping a relevant sublimation with it. The whole install has a circular flow that moves around the space, where objects and images create connections though visual line of sight. This sculpture in particular is probably one of my favorites if not my favorite. I effortlessly just controls the wood sculpture engulfing the wood, as if it was always attached.

I really like the form this bag creates with the sublimation, its a bit of a nod to Hugh Hayden and how the objects create hidden meaning in plan sight. In my case the imagery on the sublimation hints at the bag being present in the sculpture. Continuing this connection, the draped sublimations on the sides of the bag is actually the sleeves of the 25 xlarge hoodie. This creates a interesting tension between the human form and the disguised object. The sleeves also represent both the provocateur's in the sublimation drawing more connection to the flow of the install.

This sculpture was also very spontaneous, I had a cardboard pipe, and saw that the brown matched the other wood sculptures creating cohesion between the objects used for draping. I liked the connection between the garment and the sublimations And thought it was important to include this piece as it was a important part of my paparazzi shoot. The shirt inside again eludes to the figure that actually isn't present, but also how the objects are hung between uses. To continue the sublimation connection going I had half a front panel and thought it would be good to add it to the bottom, not much thought went into adding the sublimation to the bottom. But I think it was more of a cohesion between the rest of the work. I also put this sculpture here because I didn't like how this wall was empty, It needed something, and this sculpture worked as a great way to best make use of the space.

I thought Id add this image to show how the object and the sublimation can leak into each other, blurring the the garment with the image. I think this is also a nod to Hugh's work which looks at disguising objects in plan sight.

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First practice install in EOY space

The goal with this practice install was to take the display methods I learn from DEMO and see if I could translate them into my EOY space, without guidance from my supervisors. Initially was just playing around with the sublimations. But I decided that I think clothing that's relevant to the sublimations could also work in the space, to interact as a bridging point between the sublimations. The big bag also provided a really interesting shape to work with, I'm interested weather it should go on the wall or not.

I need to work how I drape on the wood sculptures possibly I need to integrate some more clothing into the sculptures, because they sublimations seem a little lost or misplaced.

I think the wood sculpture and the wall have a good connection in terms of the sublimations, not convinced but with further development it might be ok.

I think the hi vis ghillie wall needs the most work it just seems messy and just doesn't work for me for some reason. Ill leave it up for now, it may grow on me yet, it possibly could be to do with the hi vis ghillie in the middle.

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Demo Practice install

I finally got my sublimations and took them to DEMO for a practice install with my supervisors. Pretty much straight away my idea of building a nest was thrown out the door, along with potentially not sewing my hoodie together. The reason behind these decisions are as follows:

Beach tent nest:

The issue with the tent first of all is that tents in them selves carry preconceptions, more specifically beach tents have connotations to the beach. To quote my supervisor, "if you want to use a beach tent you need to bring the rest of the beach" Dan Arps 2022. Taking that into account that immediately made we have to rethink how I would present my work.

Nest:

The nest idea I don't think was bad, but though thorough discussion it seems that the idea may be to literal. The work is strong enough on its own to hold the idea, without literally showing the viewer that its about magpies and collecting.

This was the first draping of the sublimations, previously we tried lying them on the floor, which actually wasn't bad, but the draping creating interesting pleats and folds. Which seemed to entice more reading as the images became more ambiguous, creating more interests for the sublimations from both a distance and close up. I don't think the ladder is the best objects to use, because it seemed to both detract and distract from the print.

My supervisors suggested that I should hang some of my sublimations, but also suggested that not all of the print needs to be showing on some of them. The example above the firetruck image is starting to explore this idea. The second print is just draped down next to the full hung print, my supervisors suggested that the draped print contains the elements of the full hung print. Because of this the reading of the work suggests that the draped print is of the same relevance to the full hung version.

I like how with this draping the reading of the work changes, morphing the faces and changing the reading as you walk around it.

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Artist research David Hammons

My supervisors suggested that David Hammons could be a good artist to look at in terms of how to approach using a tent, and the preconceptions that tents have. My supervisors suggested that a tent struggles by its self and that its either strongest in its intended endowment, or in groups. Neither of which I really want to do for my install, so this has made me rethink whether or not the tent really works with the install. Underlining Dan's quote that, "if I want to use a beach tent I need to add the rest of the beach".

This work was quite interesting because it it reminds me of Isa Genzken's work, I thought it would be interesting to add as a example of potentially how I could have garments in the space. I think one important thing to note going into EOY install is figuring out the spacing of my objects. Allowing breathing room between each piece so that it can stand alone without fighting for attention, but still being cohesive with the install as a whole.

I added this images purely because I liked the size of the works, particularly when thinking whether or not I want to sew up the 25 xlarge hoodie. I think scaling will be really important with EOY install, so this image gives me a gage of the space required for a large object to fit into a space. Realistically I don't think that the EOY space is high enough for the hoodie, its better suited for a warehouse installation possibly. Which I guess solidifies my supervisors advice to have the panels rather than the hoodie sew up.