Wednesday 19 August 2009

Prototype: Beautiful Freaks - Oversized Legs

Consistant with the mainstream media's fascination with those labelled freaks (plastic surgery nightmares - michael jackson, lesley ash, easily identifiable villians - abu hamsa, and heroes - Jed, youtube "stars" (take your pick), oversized glamour models and porn stars, guiness book entries (see tallest, heaviest, longest appendage etc) etc etc etc)

this project takes the weakness of the object (where it has broken) and overcompensates for its deficiencies, or highlights its difference.

Supporters of Darwin would argue that without natural slection or without mutations evolution would not have occured. Social Darwinianists tried to turn this on its head and act as the forceful hand of god through implementing nature on natures behalf, exterminating the "weak" those who in different environments evoke the better sympathetic empathic altruistic tendancies from society.

Have we increasingly encouraged ourselves to be fascinated by difference. When difference distinguishes something we praise it and call it progress or unique, maybe we express disgust because of perceived grotesqueness or mutations, these can be translated into strengths or weaknesses.

The white chair broke at its weak point around the back support. I thought it would be interesting to start a process of replacing every breakage with an oversized component. This could elaborate into experiments with materials and structures to effect significant structural and visual strengths and weaknesses that can be manipulated to produce a range of prototypes further exploring these possibilities.