Fragility

Just come back from The Cambridge Annual Fashion Show meeting with Rupert (he'll enjoy the mention, I'm sure). The fashion show themes are: RED, FRAGILITY, MERGED, PLAY and something else that I can't remember... They are based on the charity for which the show will be raising money (Life Safe, Play Safe).

I think fragility sounds the most interesting, although maybe everyone will want to do it. I think I'd like to design something based on work I did at the start of art foundation looking at paper garments.

I want to take this forward though, and bring in more natural forms - I was thinking about something based on spiders webs, bird skeletons, something mesh-like such as coral or sponge or chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi). I've been listening to The Borrowers Afield and there's lots of description of nature from a miniature perspective that has inspired me. For example, from the point of view of Arrietty Clock, a girl only 15cm tall, the inside of a hedge is like a cathedral, with leafy vaults and criss-crossing branches like beams.










The photo of bubble coral could be an interesting one to take forward - making little pockets of air out of plastic/soft paper/fabric... I like using brown paper so that's one possibility, but maybe I should experiment with something transparent, translucent, reflective - tissue or greaseproof paper have interesting texture.

Anyway that's my thoughts so far. The show isn't until June so I have plenty of time to think about it.

In other news: I've been reading about Marx so I might comment on that tomorrow because some of it I find really irritating. We've also had several tea-themed lectures by Alan Macfarlane which I want to think more about, and Yuko is coming to stay tomorrow.

Also: my mum emailed me a quote...

> I thought this was an interesting quote after your blog rant... I
> heard it at a lecture today from a Christian neurologist who has been
> campaigning against doctors who allow torture, in particular at
> Guantameno Bay where doctors have turned a blind eye to the cause of
> death in their tortured patients, or who have force-fed hunger-strikers.

It is from Sir William Osler, an Oxford medic (1849-1919):
"By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy - indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction."