Function & ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.
In
the text Quinn argues, “the visual exchange of life now takes place in
‘hypervisibility’.” (Quinn, Techno Fashion, pg. 57) - that
everything we do is now exposed to some form of observation, regardless of our
desire to be involved with it or not. It has now become almost impossible to
live our life without having our interests, actions and beliefs monitored in
some form – be that through video cameras, satellites or computers. Due to this
ever increasing observation of our lives, a new sub-genre of clothing has
evolved that challenges the traditional intention of clothing.
Clothing
acts as a kind of flag that people wave to inform others of their social
category – whether intentionally done or not. For example, people who work in
an office will wear a suit - nobody has specifically told them to wear a suit,
however they do wear it because it is a way of fitting in, to wear something
other than a suit would be viewed as an act of rebellion.
The
label ‘Vexed Generation’ produce clothes which are designed to be
‘anti-surveillance’ – Quinn describes their clothing as;
“…a
form of communication and resistance that can initiate long-term changes to the
social infrastructure.” (Quinn, Techno
Fashion, pg. 65)
That
the garments are produced using cutting edge materials, such as Kevlar, means
that their prices are set very high – this means that only a certain few in
society will have access to the clothing. This instantly reduces their
effectiveness to ‘initiate long-term changes to the social infrastructure’ –
how can something have an affect on society if the majority of society cannot
access it?
Wearing
‘Vexed Generation’ clothing would have a completely contrary effect to their
original purpose, the clothes are meant to make the wearer become incognito,
and to be hidden from surveillance – however the design of the clothes is so
dramatic that the wearer would be an instant target for surveillance. They
become a contradiction to themselves, because they make the wearer stand out
from the crowd, rather than blending in.
Due
to their ineffectiveness as both affordable clothing, and as “stealth utility”
(Techno Fashion pg. 68), the clothes
become more a piece of art rather than functional clothing. Their focus on
function is so extreme that they become un-wearable on a daily basis, and
therefore turn into a vehicle for making a social statement.
Quinn
writes that the designer Katrina Barillova does not accept this notion of
combining fashion with ‘urban stealth’;
“Clothing
identifiable as being technologically equipped attracts attention and could
make the wearer a walking target.” (Techno
Fashion, pg. 73)
Barillova
states that fashion trends move along so fast, that to have defined criteria of
what constitutes discreet clothing is pointless – one season’s version of
stealth clothing could become next season’s ‘on’ trend, and then the market
would be flooded to the extent that everyone would be wearing similar types of
garments, therefore completely negating the original concept and intention of
the design.
Rather
than viewing technology as something inherently evil, Barillova, unlike Vexed
Generation, sees it as something that can have a positive use for society;
“I
could see how surveillance technology could help to solve problems in everyday
life, and how this would move technology forward into the future.” (Techno Fashion, pg. 72)
She
makes the point that rather than letting the technology control us, we should
use it in a way which helps us to “track our environment” (Techno Fashion, pg. 72) – essentially to use the surveillance
technology to help us move around, to study where the camera’s are and to learn
our environment. This turns the notion of who is watching who on it’s head,
with the supposed ‘target’ becoming the observer.
