Delving into the unfamiliar, Bart Hess’s latest project sees a collection of cyborg couture resembling strange beasts and frozen avatars.
Known for his fascination with the human body and the manipulation thereof, Hess pushes the boundaries of the textile design profession. His latest project “Digital Artefacts” looks at a future of cyborg couture, where glitches play across human skin and transform the body.
Hess used the human body as a site for adaption, augmentation and experimentation. Celebrating the corruption of body data by moulding it within a costumery, all imperfections become beautiful.
Shimmering in the exhibition landscape is a network of geometric reflective pools of molten wax. The mirrored surface is broken by the body, which is suspended by a robotic harness, plunging into the liquid. A crust of wax crystallises around body curves resulting in architectural forms, layer by layer, almost as if a 3D printer is drawing directly onto the skin. Slowly the body emerges, encased in a dripping wet ready-made prosthetic. The final outcome is a manifestation of corrupt data in motion; a digital artefact.
View the entire process here.
“Digital Artefacts” forms part of the Future Perfect exhibition curated by Liam Young and is presented during the Architectural Triennale in Lisbon, portugal until 15 December 2013.
The Future Perfect exhibition is a fictional, future city. A group of scientists, technologists, designers, artists and science fiction authors collectively developed the imaginary place, where a collection of fictions, emerging infrastructures and design experiments can be viewed.
Also see our interview with Hess at the 2012 Dutch Design Week.
