Why the fashionRIp Project

Fashion is like an iceberg. Most people just see the tip of it and yet under the surface there is a huge destructive industry that is hard at work pumping out mounds of product under some (not all!) intolerable conditions in a race to sell as fast and as many items as possible and then to have them appear as outdated as soon after purchase as possible. This is necessary in order to create desire for the products of the next season. When stuff sells, people have jobs and the economy looks good.

Throwing barely worn clothing out is bad form, so now we donate them to charity or swap. This is all good intermediary action but we need to look deeper. Think transport carbons, soil depletion by monocropping, toxic processing, sweatshops, landfill acreage….fashion has a platinum link to every one of them.

The refashion and eco friendly material designers are stepping up to redefine what style means. I see this as moving into a positive direction but it cannot be done at this level alone. We need to look Capitalism in the face.

We make the world real by being part of it and that world is in need of major overhauling (these 87 degree days of Fall!). To address the economic structure is primary as this has become the basis of development and research and yet the principles it adheres to are in opposition to many sustainable conditions. We can decide to confront this honestly and change directions. This is one of the reasons
I started the fashionRIP Project Phase 2.

The original FashionRIP Project is an experiment in communication. As a multi media approach to illustrate tangible and intangible ideas clustered around the theme of sustainable life I use recyCouture fashion like others use paint.

As this is a collaborative project; every day brings surprises, inspirations, mental drama ups and downs growing pains and rushes, it mimics the process of living with intent and that is the bigger underlying theme we can all share.

We are, we exist and life is a wondrous journey if we choose to follow it from the inside out. With that evolved viewpoint we will do better than this

& we are. Pat yourself &/or each other on the back and go forth to share the new ideas you learn; that is how we evolve.

YouTube Success

The trick is to export using Quicktime into an Mpeg-4 file....what was taking over 4 hours (we had to stop the process as SCAN closed for the night!) to upload went up in minutes!

I realized that i needed to explain the "Making of the Species on the Verge" video short better. Getting feedback from people is instrumental!

"Hello all,
the promo cut done at SCAN by Bridgett Barker is now on YouTube!
Please send me your critical comments (yays and boos) as every step changes the next and we all want to do better...its fun to make these positive changes and not get trapped; so please respond!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWd4qq2vnsE
L, deborah"

Love my critics!

stripping audio

So close and then....
Bridgett and i had a different audio opinion and though she had worked for hours to add variety to a the audio track (was two 30 second bits that we tried to loop through the greater part of 5 minutes -bad idea!) i had to say it didn't work for me.
OUCH!
Though the piece could be used for her private portfolio, i had to retain my fashionRIP aesthetic for all public releases. She wanted to punch me and i understood...oh i so understood.

Working with audio software and the copyright free allowed bits is either a fast and annoying to hear or a time devouringly slow, task.

As the original bits she had found in GarageBand were great for the piece (her first instincts were terrific) i told her i would try to find some music that worked with that ragtime-y sound; i felt semi-obligated after that dashing i had delivered.

And then it dawned....I have a piano man in the family who rocks the boogie woogie and i will record it today; it should fit in, it's copyright ok and release ez! and though he is modest he came to our rescue. Jack is the man!

The best of this story, Bridgett and i have learned we can totally work open, honest, out loud and get to deliver the goods, as we respect each others viewpoints. Ultimately we both understand more about working together and project development and are building a better friendship in the process.
So don't be afraid to have differing ideas, just know that you will!

working well with others

Overall this was an amazing event.
A group of people, many strangers to each other all pitched in to lend their hands, talents, guidance and support to shoot the "Species on the Verge" video for the fashionRIP Project.
This is still my take on it, however there were a few personality clashes i am now learning about.

This is good.

How can we set up groups to be efficient and effective, where members speak up before the claws come out and are okay with saying they need space to think? Groups that really are in agreement to disagree in order to create? How do we plan for unexpected and diverse dynamics? Can we....you betcha!

We are discussing this for the next chapter and because some of the RIP folk are taking classes where teams have to work on projects and there is not much, if any, foreplay. Socialization is not just a what is...it can be a "what if" and a "better than". This wheel has many missing spokes.

ask

I realized after the shoot that i need to ask people what they want out of the experience.

It is easier to design for their wants and needs if you know them and won't necessarily add to your work.

Some people are good with just being there, others want portfolio material , others want to build on the project; all of these are good for expanding the concept and marketing.

So help them reach their goals, as it helps the whole of the project.

ode to SubCulture Joe

Valentine’s Day1994 -Subculture Joe and the Fabricators erected a heart for “the unloved” and invited the broken-hearted to write the names of their former lovers on it and then to whack it with a sledgehammer. This created a cathartic event for the public and like the ball and chain that he clamped to ankle of the Hammering Man at SAM- it was great communication art.

FashionRIP is inspired by these acts of love, for it takes courage to speak in front of the hoodwinked..

A List (1)

Even guerrrilla video needs organization!

!. Get all your contact info in one place. Try to get email, phone and address as you won't be able to read some of the handwriting. This info arrives in bits over an interval so start a file right away.

2. Have release forms ready to sign on the day of the video. Put them in an obvious place and tell several others to make sure the word is spread. I had a convenient bulletin board in the 'models" room to hang the finished papers. You will want a sorting strategy.

3. Have another paper to list the credits. Sharon and Bridgett got on this as i was not even thinking about it! When you are less red tapey people pick up where you falter....this is good for all of us. In a world of connectivity we need to trust each other again. The RIP experiment is proving this to be true.

4. So, despite plans you will be amiss at times and that is ok....do it anyway and allow for the unknown.

Lou Reed

Talk of the Town

"Walk on the wild side."
To explore life is to take risks and sometimes that needs to be at odds with the social pack. When that pack is going over a cliff -the lesser risk is to defy the status quo.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead, where there is no path and leave a trail."

When assigned to the normal everyday consciousness this is great; when viewed from a different plane the personal path that unfolds ahead of you is an entirely different matter. Thus the grand juxtaposition thrives in our very being! cool!

back days

Rachel Skirt Circa 2005

fashionRIP started with an idea for dresses based on a theme ..typical collection stuff; except that i was using thrift store garments and Zootsuit remnants for a major part of the materials.

After the "Ode to Rachel Carson" and the "Phoenix" skirt among other symbolic garb i wanted back to black.

Victorian excess, punk defiance, goth confronting, grunge juxtaposing and the sustainable movement were woven and repackaged into something that retains and enhances the multiple layers of communication expressed by its influences. Well now, that needed multiple mediums in order to express its new self. This took parts of it out of my hands. So then the sustainable community walkabout started with friends and local resources providing the means.

This style doesn't reject as much from the path of the moment as a goal that is planned too well tends to do! Instead, it is growing in an open manner that respects the natural laws and believes we are meant to be wondrous. That is the experiment.

Waking the Dream

The Phoenix is a multicultural symbol of transformation, resurrection, evolution, change..
Old ways die as new ideals are nurtured.

the fashionRIP Project has a life all its own.

I've liked fashion, art and music...things that thrive on breaking "barriers, " since i was 10, maybe earlier.

Now i know that my controversial past taught me how to use the tools i need for the trail that is being illuminated, little by little.

It started in the 90's when my attention was getting snagged by babies staring at me, smiling and cooing...doing baby charm stuff. i am not that into babies (my own was great but in general....not that appealing to me!).

At first I thought it was a fluke. It became really unnerving when others noticed it; okay, weird.
In 2005 my eyes locked with those of a boy about 12. His eyes "asked" me to do something, i knew it was important but not what it was... i promised to do whatever it was. It was the first time i recognized "knowing." (Connecting with the universe and the "i am" simultaneously from the solar plexus, the "heart" and energy core of being. )

The fashionRIP project is part of that promise...it is unfolding, revealing itself as it goes. i still don't know how it will grow, only that it will.