XITY
LYCRA x BODY:
"Concealment and Safe Spaces"
In this exploration, Stephanie recalls one of her findings in Phase 1 concerning her own desire to create spaces of safety and comfort in the city.
To this end, she has constructed a tent-like structure made of lycra fabric, suspended between two wooden panels, while concealing her head in the space within.
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What emerges then is a live experiment of crafting a literal safe and comforting headspace for oneself in the city, where the inhabitant can look to retreat into a world of one's own.
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See also: Phase 4 Prototype 3 - "identifying-x"
#1: LYCRA x BODY
Lycra is a synthetic fibre or fabric commonly used in close-fitting sportswear. Also known as spandex or elastane, it is known for its exceptional elasticity.
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The artistic team explored multiple ways in which the body would manipulate and be manipulated by a piece of lycra fabric, examining notions and representations of desire, safety and mediation.
LYCRA x BODY:
"Unattainable Desires"
In this exploration, Stephanie and Si Xuan explore the notion of unattainable desires of inhabitants in the city by using a lycra fabric that forms a membrane held up by a frame.
The artists then discussed the softness and durability of the material, effects of how visible the body outlines would be formed, as well as even how the malleability of the fabric forms unique and shifting traces, similar to rectangular thumbprint scanners that identify each individual inhabitant in a city.
LYCRA x BODY:
"Inhabitant vs Inhabitant vs Infrastructure"
In this exploration, Matthew and Stephanie explore the different tensions afforded by the lycra fabric where the symbolism of the lycra fabric entanglement begins to take on notions of city inhabitants constantly manipulating the environment and infrastructure around them.
They then proceed to introduce interactions where each dancer begins to enter into conflict with the other one, thereby exploring how we are enmeshed with both the materials of our environment that surround us, as well as other inhabitants.
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See also: Phase 4 Prototype 2: "navigating-x"