Shuang Chu
Boundaryless, Shapeless, the Body
I feel lost. I feel stuck. I feel empty.
We often use adjective words that describe the condition of the physical body to show the condition of our mental body. The condition of the physical body is the body reacted to its surroundings and all sensible data around it, which can be treated as a temporary environmental body. So, the shape and the space of us as thinking selves are everchanging by balancing these three elements: mind-body-environment.
However, because these three are beyond full control of each other, while our normal understanding of the hierarchy of them is restricted by the built spatial realities, disagreement, and separation in between are inevitable. Now anxiety sneaks in through these cracks between our bodies. It has already been difficult in the psychology field to fix the anxiety problem (same as any mental health problem) as anxiety has no specific reason or clear target object, the roots behind it are complex and enormous, sometimes even hard to judge.
In the history of the mental asylum, apparel is known for restricting the body movement of the patient. It uses a single surface and the smallest space to show all three bodies: mental body, patient; physical body, tied position; environmental body, restricted movement.
This thesis aims to explore a speculative world where people could have apparel to break the conventional hierarchy of the mind-body-environment. In other words, to open up our sensibility to take the environmental body inside while externalizing the mental body, to change the relationship and help with the anxiety. Anxiety can be divided into 3 phases: not-knowing, acknowledging, and managing. With a basic inflation system and sensory system, the apparel will perform 3 different shapes in response to situations of anxiety.
Regarding the relationship between these three bodies, in Daoist drawing The Picture of the Ascent and Descent of the Yin and Yang Energies represents our physical body as the imaginary landscape residing with body gods. Each of the temples takes charge of one organ that takes a position in the process of operating the flow of the body, as we say, the environmental body.
Moreover, this speculative apparel not only improves the condition of the human body but also reveals how the built environment should react when our shapes, poses, and movements change.
This project imagines a near future scenario where we can monitor and control our mind, body, and the environment around us, to not only help anxiety issues within our body but also achieve physical impact on the built environment around us.
Costume Prototype 1
Costume Prototype 2
Background Environment
Connection Detail for Inflation