During the Online Fashion Systems module, we will explore the many ways fashion manifests itself within and through digital culture. We look at earlier more utopian ideas of online networks, as prompt to reconsider the importance of counter narratives, and look at the way fashion has weaved its way through these networks
in our current socio-political setting.
As transformative power seems to be the promise of the virtual, the inherent need arises to critically assess how digital representations of fashion manifest itself online. The Online Fashion Systems module examines and draws upon examples of engagement with online spaces, publics, and imaginaries, as well as the (non)capital formations that exist within the overlaps of fashion and digital culture. It considers fashion as a communication vehicle for both mystification and critical thinking. As we examine how critical practitioners from other disciplines deal with digital materiality and connectivity, we unpack how this could inform and shape fashion practices, and explore the potential parallel pathways for working with fashion's online fabric.
Through theory, contemporary examples, experimentations and vocations we investigate the various ways digital culture impacts the ways we create, experience and think about fashion. We will get acquainted with digital systems by utilising them, as we navigate and (re)define different online spaces and tools while articulating their cultural urgency.
The overall aim of this course is to highlight the importance of digital agency & literacy in the context of fashion. By approaching ‘the digital’ not only as medium for output, but as alternate structure for connection, communication, creation and dissemination, participants develop perspectives to inform their personal practice, positioning or approach.
online fashion systems & digital literacy
05/11/2024 : 11.00/16.00
Examining fashion in today's digital landscape, exploring the different paths that exist between digital fashion, online fashion and fashion technology. We will reflect on what it means to be 'online' and explore how to critically engage with digital spaces in order to exercise digital agency and consider the concept of 'freedom' within digital spaces. We'll look at how the fashion industry and individual practitioners have adapted to online environments and unpack different approaches to 'using' the online realm - whether as a tool, approach, connector or material - as a prompt to think about different ways in which 'the digital' can function within creative practice.
via: https://theusercondition.computer/
McQuillan, V. K., & Hansen, K. S. (2020) Introduction: Rethinking Fashion Spaces.
In Fashion Spaces: A Theoretical View (pp. 12-27).
Fedora, A. (2022) Our Digital Selves. Modem Works
via: https://modemworks.com/research/our-digital-selves/
De Miranda, C.F. (2019) The Fashion System’s Algorithmic gaze: de-mystifying algorithms’ propagandistic core & its influence on the consumers’ digital agency.
via: http://algorithmicgaze.online/ *not mandatory!
- What does being online mean for your practice? What does it look like?
- How do you engage with fashion online? Bring two examples to class.
online as utopia, online as capital
07/11/2024 : 11.00/16.00
Exploring the internet's utopian origins reveals a framework once envisioned for sharing, connecting and enabling non-linear narratives - offering space for endless possibilities, experimentation and open-access infrastructures. We unpack the foundational contributions of the often overlooked women who made its infrastructure possible, and its shifting stages from Web 1.0 to Web 3.0, driven by commercialisation. We explore the web as a complex ecosystem and access point, from sourcing and reading to surveillance and consumption.
Body & Society, 1(3-4), p. 45-64.
Solfrank, C. (1999) Women Hackers
via: https://obn.org/obn/reading_room/writings/html/women_hackers.html
Berners-Lee, T. (2000) Weaving the Web. HarperCollins. p.199-209.
Findlay, R. (2019). “Trust us, we’re you”: Aspirational realness in the digital communication of contemporary fashion and beauty brands. Communication, Culture & Critique.
- How and where do you experience friction online?
- What does friction look like to you?
- Gather screenshots of where friction happens.
online as material, online as curation
14/11/2024 : 11.00/16.00
Guest lecture by Marijn Bril (https://www.marijnbril.work/)
Marijn is a curator and researcher in the field of contemporary art with a special focus on network cultures. Her research explores themes such as systems, memes, artistic strategies, archiving and knowledge production.
Focusing on the process of sharing and collecting material online, and how these acts shape and enhance our creative practices. We (re)think what it means to source and recognise 'online space' as a public forum: a place to perform, organise and share information as a method of creating accessibility for others and visibility for one's practice. We look at archives and information curation to think about how we currently manage resources, what this might reveal about our practice and what happens when we approach this intentionally.
via: https://www.servinglibrary.org/journal/17/multidimensional-citation
Bril, M. (2023) Performatively Archiving the Early Web: One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age
via: https://viewjournal.eu/articles/10.18146/view.293
*not mandatory, suggested in preparation for guest lecture.
- Prepare questions for Marijn(!)
- What qualifies as “material” for your practice?
- Where do you gather this material? Think about how this space or system deals with accessibility and ownership.
online as interface
workshop day 1 ⟼21/11/2024
In this workshop we will explore interfaces as relational entities that serve as entry points for information, practice and discourse. We will examine interfaces through the lens of hacker ethics, exploring the balance between friction and frictionless design. We will experiment with familiar frameworks in new ways, re-imagining how they might work if we change the way we interact with them. The focus will be on articulating alternative forms and highlighting the processes and conditions through which they unfold.
Levine, C. (2015) Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network.
Princeton University Press. p.1-23
Kim, N (2021) The Uniformity in Web Design and Possibilities of User Sentimental Experience. p.5-11
- What do fashion-related interfaces, online and offline, look like?
Bring 2 examples to class.
online content versus form
workshop day 2 ⟼/online!!!22/11/2024
visiting tutor / guest lecture : Enzo Aït Kaci
Enzo is a digital designer with a background in fashion. Their practice explores the value of fashion images through the digital prism of the internet.
We will build on our findings from the previous session; in the spirit of hacking practices, we will experiment with rearranging and manipulating your chosen interface. While traditionally people create offline and transpose their work online, we will consider what it means to start digital first and physical second. We will consider how changes to these interfaces can affect how people interact with content and their understanding of what they were originally designed to do.We will evaluate their aesthetic value and the strategies behind the changes, and reflect on their purpose in relation to your practice.
online as resistance, online as ecology
28/11/2024
Addressing the importance of gaps, glitches and in-betweens as spaces of possibility within the online realm, we focus on practitioners who inhabit the 'cracks' to create space for alternative engagement. Rather than seeking infinite growth, we consider the value of small, single serving spaces and explore resistance practices that push back against the mainstream digital landscape. We examine parallel concepts such as the poetic web, counter-collectives and dark forest theory, to uncover the unique aesthetics and values within these spaces and consider how they might intersect with critical fashion practices.
via: https://thecreativeindependent.com/essays/laurel-schwulst-my-website-is-a-shifting-house-next-to-a-river-of-knowledge-what-could-yours-be/
Smith, A.W. (2009). Queer Servers and Feral Webs.
via:https://mirror.xyz/austinwadesmith.eth/wrBCeIWNsXbseQiLBj5jR_bkMFZ03nNYs4rg0lU8X2s?curius=1294
Quicho, A. (2023) Everyone Is a Girl Online.
via: https://www.wired.com/story/girls-online-culture/
Ceccarelli, M. (2024) Internet’s Dark Forests: Subcultural Memories and Vernaculars of a Layered Imaginary. p.1-5
- What ‘in-between’ spaces does your practice inhabit?
- What does the ecology of your practice look like?
10/12/2024 [!!]
Please share a draft of your essay by 10/12/2024 no later than 12.00, in which you have defined your 3 concepts.
collective sharing session + individual talks
12/12/2024Each participant prepares a tester to get collective input and support. This is your chance to talk about & experiment with the way you're thinking about presenting your research for the next week. We will also have individual feedback sessions to go over essay drafts.
Review
19/12/2024Each participant prepares a presentation, in which they showcase and activate their research. Please refer to the ‘deliverables and assessment overview’ for details. 20 minute presentations = 15 minutes for presenting + 5 minutes for questions.
Deliverables & Assessment
At the end of the module, participants will be required to submit a Report in form of an essay. They will also share their contribution to the module publication and explicate its relevance to their critical practice through a Presentation. The level of active participation in class will be taken into account in the final assessment.
ECTS : 6
In order to obtain the 6 ECTS you have to participate in the Making and Prototyping, which is 17%, and pass the two deliverables, of which the Report is 50% and the Presentation is 33%.
Each participant will write an essay of approximately 2000 words reflecting on (site-)specific terminology related to methods, concepts, ways of doing, seeing or dealing with online environments. In their essay they will define and situate (at least) 3 terms they've encountered during the course of the module; these may be pre-existing, inspired by other writings, or (re)invented, but the chosen terms must be placed in a contemporary context and in relation to their own critical fashion practice.
This essay must reflect individually gathered sources and draw on the compulsory readings provided. Students must be able to (1) assess the current digital fashion landscape, (2) articulate the extended systems at play, and (3) reflect on their positioning within online fashion systems. Students need to be aware of how certain (digital) concepts are reflected in their practice.
Sessions
will consist of theory preparation, collective unpacking and discussion(s) of required reading, small activations and assignments to apply discussed theory in a practical manner, peer-to-peer feedback and time to work on course deliverables.
Sourcing : Are.na
This class looks at how digital frameworks are utilised as communication vehicles and relational objects. As such, we will be using Are.na as collective online framework to gather sources. This working environment poses as an on-going exercise in sharing and citation practices as a research method, throughout the duration of this Study Module.
- Participants gather sources and practices that inform, or are part of their practice ecology.
- For each session, each participant will source 2 examples.
These examples can vary in format; it can be texts, visuals, videos, websites, or any other type of documentation that connects to the session topic, reading or activations. - Sources can also be added after or during the sessions.
Be aware: in order to be assessed you’ll have to have gathered at least 12 sources. - Make sure your entries have titles & descriptions, as they will become part of the module publication.
Glossary
We are working towards a glossary that will result in a collective publication that will include the individual perspectives and reflections of the participants. Thinking about vocabulary and terminology allows one to reflect on how meaning and knowledge are shared, how discourse is shaped and among whom. The way we talk about concepts, problems, activations is often site-specific and tends to encapsulate disciplines. Terminology moves, is constantly changing and being discarded. It is therefore highly reflective of contemporary settings and, when translated and situated in personal contexts, can act as a bridge to public spheres and enquiries. Creating and working on a common vocabulary therefore helps to open up and lower thresholds and allows us to borrow from other disciplines. Participants need to keep this in mind during the module and while sourcing materials.
Participants share their terms & definitions through a presentation in an embodied format of their choice. Ensure that the format of the presentation adds to or illustrates the definition you've developed for that term. It is important that participants are able to articulate how their chosen terms simultaneously reflect or influence their practice or how they will shape their practice in the future.
After the presentation, participants submit their deliverables (1. essay, 2. sources and 3. documentation of their presentation) digitally to Karin Rooijakkers in the following manner:
- Essay according to the
author guidelines. - Are.na sources in PDF format via
print.are.na - Presentation documentation in a
.zip folder containing: images in .jpeg and all other files in .PDF format.
If participants do not submit the deliverables in the correct format, they cannot be assessed :(