For her 2008 graduation from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Marie Ilse Bourlanges (FR) created the project ‘Decay’ to explore how traces of time and use can be embedded in textile.

The patterns of Bourlanges’ carefully crafted pieces were determined by deep research into the natural motions of the body. Donning a carbon fibre suit over a white blouse, Bourlanges captured the gestures of the body bending, stretching, scratching and rubbing. The transfer imprint on the blouse was then translated into a pattern, resulting in intricate collections of lines that ebb and flower across the textile.

By anticipating potential expressions of the body and linking those to the eventual decay of the textile, Bourlanges' project challenges perceptions of material existence, revealing some of the most intimate (and ephemeral) movements of daily life.

November/December 2008
slowLab's programming collaboration with the Museum of Arts and Design in New York continues on December 11th with 'Slowing Down: Arts and Designers Mapping the City.' The program features slowLab network members Christian Nold, Betsey Biggs and Natalie Jeremijenko, who will show and discuss their creative strategies for engaging the public with their local surroundings-- from mapping people's emotional and sensory responses to city streets to downloadable sound walks that tune listeners in to their neighborhoods-- including how their unique approaches could help inform the planning of urban places. The program will be moderated by Sabrina Gschwandtner. For more information about this event, look here >