kine[s]kins

How can fabric be used by participants to dynamically create personal or collaborative spaces? How can graphics and audio enhance the space-shaping experience of the participants? How can participants explore and apply the philisophical and aesthetic concept of inner and outer spaces kinesthetically by interacting freely with skin-like fabric and other participants? These are the main questions I posed myself when undertaking this participative installation project. It was an initial investigation of personal, intimate spaces occupied or freed by our body, inner and outer spaces delimited by our skin, that “outermost surface of the 'body' bordering all relations in 'space'.” (Diller: 1)

In the context of this graduate course, this installation project provided the opportunity to begin exploring concretely certain components which will be an integral part of my graduate project, such as the the creation of an intimate space for participants to experience touch, skin and body.

In her introductory note to the Kinesthetic and Active Space course, the instructor, Susan Kozel, explains:

kine[s]kin is the name I have given to malleable, flexible skin-like fabric spaces or body places which we can enter or penetrate, spaces that can envelop us or from which we can escape, spaces that can also merge with one another. These kine[s]kins are not meant simply to be viewed passively by spectators, even though they are, on their own, rather lifeless, static forms. Their tactile, tensile and transparent qualities invite movement, encounter, proximity and complicity by human participants in order for the fabric to take shape, live and breathe. These are interactive and participatory kine[s]kins that dynamically create either personal, intimate spaces or shared, collaborative spaces with the help of two or more interactors.

Skin-like structures, like the one fabricated for this project, “imply an entrance and an exit, they are penetrable or, better still, "navigable." [They are] places of shelter, to soothe the body, inside which we can rediscover the foetal position from the early moments of life, or the stimulus of repose which allows us to feel like a small part of a dynamic whole.” (Jiménez: 211)

Similarly to Ernesto Neto's large vessel-like lycra sculptures, the kine[s]kin is “seductive because it appears before the visitor as epidermis, warm and flexible skin, because it calmly invites us to touch, to overcome barriers, in order to feel its real weight, its lightness, its way of occupying the space, its insistence on breaking down spaces.” (Fernandez-Cid: 29)

Ariano Pedrosa discusses intimacy and evokes the importance of touch in his essay accompanying Neto's exhibition catalogue:

Pedrosa goes on to state that, when it comes to works of art in public spaces, the notion of intimacy is not encouraged. In fact, there are usually regulations against intimacy and touch: “We cannot touch works of art, and we cannot remain alone with them, in a private manner. A series of more or less intimate activities, personal or domestic, are generally excluded from exhibition areas.” (Pedrosa: 79)

For this project, it was not my intention to explore the borders or limits of intimacy and touch, though these will be very important components of my graduate project and thesis.

The sensory qualities of the skin-like fabrics were examined by the participants: touch, colour, and sound. They were invited to interact, express and perform inside and outside the skin fabrics individually and with other participants, in a darkened space where ambient music and skin/body related images was projected. Participants were also provided with red and pink glow sticks to further explore the kine[s]kins.

In an early project overview, I mapped out the interconnected concepts I wanted to explore.

Originally, I had planned to create a larger skin-like structure that could be entered, similar to a tent, reminiscent of Ernesto Neto's sculptures. Three factors led me to scale down the initiative and to concentrate on a smaller skin-like membrane. One limiting factor was cost. I scoured fabric shops and came across fabric that was composed of 80% nylon and 20% spandex. It had the colour, stretch and transparency I was looking for, but at a price: $15.00 per metre for the stronger, more robust mesh; $10.00 per metre for the thinner fabric; both types were 1.5 metres wide.

To create the structure I had in mind, I would require about 20 metres. The cost was prohibitive. The second deterrent was the actual sewing of the fabric. At first, I thought that I could do this by hand using a needle and polyester thread which had been recommended by the fabric store salesperson. However, once I tried a few stitches, I realized that I did not have the skill nor the time to build such a structure in t ime for the showing. Even when a friend helped me sew a smaller, wearable structure, it required several hours of dedicated measuring, cutting, assembly and machine stitching to complete. The third factor was finding a space to work on and set up a large structure, once sewed together. In order for the sculpture to stand freely, long supporting fabric appendages attached to the structure would need to be slung over a ceiling-mounted grid, acting as an anchor, a counterweight.

After discussing these issues with my instructor, I decided that, for the purposes of this project and the follow-up directed studies module, I would not build too large a structure, but would still try to explore the inherent concepts. Time, money and energy would best be dedicated at a later date to constructing a larger structure for the graduate project.

Visual elements

Images from the author's series of Cibachrome photographs showing projections onto a human body as well as bodies wrapped in translucent fabric were projected in random order on the white walls of the darkened room. As well, a series of impressionistic images depicting droplets of water, tree bark, branches and coloured leaves represented interpretations of skin, blood and veins. The slideshow projection involved zooming and panning each image in order to create movement. This worked particluarly well since the images of projections onto skin were projected onto fabric skins whose shapes constantly morphed.

Pink and red glow sticks provided luminous epidermal props for the interactors.

Musical elements

Ambient music was selected to create a relaxing, unobtrusive, hypnotic, rhythmic and pulsating soundscape, providing stimulation and enhancement to the visual elements and to the participants' expressive and performative experience.

#	Artist	Song	Album
1	Brian Eno	Theme from 'Creation'	Sonoro Portraits
2	Ray Lynch	The Oh of Pleasure	In Search of Angels
3	Peace Orchestra (featuring Hubert Tubbs)	Who Am I? (Animatrix Edit)	Animatrix: The Album.
4	Massive Attack	Heat Miser	Escapes II
5	Photek	Ren 2	Animatrix: The Album

Impressions of the kinesthetic event

The interactors seemed eager to engage with the fabrics. Moving inside, outside and around the fabric skins, they explored personal and shared spaces, spontaneously expressing themselves and responding to the fabric and the other interactors within the visual and auditory environment: reclining, crouching, twisting, nesting, stretching, pulling, pushing, suspending, rolling, wrapping, touching, gliding, caressing, dancing, ... The interactions with the fabrics were sensory and sometimes sensuous. One could see fabric folds being stretched, released and caressed, hear sounds of hands gliding and exclamations of pleasure at finding a special space or at seeing light patterns and shadows through and on the skin fabrics. One could see luminous red arteries against the participants' skin and the glow of dancing fireflies.

Participants were invited to write their impressions and reflections regarding the sensory, spatial and kinetic aspects of the kine[s]kins:

I was very impressed with the strength and plasticity of the "skins". I spent much of my time pulling and stretching it over the other participants. No one complained about being squeezed or compressed no matter how hard I stretched it.

I was fascinated with how the others responded to the constantly changing shapes. The skin with the interior and exterior parts was confusing and I liked it that way. I still don't fully understand how it was sewn together. Creating these kinds of cloth puzzles could have interesting possibilities. ~ RG

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-the material and the feeling of the fabric was very important. I was looking for a relationship between the images and the fabric other then the visual
- the relationship with the others in the space and the sharing of experience was innovating and helped me discover other avenues ~JS

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- touch and flow
- loved the red insert (the tongue of the piece)
- immediate access to play - 'behavioural permission' implicit
- people's bodily movement shifted from the vertical and linear to the horizontal and circular
- visuals highly effective on the fabric - colour scheme very visceral ~SK

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Reflections on future explorations

Some of the following will provide the opportunity to extend the exploration of some of these concepts in the follow-up Directed Studies 691 module:

inner spaces	>>>>>> skin <<<<<<	outer spaces
enter envelop encase penetrate nest engulf encase pull in curl contract confine wrap	fuse meld integrate incorporate separate form relationship	free emerge escape exit move out extend expand push out stretch

	Every object has a skin. Thick or thin, smooth or rough, porous or impermeable, the skin is the line between a hidden interior and an exterior we experience.
	(Lupton: n.p.)

	"Kin" refers to kinesis, which is movement; "aesthesis" refers to senses. Kinesthesis (also spelled kinaesthesis) has been called our "movement sense" and has been cited as a sense that unites all the others. It is related to the movement of the muscles, tendons, and joints. [...] This module takes an embodied and kinetic approach to space. What we might consider to be spatial structures beyond or "outside" our bodies are juxtaposed with the structures of our physical bodies.
	(Kozel: n.p.)

	Intimacy is private, restricted, reduced and deep. It is very close to us, usually inside closed spaces. Intimacy is familiar, affective, sheltering, it makes us feel good, at home. We always expect intimacy to provide us with some kind of complicity or confidence. Sometimes, we find sexual or love traces in intimacy, like in intimate relationships, for example, and hence the need for caresses, tokens of love and penetration, intimacy always requires touching.
	(Pedrosa: 79)


The nimble fingers of Anne, a seamstress/quiltmaker friend, turn fabric into wearable skin.