Fear in the Ruff
Historically,
aside from the halo and crown, the ruff can be considered the most fashionably
pretentious way to frame your head.
The bridges connecting the tops of our siamese towers hold the focus of this
year’s folly like chopsticks grabbing live eel. Constructed of starched
silk and tenuously perched 45 stories above the ground, these folding forms
often sway violently in the wind, intentionally heightening sensory stimuli.
However, our feelings of anxiety, fear and disparity turn to states of security,
hope and unity as the silk pleats caress our skin. The sharp creases in the
soft cloth are among the oppositions that attempt to make us question our translation
of sensation. In doing so, the ephemeral construction and the pictures it shelters
help us to perceive the unity inherent in paradox. Both diagrammatically and
experientially, the entire composition exposes us to the idea that the relative
interpretation of phenomena is indeed the way we experience the world and that
this interpretation can be consciously or subconsciously controlled. The central
Ruff contains this year’s straight shots, which are delicately secured
to the silk folds with drafting tape. The images continue to focus our perceptions
from the sharp to the soft as they fly away throughout the year.
