Alternate Endings | Project Proposal
Milan Public Design Festival | April 2009
Two sewing machines and a large roll of brightly colored fabric will be set up in the project space with two tailors. A different colored fabric will be chosen for each day of the festival. The tailors will replicate the clothes worn by visitors to the space using the fabric provided for the day, copying exactly the cut and style. Once these replicas are finished, they will be given to the visitors as gifts to wear. Participants are invited to return to the streets of Milan wearing their new monochromatic costumes or stay in the space and socialize with each other.
Each new garment is identical to the original in every detail besides color and material, giving its wearer an arbitrary new identity but at the same time preserving some traces of individuality. On the last day of the festival, everyone who has participated in the project are invited to turn up for a party around the project space in their new costume. They can play games, dance, read or picnic, all the while being subtly regulated by the color they are wearing. Through the way the costumes alter and extend the participants’ relationship to the outside world and each other, Alternate Endings seeks to explore the process through which group and individual identities are constructed. The project also borrows from the idea of art as a gift, and is designed to facilitate social exchange.
Theme of the Competition (extract from the open call)
The competition consists of the planning of an intervention on a urban parking area (2×5m). Different kinds of projects may be presented - i.e. installations, communication projects, community services, actions, urban furniture items.
The projects presented will have to deal with the theme of public spaces following to the guide lines listed below:
• winning back public space
• public spaces as places where people meet, socialize, interact, integrate, and experiment
• public spaces as a place where people develop a feeling of belonging to a community or to a group
• the development of new solutions - creative, temporary, or experimental solutions to the problems of the city
• the development of new ways to use public spaces
Call for Collaborators
Roles:
I’m looking for a costume maker/fashion designer/artist based either in L.A. or Italy who is a skillful tailor to collaborate with on this project. The ability to quickly construct a close copy of what someone is wearing is important. This person will be acknowledged as an artistic collaborator and be accordingly credited each time the piece is shown or published. The festival will take place in the center of Milan from 18th to 26th of April and be expected to receive a lot of publicity. For non-Italian collaborators, this is a great opportunity to see Milan for free, as well as having your work seen by a lot of people in one of the greatest fashion centers in the world.
I am also looking for anyone based in Italy who doesn’t necessarily have the skills needed but who is interested in collaborating nevertheless. Mainly I’m looking for an Italian/English translator in charge of interacting with the public and introducing them to the ideas behind the project. This person assumes a crucial role in the project and will also be accordingly credited. Please feel free to email me to express your interest. You don’t have to commit for the entirety of the festival.
Compensation:
I will be offering free accommodation during the festival. Accommodation will either be at the Designer House (http://www.designpubblico.it/galleri/vgallery.php?id=14) or through the festival’s bed sharing system (http://www.bedsharing.org/). I will be able to offer partial or full coverage of the flight for the costume maker/fashion designer/artist depending on his or her level of experience. My collaborator will also be given full access to events at the festival.
Timeline:
The festival takes place from the 18th to the 26th April. I will be in Milan from the 14th to 17th to set up the installation and remain for the duration of the festival until 27th. Although my collaborators do not need to stay for the entirety of the festival, more commitment is preferred.
Contact:
Please email me to express your interest as soon as possible if you are L.A. based. I want to confirm tickets before April 5th.
nova.jiang@gmail.com