A Knot Dress to Encapsulate Its Maker’s Wish

Abstract

This practice-led research is aimed at the creation of a garment containing the maker’s wish to transfer powerful energy to the wearer. Using autoethnography as a method, this article is based on my journal. Free-hand experimenting leads to a knot which, unintentionally, conveys the impression of a bold embodiment of energy; this is then consciously developed into a dress meant to establish a strong material connection between maker and wearer. The knot sets the maker-garment-wearer relationship in an ambiguous position, that is, between the visible and the invisible. The knot’s hidden folds and structure constitute a node of energy for the realization of thought, a notion paralleled by the fact that knots are frequently used in magic. As a garment maker and researcher, I have explored the materialization of intention through design and making; here, the knot is the perfect embodiment of my wish to communicate unseen energy to the visible world through the creation of an extraordinary dress.

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