Love Triangle
Body language psychology claims that feet always point where they wish to go: In a situation of desire both feet point directly at the object of attraction. Elderfield describes this as "expressing the thoughts, feeling and wants..otherwise than by words" (Greenspun P6)
In artefact 'Love Triangle' these invisible lines are materialised, connecting male and female feet together in a physical sense. The shoes act as symbolic objects for imbedding autobiographical emotional narrative. Archetypal shoe forms, generic in nature prevent detraction from deeper references, their familiarity and emptiness also allowing for self projection by the audience. Shoes can be very powerful symbolic objects, as can the image of the stiletto as a historical social and sexual symbol; which talks of power influence of many kinds. The classic Oxford shoe and Chukka boot are purposely non descriptive as if to create anonymity. These are shoes ingrained in footwear's history and in such create homage to past traditions and craftsmanship within progressive conceptual practice. Traditional cordwainer skills were pushed to the limits using extreme leather lasting; stretching and forming over hand built wooden structures. After weeks of the leather taking on a new material memory, wooden lasts were removed in the final stages to create completely hollow self-supporting forms. CAD, CAM and 3D printing technologies were also employed in the creation and prototyping of the Twisted Stiletto resulting in a twisted wooden last to build the shoe around. This forms the secondary element of ‘Love Triangle’ where the fixed triangular position opens to create an exiting phase. The Twisted Stiletto’s disturbance of structure acts as a warning sign, suggestive that one instable relationship might lead to another, it also alludes to the relationship between fashion and disguise. The Twisted Stiletto is an observational commentary on the potential disparity between mental and physical states when presenting oneself to others through dress in dating, inspired by social observations of the Tinder generation. The artefact could be described as a dysfunctional functional object which can be both void of the body or embodied by a wearer. The red in the work presents both negative and positive paradox associated to love and relationships with the self and others.
In artefact 'Love Triangle' these invisible lines are materialised, connecting male and female feet together in a physical sense. The shoes act as symbolic objects for imbedding autobiographical emotional narrative. Archetypal shoe forms, generic in nature prevent detraction from deeper references, their familiarity and emptiness also allowing for self projection by the audience. Shoes can be very powerful symbolic objects, as can the image of the stiletto as a historical social and sexual symbol; which talks of power influence of many kinds. The classic Oxford shoe and Chukka boot are purposely non descriptive as if to create anonymity. These are shoes ingrained in footwear's history and in such create homage to past traditions and craftsmanship within progressive conceptual practice. Traditional cordwainer skills were pushed to the limits using extreme leather lasting; stretching and forming over hand built wooden structures. After weeks of the leather taking on a new material memory, wooden lasts were removed in the final stages to create completely hollow self-supporting forms. CAD, CAM and 3D printing technologies were also employed in the creation and prototyping of the Twisted Stiletto resulting in a twisted wooden last to build the shoe around. This forms the secondary element of ‘Love Triangle’ where the fixed triangular position opens to create an exiting phase. The Twisted Stiletto’s disturbance of structure acts as a warning sign, suggestive that one instable relationship might lead to another, it also alludes to the relationship between fashion and disguise. The Twisted Stiletto is an observational commentary on the potential disparity between mental and physical states when presenting oneself to others through dress in dating, inspired by social observations of the Tinder generation. The artefact could be described as a dysfunctional functional object which can be both void of the body or embodied by a wearer. The red in the work presents both negative and positive paradox associated to love and relationships with the self and others.
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Maggie Weller
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