Kimie Okinoi
'Recycle'
The stand - expanded polystyrene, aluminium foil, acrylic poles, wood
This was a big challenge for me, as I had never experienced working with unusual manmade materials. My favourite choices of materials had until then been mostly from natural origin, such as, wool, silk, cotton, etc. This was also my first experience of making a thread for knitting out of items that were designed for a completely different purpose. I struggled more than usual handling this strange material, but it turned into an interesting experience.
The dress is made of audiocassette tapes. I spun tapes into yarn and knitted with it. The fabric is very sensitive to heat, and increases its tension in response to it. The appearance is unusually light and soft, helped by the shiny effect on flat surface of the plastic tapes. The choice of knitting method - netting stitches - encouraged those qualities even more.
The cape is made of videotape. It has a circular shape which twists on itself. It is positioned by wrapping it around the dress.
'Recycle' completely changes the original function and visual appearance of the materials used, allowing two different entities - the 'Tapes' and the 'Dress' to co-exist side by side, as process and product.