What can we learn from deconstructivism when upcycling unwanted garments (and other discarded things too, of course) is something I have previously written about.
Deconstrucivism has its roots in postmodern, semiotic philosophy, and is linked to the French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). To deconstruct is not to destroy. Deconstructing implies undoing something, which, in the case of upcycling garments could be the undoing of the trend-related look that makes the garment appear obsolete. Deconstruction implies breaking something down into parts in order to gain a thorough understanding of the components it is made up of.
In this article I will look further into the art of deconstruction, its architectural roots, and the beauty of hacking rejected garments.
Deconstructivism is not only linked to language and logical argumentation in philosophical texts, it is also known as a postmodern architectural movement.
This movement can be described as “anti-architecture” in the sense that it is characterised by distortion and fragmentation, as well as by deliberately stirring up the “common rules” of architecture that were manifested by modernist architects like Louis Sullivan (1856–1924) and in Le Corbusier’s (1887–1965) plea for “form to follow function” and strict purism.
Deconstructivism within architecture implies breaking down or demolishing a construction. The basic idea behind the movement, which was initially led by architects like Bernard Tschumi (b. 1944), Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), Frank Gehry (b. 1929), Daniel Liebeskind (b. 1946), and Peter Eisenman (b. 1932) in the 1980s, is to explore asymmetry and unpredictability without ruining the core functionality of the space. The result is characterised by fragmented constructions, and an absence of symmetry and harmony.
Similarly, the upcycling of clothes that used to be fashionable and now have been consumed and rejected might lead to “anti-design” in the sense that upcycled garments adhere to anti-trends rather than trends.
Anti-trendy upcycled clothes might, in order to embody longevity, explore unpredictability and asymmetry, seeking to arouse the curiosity of the recipient and appeal to her/his wish to engage in visual and tactile explorations.
An upcycled garment might be characterised by complexity and investigate the limits of what a piece of clothing can be and look like. The aesthetic receiver experience connected to it is characterised by being open and explorative.
The process of hacking discarded garments with the purpose of prolonging their lifespan and upgrade their value can beneficially make use of the explorative design-principles from architectural deconstructivism as well as the appeal to undo and deconstruct, which characterises philosophical deconstruction.
A large part of deconstructing cast-off apparel — that is still intact but is perceived as obsolete by the owner — is pinpointing the trend-based part of the product that has made its existence transitory. In that sense, deconstruction can be described as a sort of reverse engineering of an item: it involves dissecting it or splitting it up into its core components, and determining the trend-related, fleeting part of it, or the part or piece of it that doesn’t work anymore and makes it feel obsolete to the user. The obsolete part should then be removed, and the process of upcycling can begin, which involves reconstruction with the aim of creating a long-lasting, sustainable new object.
The part of a discarded piece of clothing that is perceived as obsolete might be its shape, its colour or colour combination, its trimmings, its fit, its silhouette, its composition, its material combination, or its texture. It might be related to its lack of flexibility or multifunctionality. Or, it might be linked to its blandness; if that is the case the notion on anti-design inspired by the architectonical deconstructivism might come in handy, which could involve working with asymmetry and distortion.
Whatever the perceived obsolescence is associated with, it is most likely linked to the fleeting nature of fashion trends that dictate a new look multiple times a year.
Disassembling garments that have been perceived as obsolete by their previous owners, exploring their elements or components, and thereafter re-establishing them as new explorative creations — akin to the deconstruction method of postmodern architectural — has the potential of providing the receiver with a seminal aesthetic experience, which could be described as sublime.
Hacked, deconstructed, and upcycled garments might cause a sublime aesthetic receiver-experience by being tactilely nourishing as a result of texture-variations, visually challenging due to asymmetry and complexity — and challenge the predominant use-and-throw-away mentality and cultural consensuses on what it means to be well-dressed and well- off.
Upcycled garments embody a new kind of luxury that revolves around creativity, uniqueness, and imperfections. Imperfections that radically upcycled garments express are not defects, and they don’t imply that something is malfunctioning. Upcycled garments are fully functional, imperfectly nourishing, challenging, and often asymmetrical.
One of the many benefits of upcycling discarded garments — as well as other objects — is that upcycled clothes can meet the rising consumer need for ethically produced goods as well as for creatively made, unique pieces without having to cost a fortune.
Upcycling is, in that sense, a more democratic kind of sustainability (which is a theme I investigated in this article) than designing with waste materials, as this typically (still) requires expensive technologies.
Upcycling can add to the rising prerequisite for a more value-based kind of luxury that apprizes handmade, innovative design-pieces, and can constitute a welcome antidote to overconsumption.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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