Taffeta

Taffeta, sewable conductive wire, led, micro-controllers, el-wire, batteries, clothes, jewels, 2017

A neighborhood perceived as insufficiently lit by its inhabitants in Prato, Italy, is the starting point of this project. The feeling of darkness was associated by the residents with insecurity and crime: the people who lived there felt essentially abandoned by the local authorities. So I conducted a workshop on wearable technologies and we developed and sewed clothes and accessories together, as a personal and collective response to the feeling of fear and discouragement.

The work consists of dresses with lights and sensors, and some accessories. The favorite clothes and jewels of the eight women who took part in the process were the starting point of the collective work: together we learned to design and sew wearable LEDs, conductive thread and flexible circuits. The whole process was very engaging and fun.

The final works were worn by the women during the opening night of the Piazza dell’Immaginario exhibition, for which the work was conceived.

The exhibition is part of Piazza dell’Immaginario, a multi-year project by Dryphoto Arte Contemporanea, Prato, curated by Alba Braza, that conceives contemporary art as a way to involve people coming from any part of the world and from any cultural social and economic background.