ARTICLE
The Suspended Inversion
First things first, Why Wánjù? Well, before we jump that far ahead, let us start at the beginning, back when the coronavirus was just getting its notoriety, and I was hiding away in a loft apartment in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In that 7x7m studio, my garment-making journey had started to fester, and ideas were being thrown around when I happened upon a video of a Chinese finger trap on social media (the finger trap is a simple puzzle that traps the victim's fingers (often the index fingers) in both ends of a small cylinder woven from bamboo. Something about watching the weave spread apart and then stack under tension caused a penny to drop, a lightbulb to flicker on, and boom. "What if I could make a skirt that follows the same principle so when it would be flipped over, it wouldn't fall over your head?" The concept lay dormant for some time until I came back across the channel to Wales and discovered a funding opportunity from the Arts council Wales called 'Create'. As a professional circus artist, my mind naturally goes to potential uses in circus, and the principle of this research concept came about when I visualised this gravity-defying skirt held in suspension, highlighting and emphasising the suspension of balancing a handstand. As ideas began to merge, the project started to take shape, and by December 2021, I had a solid vision in my mind of what I wanted to do. And so began the Wánjù Concept. So what is the Wánjù Concept? The project is a research and development 'work in progress' looking into utilising engineering mechanisms from toys (or Wánjù for those of you who speak Mandarin) and re-engineering their 'gravity-defying' mechanics to construct wearable art for use in physical performance. This will be featured in an interactive, immersive exhibition that contains live performances showcasing the skirts and the whole process in how this all came about. But why Wánjù and not just 'Toys'? As a child, I grew up around international students, the majority of them studying in English centres in preparation for attending university in and across the United Kingdom. From all of my interactions and years of experience, it came to my attention that the Chinese students particularly found it difficult to integrate with British culture simply because it was so far from theirs. I always wanted to create something that embraced an underrepresented community, and this is what guided my proposal to make this event truly accessible to the Chinese students in South Wales. The project aims to create an art event (and hopefully more in the future) that is accessible to the Chinese community in South Wales whilst not being directly linked to Chinese influences. This is an important note as I believe in true integration and want to create interesting events that cater to a wider range of people living locally but that are of interest to anyone who likes circus and fashion. Sustainable fashion over fast fashion We are all aware of fast fashion being a global problem, and yet sometimes you catch yourself being lured into the convenience of just grabbing something from a large label that works around the fast fashion model. Since I started taking garment creation more seriously and worked with a few clients for custom-made costumes, the idea of sustainability within my work has manifested into something I feel very strongly about. But the ways in which we approach these issues, I think, can go beyond the standard we are all familiar with now (I'm talking about secondhand clothing or paying a premium to get garments that use materials from sustainable sources). I wanted to shake things up by injecting another alternative to fight this whole model. What about clothing created with recycled and repurposed materials, such as chocolate wrappers? That is exactly what I have been doing over the past few months. From a study conducted by the 'Big Plastic Count 2022,' involving 97,948 UK households, only 12% of plastic was recycled. This figure was then translated to an estimated 1.85 billion pieces of plastic packaging being thrown away weekly across the British Isles, which is shocking. Doing my bit, one chocolate bar at a time. As a means to counter this (even if it's in a small way), together with Paul Evans from Soaring Supersaurus, we created a flexible, sewable material out of shredded foil-lined plastic. Think crisp packets, chocolate wrappers and ground coffee bags, cleaned, shredded, and heat pressed to create a 'fabric'. I then constructed the very first Chinese finger trap-inspired, woven skirt using this material which will be featured at my exhibition in November 2022. Following on from that, I started to think, 'How else can I use plastic in clothing'. Of course I pushed synthetics straight to the 'no-go' side as that brings its own problems. But instead, I looked into 3D-printed elements that can be used within garment construction. 3D printing is a remarkable tool that has extremely minimal waste as it prints exactly what is designed, unlike traditional garment making, using patterns to cut the custom designs for each project from stock fabric (creating a varying amount of fabric waste). Printing from plants So I bought one, a 3D printer, that is, for two reasons. The first was a functional one, as I needed a way to source custom pieces in order to make the mechanisms that will be integrated into the skirts, but secondly, because I was shown the path to the wonderful 'rPLA.' PLA or Polylactic Acid is a 100% bio-sourced plastic that can be composted in the right conditions and is the most popular material used in 3D printing due to its durability, stability when printing, and how lightweight it is. The 'r' stands for 'recycled', following a process that shreds leftover PLA and melts it back into a liquid state to then be extruded into renewed filament. So together, a pretty good option! And what is an even more compelling concept is that the future of composite filaments is only going to improve and develop. Conversations are already being had and work is being done in the development of filaments that contain fibres of many kinds. What this means is that in the future (hopefully near), we may be able to 3D print clothing with little to no waste out of all of the fabrics we know and love. An even more crazy concept is the thought of being able to purchase a garment online and then directly have it printing in your own home. The future of fashion construction Wearable art is a term I use to describe my garments being featured in the Wánjù Concept, as it best encompasses the creativity and innovative nature of these pieces. But I am willing to put good money on the rise of these types of concepts and creations within the fashion world as a whole. Fashion as a principle that aims to create worlds that the consumer can fantasise about. It pushes new concepts into the spotlight season after season, and as a creative myself, I see this as an opportunity to diversify the already diverse industry and innovate further within the products we use every day. The Wánjù Concept is one step into this world of functional, sustainable, engineered fashion and believe you me, I won't be stopping any time soon. Wánjù in the Spotlight The garments being created as part of the Wánjù Concept aims to achieve the dissection of a fusion of art forms. Each element that has gone into their creation references multiple ideas and points of interest across varying industries. But the core of all of this work lies within the application in physical performance. Within the exhibition, together with Gemma Creasey (a fellow circus artist), we aim to experiment and create a performance that showcases this wearable art through the medium of circus. Following a week-long residency at NoFit State Circus, we will develop movement research that places a spotlight on these garments and trials ideas that could be used within a larger performance following the exhibition. References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_finger_trap https://pebblemag.com/news/the-big-plastic-count
Translation by Chinese in Wales Association & Rhian Halford
THE PHOTOS
Photography by Mark Robson
SUPPORTED BY
Funded by
Arts Council Wales
THE EVENT
Expect the unexpected
- In this unique event featuring performances and immersive
installations at NoFit State’s venue in the beautiful welsh
capital. The Wánjù Concept is a collection of work that takes
you on a journey, all the way from the very first lightbulb
moment and the casual ‘what if?’ conversation, to gravity-
defying wearable art for use in circus performance. The event
will showcase three carefully engineered skirts that have been
crafted from recycled, repurposed and environmentally
conscious materials, fusing mechanical elements with garment
creation.
Wánju in NoFït State
Wánju in the Capïtol
Collaborations
Gemma Creasy |Circus Performer, and Model for the ‘Wánjù Concept’.
Mark Robson|Cardiff-based photographer specialising in Circus. www.ineptgravity.com
Stefano Palazzi | Wooden Toy Automaton maker, based in Bristol. PenlanCrafts on Etsy and Instagram.
Nino Young | Nino is an abstract artist based in Cardiff, her work mainly focuses on the relation between art, music and texture. @ninobeano
Paul Evans | Founder of Flying Diplodocus & Soaring Supersaurus, a company that works with art, sustainability and community. www.soaringsupersaurus.com
Sharon Kostini | Founder of Alienated Magazine Wales, based in Cardiff (https://www.alienatedmagazine.org.uk) @alienated.mag. She’s also Creative Director and Patron of promoting African Arts in Wales. sharonkostini.com @sharonitakostini & @kostinistyle.
Rhian Halford | Experienced Circus Tutor and fluent Welsh speaker from Cardiff, who feels alive when swimming in the sea.https://m.facebook.com/rhiancircuscymru/ | https://rhiancircus.wordpress.com/