In Year 3, we were told to construct a kimono and decorate it in anyway we wanted. Be it, flower prints, animal prints, tribal prints via acrylics, watercolors or oils, or even using a collage-style technique and pasting different materials on top. The main question was: what represented you? What type of kimono can portray one’s character, personality, likes and dislikes? I listed out what I loved, or at least, things in society that meant much to me. The idea of consumerism then came in.
In this day and age, it seems like the world has progressed so much that labels and brands fill up almost every part of our lives. Especially because I am a teen that has spent most of my life living in Singapore, a much celebrated urbanised society itself, it is mostly natural that labels and brands would constitute much if my life. Truth be told, I do not even know whether to support or oppose consumerism. I just feel that the world has become so commercialized that people are forgetting about how traditional they used to be and how these various brands and labels have brought to so much effect in their lives.
Thus, by making this “print” or pattern/motif for this kimono, I seek to highlight the importance and the impact these individual brands have in our lives. The kimono itself is already a piece of renowned piece of garment known by many and it represents the Japanese culture which is also highly-regarded as a commercialized and advanced nation. Hence, by using this “print” on a kimono, I think that my message can be clearly conveyed. Applying this idea of commercialism in particular to the context - Japan, it also makes logical sense.
Firstly, our teacher, Mr Stephen Robertson brought us step by step to the constructing of the template of the kimono. We were provided huge pieces of white paper, and we folded and taped the parts of the paper together using masking tape and using paper mache techniques. It was a long and tedious process that lasted for about 2-3 weekly 3-hour long AEP lessons as we had to measure that kimono properly and ensure that both sides (inclusive of the sleeves) are balanced, with the same length and all. We also had to blow-dry the kimono so that all the wet glue and tape will dry out.
When it was completed, we had to prime the paper with white emulsion paint, just like how people do when preparing a canvas for oil-painting. 2 coats of paint had to be applied which took much effort and time. Finally, the brainstorming of the design of the kimono came. The base colour (background) the medium and other aspects were some of the considerations that had to be undertaken. That was when the research started and the idea of commercialism struck me.
Well, the designs on the kimono are clearly logos of the various international brands in the world. They come from companies in the various industries, food, fashion and even television. Starbucks, Chanel and Glee are respective logos/trademarks of each of the industries listed above respectively. At first, I was thinking of how was I going to place these logos on the kimono itself. I wanted to make sure that the logos were as vivid (colours) and precise as possible. Hence, I explored various mediums such as oils and acrylics. Yet, I felt that by painting the logos, I could not give a sense of depth through contrasting textures on my kimono. I decided to look for a material that was bright and strong in colour, hat could be easily manipulated and gave a different texture. It was then I thought of using felt. Felt is like a cloth-like spongy material that could bring the surface of the kimono three-dimensionality. It was also bold in clear in color. It can be cut easily, stuck and assembled easily on the kimono itself, which was what I had been looking for. Thus, I searched for various colors of felt in the local art supplies store Artfriend and I found several colors of felt that I could use for the logos! I also sourced for felt in school and I was lucky as there were some pieces left in school that were unused. Some came in whole pieces while some were remnants. Still, I could colors that I wanted and I was ecstatic.
Basically, I printed out the logos and traced them onto the felt using chalk and cut each piece out with scissors (for dressmaking). This allowed precision and accuracy in the proportions of the logos. Thus, I could mimic the composition and orientation of the logos as much as possible. I cut out almost 20-30 different logos.
Again, I had to think about how I wanted to assemble these logos and form the “print” of the kimono. As the print itself was already quite modern, I wanted the orientation of the prints to be as traditional as possible, so as to connect the theme of commercialism to the theme of tradition. Thus, I researched on designs of traditional Japanese kimonos and also some Korean Hanboks. I was rather intrigued and influenced by how to flowers and sakura designs on the Hanboks of Korean royalty were composed. They seemed to cluster together at a particular part of the robe and as such equal amounts of positive and negative space is created. Boh sides of the robe are also relatively balanced and symmetrical. As seen from the kimono I have created, I used the Korean Hanbok ideas on my kimono’s front.
For the back, I wanted the composition to be slightly more complex, and I wanted to include a human inside to draw a link between logos (its effects) and mankind. By including a person on the back of the kimono, this link can be drawn. The person I have chosen was from the newspapers and he seems to be looking up which was why I chose him and placed him at the bottom of the robe. Thus, by placing the logos on top of him, it can be seen like he is thinking of the commercial brands and influenced by these brands. Or one can view this with another perspective like he is surrounded by commercialism in his life. Looking at the scale of the logos compared to him, the logos are so much bigger in size and numbers, which suggests like he is “drowning” in urbanisation and so influenced by it.
This is the whole point of this kimono - Commercialism and Human.
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