living in the (social media) moment
What does it mean to live in the moment? Is ‘art for the gram’ a sacrilege to artisan practices and craftsmanship - or are we simply moving in harmony with technology and thus questioning artform? We chatted with emerging creatives Shoemandan & Yousaiditalready about living in the (social media) moment, and how they utilize the digital world to break & question boundaries.
AUTODESTRUCTIVE SHOE: @shoemandan
Our conversation with Dan was fruitful and fun; skimming and delving into many areas such as small town life to to his first ever (amazing) shoe. We loved his sustainable practices and values he has kept since making this shoe at 14; upcycling his mum's old heels into otherworldly pieces.
However, one topic kept coming back - the focus around his ‘Autodestructive Shoe’ We were really intrigued to know the story behind it as ‘that shoe is honestly like one of my favourite shoes I've ever made and it's funny because now it doesn't really exist’ - Dan
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“Yeah it's almost an idea - it's just a video now. So I think it's really interesting, our relationship with art and where it meets fashion, but also especially shoes. We think of clothes more like that.... It's always historically been an art piece and an art form, like a higher standard."
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"but shoes, they were always meant to be worn. They're always on the ground - it's always at the bottom right? I'd like to push the idea. If it's art, if it's a shoe - what's in between?”
Touching upon our ‘throwaway society’, Dan picked at the problem with fast fashion and durable shoes built to last:
“we throw our shoes away but you know, it's kind of like a juxtaposing of ideas that it was only made to be destroyed. But a lot of our normal shoes are technically only made for a few wears because they're not crafted so well.” - Dan
From this, we then moved onto the topic of digital influence & CGI in the fashion world - is a good or bad thing?
"I don't know, it's kind of a grey area in fashion. As someone who loves craft and making, it's almost sad for me that these pieces were never realised, but then on the other hand, no, we need to stop producing and stop buying bulk, right? That's really the only answer to sustainability is to kind of like stop for a bit, or even like stop the production from the top altogether. So it's kind of like,
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is that the solution: to buy nothing?".
We then travelled across the globe from Dan in Toronto, to the abnormal forms and stirring performance art of @yousaiditalready aka YSIA - a contemporary artist based in Australia. Taking an almost reversed approach - YSIA acknowledges the motion of an object and thus presents functionality as performance art. We had the pleasure of accompanying a word journey of her fascinating thought process…
"Inspiration is mobility
Inspiration in it's malleability
I always wanted to do more than just talk to myself, refer to my self
I have many thoughts but I don't think people need to see them
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Cut up the steel rod and turn them into wearable slugs basically
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Express delivery, ordering what you want to order, seeing what you want to see is all, is everything"
Anything is doable or makeable
By exploring the ethereal possibilities of 'in the moment' online art - YSIA proves that whatever you want (in that moment) possible, there are no boundaries. This is brought to life in Shoe Shells, a curious concept YSIA has been experimenting with over the past year. Ranging from fabric to cardboard, scootering to puppeteering - YSIA recognises the objects as ‘becoming of themselves’ by taking on their own physical journey:
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"The ongoing dissertation breaks open partially trodden holes.
Conceived consequentially of a walk"
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Again, leading on from this reversed approach of functionality art, there is evident room for more ‘becoming of’ products:
"And what functionally feeds out of this are; shoe shells, tops, belts, bits & drawing shoes".
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We can't wait to witness what further objects YSIA brings to life.
SHOE SHELL PUPPETEERING - YSIA
So with this, our exploration through 'living in the (social media) moment' has not only seen us question the good, bad and ugly of both consumerism & technology - but perhaps social media as a platform of excessive boundaries. Is the answer to stop consumption and live more digitally focused? Or alternatively can we embrace the functionality of an object - acknowledge its wear & therefore its journey.
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We would love to hear your thoughts on this controversial topic.