Pins and Needles
Wearable exhibits
This work is a replication of the Ragierra Headdress from Lombardy (Italy) — a set of 15 or more silver hair pins worn by Italian women daily in the 1800s as part of their dowry.
While viewing a wearable object in a museum how can you put yourself in the shoes of the wearer without actually wearing it? One way would be to allow for a tactile experience — to be able to physically touch and feel the object. Alternatively, how would it feel to touch sound/be touched by sound instead? Could complementing the thorny visual with both sonic and tactile components evoke the feeling of being in pain?
This object in space thus seeks to be a visceral interpretation of physical pain- triggering prickly sensations through a combination of sight, sound and touch.
In collaboration with Zhiqiang Li as an experimental project with the Victoria and Albert museum, London
To begin with we had a very short time at the V&A museum to pick an object from the collection that we would like to replicate sonically. This particular artefact spoke to us.
As a woman I instantly recognised the -
Burden
of the crown
We began to map similarities in form, exploring the object through symbolism. What came up constantly were the terms — Beauty and Pain.
We recorded the sounds of grooming- of brushing hair, it sounded like the sea. We listened to the amplified sounds through the headphones. What would happen if we could throw this private experience open?
We had trouble getting the sounds to amplify like we had hoped for, however it worked as an interesting prototype.Ultimately with materials available to us we created a rather menacing dressing table of sorts- likened by many to an electric chair.
It served the vibe we were going for — of Beauty and Pain.
