GRAIL
THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE
PROJECT AIMS
AN INDEPENDENT PROJECT EXPLORING THE POWER HELD BY THE FEMALE BODY IN VARIOUS CONTEMPORARY SPACES.
GRAIL AIMS TO DECONSTRUCT THE CONCEPT OF ‘BODY AUTONOMY VERSUS BODY OBJECTIFICATION’ THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF PERFORMANCE AND VR.
Q1
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE FEMALE BODY TO REMAIN AUTONOMOUS IN THE CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC SPACE?
Q2
ISHOW CAN A NEW FORM OF PERFORMANCE BE IMPLEMENTED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE POWER IS GIVEN TO THE PERFORMER INSTEAD OF THE SPECTATOR?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
EXPLORED THEMES
Body Autonomy in the Digitized Space.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder on the Social Scene.
The Dressed Digital Body: Between Freedom and Restriction.
The Cult of Shame in the Contemporary Female Culture.
INVESTIGATE AN URGENT AND EMERGING CONTEXT
APPEARANCE ANXIETY & BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER
IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT AN AVERAGE OF 2.4% OF THE WORLDWIDE POPULATION SUFFERS FROM BODY- DYSMORPHIC DISORDER.
CONCEPT
THE GRAIL IS A METAPHOR SYMBOLIZING A GREATLY DESIRED AND SOUGHT AFTER OBJECTIVE, WHICH NO ONE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO FIND. ON THE CONTINUOUS JOURNEY TO PHYSICAL PERFECTION, THE BODY BECOMES A VESSEL FOR CHANGE, UNDERGOING RESTRICTIONS, ELIBERATION AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN.
THEREFORE, GRAIL IS AN IMMERSIVE PROJECT WHICH AIMS TO EXPLORE HOW THE CULT OF BEAUTY INHERITED THROUGHOUT HISTORY INFLUENCES THE CONSCIOUS AND SUBCONSCIOUS RESTRICTIONS WHICH WOMEN PLACE ON THEIR BODIES.
Susan Grabel’s Venus Cycle
Henry Moore Sculpture
THE CORSET HAS BEEN SCANNED AND RENDERED IN POLYCAM AND THEN IMPORTED AS AN FBX INTO UNREAL ENGINE.
THE AIM IS TO DESIGN AN IN-PERSON SET-UP FOR THE GRAIL EXHIBITION, WHERE THE VISITORS WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE CORSET ROTATING ON THE STAGE USING A VR HEADSET.
Barbara Hepworth’s Sculpture on Motherhood
COLLABORATION
UNLIKELY STUDIOS IS A DESIGN STUDIO PRODUCING COSTUMES FOR PERFORMANCE SHOWS, THEATRE AND TV. I CHOSE TO COLLABORATE WITH MATTI AND DANIELE ON THE CORSET DUE TO THEIR FINE UNDESTANDING OF BODY ANATOMY, SCULPTING AND PERSONA DICHOTOMY BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND CHARACTER.
ALTHOUGH THE CORSET GIVES THE IMPRESSION OF A WET SILHOUETTE, THE REAL TEXTURE HAS A VERY HARD STRUCTURE.
I WANTED TO WORK ON A CORSET WHICH SYMBOLISES AN ARMOUR AND JUXTAPOSES THE RESTIRCTION AND LIBERATION STANDING AS A LEIT-MOTIF OF THE PROJECT.
