Changing Aesthetics

This project emerged as an outcome of the dialogues with the materials of the situation (Schön, 1983) that emerged in the previous projects, Dyeing with food waste and Mordant and direct printing in layers. Contrary to those, the Changing aesthetics project did not involve practical material explorations, as the aim was to address and discuss the concept of changing aesthetics. Traditionally, changing aesthetics are an inherent part of the intangible mechanisms of the fashion world. Fashion does not change and replace itself unless aesthetic preferences change. Fast fashion contributes to intensifying the speed of preference changes through business models focused on rapidly changing trends and novelty value. Therefore, changing aesthetics contribute to creating some of the same practices that establish fashion as an “ontologically designed unsustainability” (Fry, 2007). In this project, the research team
adopted a speculative approach and discussed and reflected on perceptions and ontologies related to clothing to explore the potential of changing aesthetics as a contribution, and not a hurdle, to “ontologically designed sustainability” (Fry, 2007) and thereby as a contribution to the green transition.