Stitch & Sculpt

Δ I recorded and produced a series of experimental sound sculptures created from the visual images, representation and physical measurements of the female body shape. In particular, the sculpted female body shape as created by the wearing of heavily boned corsets throughout the course of history, right through to the present day. Images of corsets, corset patterns, internal organs and bones were scanned into Metasynth to produce sounds. I also recorded myself stitching a variety of seams and corset bones into fabrics on a sewing machine. Exploration of the mathematical construction of the corset, the effect it had/has on the body and also the displacement and constriction of internal organs was implemented. I also deconstructed the representation of the social and physical restrictions of women who wore corsets. I took the concept to the present day obsession of body image, cosmetic surgery and the obsession with attaining a size Zero, and developed an algorithmic syntax based on female body sizes, measurements and Pythagoras theorem. After intertwining all of these elements in a creative manner using extensive DSP processing new sounds were sculpt from my original sewing machine recordings. In addition to the images scanned and processed in Metasynth, I also used Ableton Live 7 to apply body size algorithms to my recordings, and warped and weaved the sounds using various samplers and audio effects. The results are the following 8 tracks. I would like to thank the following for allowing me to use their images in both my sound and design work. V&A Images Victoria and Albert Museum, London. “Images provided courtesy of Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; 2007.”