SSHRC funding for cloTHING(s)
clothing(s) as conversation is an interdisciplinary research initiative founded by Associate Professor Hélène Day Fraser (MAA ’08) and Keith Doyle, Adjunct Research Associate, seeks to broaden contemporary perspectives of the clothing we wear. In June 2014, the pair successfully secured a three-year, $185, 000, Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada grant to pursue the project.
Rather than limiting garments to creating statements, linked to who we wish to be, what we do, who we are, and where we feel we belong, Hélène and Keith are exploring the possibilities of clothing as conversation. To date the cloTHING(s) as conversation team at Emily Carr, made up of students, designers, artists, and engineers, has conducted a range of material and form studies, through weaving, unconventional clothing construction, 3D printing, and wearable circuits. In situ explorations of worn artifacts and vestiture in social spaces are key to this work. Using conversation as a focal point provides a unique approach to design research that is relevant to sustainability in the garment trade, social innovation and developments in wearable technology.
Hélène Day Fraser is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Design and Dynamic Media. She holds a MAA in Design and BAA in Fashion and has 15 years of garment industry experience. Hélène’s work encompasses the domain of critical design exploring sustainable consumption and textile form interfaces with technology.
Keith Doyle is an adjunct research associate in Applied Arts. He holds a BFA and MFA in Sculpture and has taught in Visual Art and Material Practice as well as Design and Dynamic Media. Keith is a founding faculty member of Material Matters, a material research cluster within the Intersections Digital Studios at Emily Carr. He is a co-creator of ContainR, a public design work of repurposed shipping containers featuring 48 films from around the world. Keith has been a resident artist at ACME Studios in London UK, and at the Banff New Media Institute.
