Amanda Blake

Self Containment-Topia

This work is a speculative experiment to answer the question: can you define a life as it is being lived? The garment present does this by forming a closed loop with the body, as it connects the head, hands and feet of the wearer (the areas through which we interact with the world the most). The wearing of the garment is a deliberate practice of rest; a supposed “gold standard” of being able to fully embody the self. The success of this garment is never to be cemented, as a case has to be formed in order to document its life. The small sketch of the garment being worn by an invisible body, as a kind of curio, is further evidence of the life this garment will once have, but it too, has to be contained within this larger body. The case extends and shortens the life of the garment. Its red colour spills into its surroundings; its shape and size do not fit into a familiar structure of personal or social use. The top of the case is void, and any tangible content exists within a single drawer, whose surface is matched with the top, levelling them onto one plane of display. The expectation of the garment, while it is in the case, is unfulfilled; it cannot contain what we think of as a body. The display case can contain its expected object/body, but then itself exists as a body without a home. The colours, textures, varying surfaces, and the withheld information about the garment in this work are all meant to play with a need for an answer to self containment that sharpens and dulls throughout our lives.