bodyinflation

[bodyinflation]

Me 'wearing' the capsule.

[bodyinflation]

Added in a hole to the inflatable structure so i can remain inside it and still have my head outside, as though I am 'wearing' it. Unlike clothes, there is a layer of space between me and the material, so I have no physical sensation of being encapsulated, only visual cues.

[bodyinflation]

Trying to understand the use of photography and video footage as a reflective tool. This is the inflation and deflation of the structure made of cotton poplin.

[bodyinflation]

This is a new inflatable capsule type structure I've made... obviously my initial tests with heavy black plastic were pretty uninspiring, this expands much better, and looks and expands interestingly. It is large enough for me to sit inside, which is an engaging experience as the fabric is just see-through enough to vague outlines, and of course I can still hear outside happenings, yet am seperate from everything. In my own little space. I played around with lighting, emphasising the floaty quality of the structure.

[bodyinflation]

Playing around with the idea of two layers pushing out from one another with the body inside, opposed to the body getting pressed beneath the inflated object. I like the see-through aspect of the material- the way that the hand can be seen, despite that it is physically separated from the rest of the space.

[bodyinflation]

This is only 23 minutes- the crystals kept expanded for a lot longer- up to the point that it is now a huge blob in my bathtub that is too heavy to lift. Throughout the expansion of the top I got to do a lot of what I do best in the bath- reflect. I reflected upon the thoughts and feelings that arose whilst the garment expanded around me. It struck me at one point that the top was absorbing my surroundings, that it was taking what was around me, and trapping it by my skin. Essentially is this what inflation does, takes the space around the body and places it next to the skin? I also thought about restriction and force, the water absorbing into the crystals, unlike air, is heavy and over time the weight became apparent as I felt it creep around my body. It wasn't much unlike having the inflated tube pressing against me, restricting me. It has lead me to two understandings of how inflation relates to the body- one, it makes us aware of bodies, embodying us, making us aware of our edges. The other understanding, which I intend to explore further using the fan technique of inflating objects, is of inflation that places space between our skin and material, thus giving us a whole other sensation.

[bodyinflation]

I was thinking about inflation in terms of putting pressure between two walls and pushing them apart, and I was thinking about other ways that I could push and expand an object and I decided to use 'water retaining crystals'. I think these are pretty neat, about the size of sugar, you put them into water and they expand two hundred times their size. So I I sewed two tops together, sewing the crystals into the lining, and hopped in the bath tub. The camera only filmed up to 23 minutes, but I think that will be enough to edit down and show the results! Coming soon....

[bodyinflation]

[bodyinflation]

Inflating a tube of plastic around my body was quite interesting- often climbing inside something inflatable is a nonrestrictive experience, however, by inflating the object around my body, it molds to it, adds pressure around it and constrains the body. I too found it interesting, the way the movement of my own body (pushing the foot pump) ended up capturing the force and placing it around my body.

[bodyinflation]

This is my first attempt at inflation with a fan- the material, while quite dark and heavy tends to go against what is typically seen as inflatable- light, airy materials. While the material did inflate, it holds its shape quite well so it doesn't deflate.