Author: Swift, Adam

Source: Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture, Volume 3, Number 1, January 2005 , pp. 100-116(17)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

Abstract:

Clynes and Kline's (1995 [1960]) conception of the cyborg sees a technologically augmented human designed for the adverse conditions of space travel. Despite alterations through artificial and self-organizing biochemical, physiological, and electronic modifications, the paramount piece of technology enabling human non-terrestrial flirtations was the "exogenous device" of the spacesuit. In this instance, the incorporation of high-tech textiles and manufacturing techniques accommodates the design process to the point where the distinction between fabric, garment, and astronaut merge. This article uses the spacesuit as an illustrative example in arguing that a particular utility value of fashion is its role as "aerial"; transmitting and receiving messages that feed into, and draw from, social and cultural archives. This article explores the concept of to-and-fro transmission/ reception, arguing that fashion, as aerial, contributes to a highly complex meaning system, in which negotiation becomes a passive, unconscious activity.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/147597505778052657

Publication date: 2005-01-01

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