Exploring Process: Thought 01
The in-between of this and that. The how and why we do what we do.
I’m the target demographic for shows like How It’s Made and runway BTS content. I don’t remember a time in my life that I wasn’t curious about everything. I always had to know more than what I could see - I still do - superficial, mundane, the subject almost doesn’t matter. At any point, my phone browser houses several scrolls worth of tabs bringing me to obscure corners of the internet, dissertations found on university websites, a youtube video with 208 views, a single comment on a blog post from 2009 - all new pieces of information and perspectives that could change mine. I think you get it. I love to learn, but even more, I like to share what I learn and see it applied.
This brings me to “the process”. It’s where the aforementioned unique approaches, thoughts, personal perspectives, upbringing, ideas etc are made aware and come to fruition. That’s what turns nothing into something. I’m simply interested in the process of something becoming itself.
The p word applies to everything, everywhere, for everyone. From fashion to art, people want to discover the process, sometimes in a bid to recreate it, hoping for the same result, but more often because curiosity is innate in all humans, a sensation much like hunger or thirst.
Specifically, as it pertains to fashion, the desire for a look inside is evident in how coveted collection design process and backstage at the show videos are. For example, a special treat, S.W.A.L.K (sealed with a loving kiss), a docu-film directed by Nick Knight, shows the working process of creative director, John Galliano during the design of the Maison Margiela AW20 collection. Through the use of X-rays, Zoom footage, and drones amongst other modern tech, we see the intricacies of the work presented by Galliano + the MM team, like studying references of Blitz Kids and marble statues from the 1800’s to inform the creation of the garments.
You can (and should) explore the work in S.W.A.L.K, below:
A quite different approach, one that I appreciate, belongs to Rei Kawakubo, who when discussing Comme des Garçons shared that her “creative process involves starting each collection with a single word, emphasizing instinct and emotion”.
The same in that both processes result in a runway collection, but incredibly unique along the way. Whether fashion or fashion-adjacent and informing the culture at large, there is a system of actions that result in the things you are presented with, hardly ever the same.
Perhaps you’re curious about how furniture design pioneer, Charles Eames, approached the creative process, this Q&A gives visibility. The questions and answers were the conceptual basis of the exhibition 'Qu'est ce que le design?' at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais de Louvre in 1972. See, here:
I love finding little corners of the internet where people share their thoughts and encourage deeper thinking, and I’m always inspired by the amount of information available to us - online and IRL, at your local library, museum archives, an old instruction manual in a bin at the thrift, friends, neighbors.
In my work, starting here, I wish to explore that, with those I admire, in the form of video, audio, and text, encouraging people to seek out new information and expand their thinking during processes, maximizing the success of the outcome and leaving room for a variety of possible endings.
RRR | Related Reading Resources:
The Basics of Process Philosophy
This series fosters deeper thinking and chain-reaction learning through the exploration of the processes and unique approaches of creative trailblazers and their predecessors. It serves as a collection of culturally relevant stories, designed to expand public knowledge in collaboration with brands and educational institutions. Keep up on Instagram, or learn more here.