The Unknown Man
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During my Design phase, I found a quote: “Everyone must die once, then they are judged.” Hebrews 9:27 I felt that this drew together the conflict and damage of war with the uniformity and decoration found in uniforms.
Creating The Unknown Man, a decorated soldier and the decaying spectator waiting to pass judgment.
The back of the coat represents decay and decoration. It is embellished with hand-embroidered and beaded pomegranates, which were chosen for their association with Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. Then, expensive metal bullion is used for the twisted stems, leading to the carrier bag leaves adorning both the back and the epaulettes.
To create anonymity for the performer, I wanted to include a gas mask like service respirator No.6, which inspired the garment and has substantial visual ties to military history.
To further obscure the performer’s face I wanted to use textures to replicate the harsh landscapes seen in the Falklands whilst maintaining the existing colour palette.
“Everyone must die once, then they are judged.”
Project brief: The creation of a tailored coat fitting the team of Carnival of Curiosities
in response to the brief, I had to choose an object unrelated to costume or textiles and then a place. Part of this research journey was to look at the social and political events that apply to the object’s creation and the reasoning behind its production. The second research task was to find a place and gather images and inspiration from the landscapes, customs, history and the people who live there.
My chosen object was a gas mask, more specifically, a service respirator No.6, which is recognisable as the mask used during the Iranian embassy siege in 1980. For my place, I chose the Falklands for its history and the conflict in 1982, which coincided with when the S6 was used. But also due to its harsh landscapes and environments due to the location of the island and its very English-looking buildings.