A blog post on a research study: Illuminating Creative Process, Practicing Artistic Research and Elaboration of Cultural Sustainability

Art is an invitation to see and to generate inquiry. A study using artistic research looks under the hood and enables an artwork to speak on behalf of an artist, as it is being created. It allows people from the field of traditional sciences and research to follow along (at a time when these fields are seeking intersections through science studies)
In this study, through the expression of a black, fashion artist, researchers were able to show that the creative process of Harmon, a high-fashion jewelry designer, is reliant on her full identity for inspiration i.e. being the muse. She is “self-taught” “messy” and playful, relying not on sketches but on her eye, and “just doing”. She is strict about keeping the highest quality standards. Creative expression has the power to unlock truth in being (Heidegger) and is likely to be at the core of scientific discoveries too.

Creating is a channel for expression that keeps Harmon healthy. She says “Don’t copy others, just do you” emphasizing that if an artist isn’t being themselves, they could become sick. She is passionate about music, her materials, nature in her home country of Guyana, her family values, and black communities while despairing about their economic struggles. Harmon’s fashion education recognized her talent but tried to teach her techniques that aimed to standardize and follow an industry that is rooted in Eurocentric norms of fashion. This would require her to remove herself and her identity from her creative process. She had to leave school to succeed. These conditions persist in fashion schools and should be examined.
The fashion system itself being a by-product of excess of colonial wealth (Skov) needs re-structuring. Adhering to colonial mindsets causes “sacrifice zones” (Neissen) in remote parts of the world and diminishes other cultural dress as “non-fashion” (Skov) in urban centers.
If creative expression, background, and cultural identity are linked, as we found in this study, then removing barriers in education and unleashing the creativity of fashion practitioners of all cultures can have the potential to build and support cultural sustainability. As we grow the body of artistic research, more artists can be heard, can live healthier lives, and truth and beauty can flourish.

See the research outputs under Academic Writing and Research tab

Ex-novation?

I participated in the Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education, an effort to adapt fashion education to what climate science is telling us. Going in, I was prepared for an array of innovations that de-materialize the system, for innovations in technology that save the day.

The topic “On Grief, Exnovation and the Power of Mutual Learning“ confessed that we may be past the point of breakthroughs. Sometimes the path to innovation is letting go, or ex-novation. It is harder than it sounds. Students want a “safer world” a sense of stability, and jobs that will allow them to survive. Educators over the past 50 years, following industry directions, converted to the ideology of mass production, believing deeply in concepts like automation, standardization, productivity etc. It is present in how we design and deliver courses, how we grade and award students, as well as how our teaching contracts are written.

Today, having perfected the ideology, it is no longer a challenge to deliver fast, cheap and plenty, but rather to reduce production and for people to thrive as we do so. Ex-novation as a path to innovation prompts us to let go of one practice, and share with global educators what that will be. I am considering reducing “homework” so class time is learning time. Still working on it.

Multiple Means of Representation

The Universal Design for Learning method emphasizes this principle. Learners will situate and find themselves in a class or course if they can bring their authentic selves to the material. The professor meets their learning style with media in many formats and assessments with many completion options. It is up to each academic, a right protected by academic freedom, to find a customized solution for every student, that challenges each to their abilities.

There’s a tension between this seemingly highly democratic approach and industry demands to meet external deadlines and the hard skills needed for specific jobs with high-pressure demands. Unrealistic expectations will hopefully fade as we scale back production and consumption in an overheated world.

Authentic representation is a marker for success in how we dress, as well as how we teach and learn. Smaller fashion houses understand this and respond in creative ways.

Clothing Lab

Everyday dressing can be tedious or transformational. No matter which it is for you, the process involves many decisions that are valuable to researchers.

Do your clothes fit, or how do you choose to fit in them? Do clothes speak for you, or how do you speak to others with the language of fashion? Does what you wear reflect a place, a moment in time, a style you like? Is some item helping you through your day, like a great pair of shoes? Are you “powering through” something tight, or heavy or itchy?

Create your own system to track why you wear what you wear each day. This conscious effort can help transform the larger world of fashion!

Connect with me to share your insights

From heartbreak

The situation in India is devastating. Has it reached its lowest depth or is there worse to come? What will rise from the ashes?

My worst fears have come to pass but worst fears for the world have not yet come to pass. What can be done? Share vaccines, send food and oxygen. Every religion references, and non-religious person knows the golden rule.

The apparel connection? Driving wages down hurts infrastructure in healthcare and education in poor countries.

So far one of India’s older companies, Borosil a leader in glass panels for solar energy has promised to pay wages and support the families of those employees who fell sick or died. This is leadership.

Can apparel brands operating in India pledge to do the same?

Let’s begin

I like to keep things simple. The fashion industry is complex and grappling with many issues.

There is an opportunity and a need to build what I call “better fashion futures” by connecting students and graduates, to designers, artisans and local manufacturing.

There are societal needs that must be addressed that go beyond greening practices. I am inspired by students who are talented and want to bring about change.

Email is best to contact me lbarrett@georgebrown.ca or lea.barrett@gmail.com

Leah Barrett