The National College
Education Staff
Helen McAllister, MA, PhD
Lecturer, Design, Embroidery, Textiles
Practicebased PhD 2001-2006
Dept. Embroidery / Design Faculty
NCAD
ABSTRACT
‘Binary Oppositions, what constititues a pair?’
The question addressed is, in order to explore the fundamental definition of what constititues a pair, is it possible to reach understanding of this through shoe-derived forms created by textile processes?
How I answered this question is rooted in the methodology of the practice of ‘making’. This mode of research demonstrated that I need to make this work because it does not exist, paired with the knowledge thaqt this process will illicit the answers. This engaged process used visual sources of Venice paired with the iconic form of the shoe to address philosophical preponderances of a pair.
My answer found components of the binary are not of passive equality of replication, they were about dialogues and interactions of forces united. The constrasts and dynamics of opposing tensions defined my outcomes that were metaphorical of my methodology as well as in the physical artwork. The ‘language’ of a pair in turn questioned shoe-derived forms becoming the vehicle for narrating.
This inquiry brings together a holistic approach to the speacialist uniting ethos of design, history, concept and theory anchored in the practice and contrib uting to new knowledge and demonstrating the project’s wider application through the ‘testing’ of this work for diverse audiences.