Between You and Me

Week 2, 9 - 13 March

The body has been design’s primary point of reference
across history, not only because people like to fashion
things in their own image but because functional objects
come in close contact with our flesh, skin and bones.
Humans invented technologies to supplement the
inadequacies of the body’s natural envelope. Chairs and
jackets, cups and spoons, buildings and cars, serve to
extend and support the body, compensating for its failures
and allowing it to survive in a world that is largely
inhospitable to human life.

Lupton, E. “2nd Skin New Design Organics” in Skin: Surface, Substance and Design
Princeton Architectural press, New York, 2002.


Work in groups of three. Each student in the group is to randomly select the name of a body part from the “hat”. Your task, as a group, is to construct “something” that connects these three body parts, or sites, three parts in three different locations or sites. The connection that you make between these parts/sites maybe physical, metaphorical or virtual. You should explore the sites on the body AND the space between these sites, (what distance might this be?) Also consider how you fabricate
your work; what materials will you use and why?*

On Thursday morning at 9am come to the level three exhibition space to present your work to the rest of your group.

* Please note, there has been some confusion here. We had intended for you all to use the nose, the spine and the little toe (each located separately on a member of the groups body) as the three parts or "sites". If you haven't, and have instead used other parts, don't worry. The idea is that you think expansively about the body in relation to whatever parts you have chosen, think beyond the mere performance of the body. How is is also a cultural object? Why are toes painted in some cultures and noses covered in others? Why do we have almost sub-conscious conventions about how close to be to another body in any social setting? How do objects facilitate the proximity (closeness or distance) of bodies to other bodies, and of bodies to other objects? What might be a virtual body? What might be a metaphorical connection?

Image: Lygia Clark worked photographed by mafia▲hunt http://www.flickr.com/photos/luxxylux/2278277663/