⤷ My practice resides somewhere between visual and critical design, fashion and gender studies, sociology and feminist research methods. I developed a distinctive feminist approach to research and pedagogy to creatively engages in the designing of research methods and reflect on how research performs normative representations of social realities. I now study gender fluid practices of fashion photography as a PhD candidate in visual sociology at Goldsmiths and develop public engagement strategies for different research networks relating to fashion, feminist design research and visual sociology.
My book
⟶Diagramming Fluidity studies the diverse ways of envisioning the fluidity of gender in fashion photography whilst the clothing industry is established on the binary menswear / womenswear. The visual outcome of the research is part of the exhibition
Designs for Different Futures currently on show at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, US.
☞ The book is published by
Onomatopee.
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Workshop: Mood Boards Reflections
I propose workshops using mood boards as a reflective and analytical tool to help students situating their research and/or projects. The exercise invites them to consider what norms and social imaginaries are being produced and reproduced through their projects and their impact on consumers. The mood boards is a way to reflect on the relations between different references, contexts and aspirations. Here is the documentation of the workshop held at Goldsmiths (UK) in February 2020 with students of the MA Design: Expanded Practice. This one was more particularly addressing gender normas in regsard to fashion and textiles. Get in touch for more details about the workshops ⟶
fomisslin@gmail.com ⤿2020
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(DIS-)(RE-)ORIENTING AND (DIS-)(RE-)ORGANISING FLUID RELATIONS BETWEEN BODIES, IMAGES AND GENDER
The workshop invites students to think of gender through design by exploring the entanglements between body, dress, visual culture and gender politics. The exercise requires them to critically reflect on what norms and social imaginaries are being produced and/or reproduced through their projects and their impact on consumers.
The methodology calls for being analytical and critical of our influences, references and sources.
This reflection is done through the production of a mood board that functions as an analytical tool as well as a dialogic device between the participants of the workshop.
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Please note that these workshops can be adapted to digital formats, remote classes and/or respect social distancing policies in the context of the Coronavirus crisis.
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☟ What follows is the documentation of the workshop held in February 2020 with students from the MA Design: Expanded Practice at Goldsmiths University of London. ☟
The workshops start with interactive formats of lectures involving group discussions and visual presentations to introduce the terms that are explored through the workshop.
↖︎ Visuals for a lecture on the production of fashion photography and the gender divide in the fashion industry by developing notions of differences, becoming and affect between bodies and visual culture.