Socks

Inspired by stories, we research and reflect about socks and their multiple meanings. The everyday garment is seen as a medium to communicate specific messages. But how, when and where is a message being sent? What new possibilities of expression are arising from the material or the design? To what extent do ordinary movements influence a message?

Throughout history socks were an important trace of a person’s social and mental status, and of a profession in some cases. In which way could this idea still be valid or which other implications could be found through someone’s socks?

Based on the history and anecdotes around them, we want to approach socks as a medium for artistic expression and find our own way to speak through them. How have socks changed their meaning overtime, and which role are they playing nowadays. Who defines the meaning of socks? How has the development of the industry led to new trends, the use of new materials and, therefore, new meanings of socks?

We are focusing on different aspects of socks like material, shape or usage marks, the geography of a sock (e. g. who could be addressed depending on the part of the sock that is shown in public space, during a visit with no shoes on, lying down on the couch with our closest one), the message itself (political, social, individual, etc.), and the ordinary sock-revealing-movements like sitting or walking upstairs. How can we play with already existing movements or manipulations?

Time

Summer Semester 20/21

Team

Jelena Maschke

Laura Mann

Paulina Flores