Possible Tomorrows: Ying Gao’s Robotised Dresses

The collection ‘Possible Tomorrows’ integrates fingerprint recognition technology into two dresses of nylon mesh, nylon thread, PVDF thread and thermoplastic. In the presence of strangers whose fingerprints aren’t recognised by the scanner, the dresses become animated, their electronic mechanisms move in “Both garments become anti-security objects”the poetic repeated motions of a spirograph. By integrating these algorithms into the garment’s construction, Ying Gao implements a sense of the dress breathing: she simulates and enables an interaction between the wearer and a viewer. The designer explains, “The purpose of the project is to subvert the logic of security so that both garments become anti-security objects. The logic of security has become a political technology, that too often prevents us from emancipating. I would like these garments to open up to people that they are not able to recognise.”