Social Fabrics: Wearable + Media + Interconnectivity


Taiknam Hat animates in accordance with the changes in surrounding radio frequencies. The intention is to materialize the invisible and contribute to our awareness of the increasing electromagnetic radiation in our environment. The co-existence of all electromagnetic waves that radiate from physical devices creates an invisible landscape that interacts with physical space and its inhabitants. This landscape is transformed into a new form of pollution, electrosmog, which has biological effects on humans and animals. Taiknam Hat is an attempt to materialize the electrosmog, especially from cell-phones, by emulating horripilation, an automatic reaction of living creatures to sources of irritation and stress. Horripilation, the erection of hairs or feathers in various species under certain emotional conditions (better known as goose bumps in human body), is a temporary and local change in the skin. It is the "fight-or-flight" reaction. In some animals, especially in birds, horripilation is also attached to another instinct, that of "self-display/signaling." Taiknam Hat utilizes horripilation as a metaphor to express our bodies’ conflict with electromagnetic radiation. The headwear employs actual movable feathers that become activated and move according to the amount of radio frequencies in the surroundings.

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Updated 22 July 2009