tracks & traces / 2021
“tracks & traces” aims to raise awareness of the possibility of expressing & communicating one’s ‘identity’
and emotions through clothing - as for many people, clothing, just like music, is not exclusively
a means to an end, but rather a medium to communicate one’s own views, feelings and desire for
an outwardly legible selfimage (through self-presentation) and to make it comprehensible to outsiders.
“tracks & traces - visuelle Expression auditiver Impression - das Mixtape als konzeptualisiertes Transkriptionsmedium” intends to give an insight into the world of people who feel influenced by certain music (auditive Impression) and how these moods affect their choice of clothing (visuelle Expression). The interaction between music and clothing should be made understandable through the parallel between a fashion collection and a self-created mixtape (a collection of music) - the designer conceptualises a fashion collection in such a way that inspiration, mood, in summary ‘a message’, become visible to the viewer - in the same way,
the creator of a mixtape conceptualises their collection of music, which is usually intended to be passed on
and thus decoded by someone else.
In this way, “tracks & traces” represents a brief investigation of our everyday, omnipresent, and yet often relegated to the background, companions music (tracks) and the impressions and moods it leaves behind (traces), and gives impetus to a more conscious use of the powerful everyday tool of “dressing”,
in order to better understand oneself in this world and also to make oneself understood.
“Was bin ich? Das Mixtape ist die beste Antwort auf diese Frage, wenn jemand anders sie stellt, denn im Mixtape und nur dort erschließt sich dem, der willens und in der Lage ist, zu hören die Innensicht meiner Person. […] Denn das war ja gerade das Besondere am Kassetten basteln: dass sie etwas ausdrücken konnten, was anders nicht zu formulieren war” (Baßler, 2003, p.36)
“What am I? The mixtape is the best answer to this question when someone else asks it, because in the mixtape, and only there, the inner view of my person is revealed to those who are willing and able to listen. [...] Because that was precisely what was special about making cassettes: that they could express something that could not be formulated in any other way.” (Baßler, 2003, p.36)
excerpts: for more insight/process please get in touch
models: maya t., daniel w., ute k. / assistance: luisa s. // photos/creative direction/fashion/edits: marie edith renate // second photographer/creative direction: @kittelfrau // supervision: hussein chalayan