technical description
Wool, cotton and lycra double mini dress consisting of two pieces, the first being a knitted mini dress with a round neckline, long sleeves with ruffled shoulders, portions worked in alternating stitches and a widely perforated waist section. The second consists of a sleeveless mini dress with frontal perforated plastron detailing and a high knitted collar.
Size 610x300x230mm, 1000 gr., 2008
concept
Mark Fast was inspired by the ritual eagle sundance of the Ojibway native Indians from Canada. A tradition for centuries, that was banned under the Indian Act of 1895 because of the physical pain involved in the ritual, a ban that was dropped with a further act in 1951. The dance would be originally arranged by a shaman to ask for supernatural aid and involves cutting a tree down, piercing flesh from hooks attached to the tree and dancing from morning until night without eating for days. This fasting would cause hallucinations, acquisition of knowledge from their condition. Mark feels the same when he knits. It is a moment when nothing matters but the dress he is knitting. Through the confusion and stress of working the machine with his hands, a perfect, beautiful knitted form emerges.