1. Pain Creature
Designer & Performer: Dila Demir
Photography by: Kadri Tiganik
Sound Design & Software Development: Vincenzo Madaghiele
Extended [Textile] Soma: Somaesthetics of Bodily Discomforts is the title of my doctoral research through which I explore how movement-based interactive textile wearables as soma extensions may facilitate somaesthetic awareness of musculoskeletal chronic pain through mediating explicated interactions of it. I define bodily discomforts as chronic bodily conditions that disrupts the everyday flow of the bodies such as migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, chronic pain, etc. In my research, I specifically focus on musculoskeletal chronic pain as a bodily discomfort. On the other hand, I call movement-based interactive textiles that externalize the pain experience as soma extensions. Through soma extensions I mediate unhabitual interactions of pain as a way to reconnect with our diseased bodies, to find new ways of living and being with pain which is the somaesthetic awareness of pain. To scrutinize the main research question of this doctoral project, I conducted three creative case studies through which I examine different aspects of the main inquiry developing better understanding on the ways to explicate implicit bodily experiences and promoting somaesthetics of discomfort.
Pain Creature is the third creative case study of my Ph.D. research. In this final work I explore how soma extensions may be designed to address the changing needs of the bodies in chronic pain. To scrutinize the research question of this case study, I conducted a first-person exploration where I moved through my pain(s) to culltivate various felt qualities of the pain experience. As a result of this inquiry, I harvested five qualities that represent agonizing and relieving aspects of the pain experience. These are 1) Burden, 2) Tectonic Plates, 3) Flesh, 4) Warm Touch, and 5) Waves. These aspects then translated visually to form the soma extension and different sounds were designed for each of them. As a result, Pain Creature came to a being that is the physical manifestation of pain providing sound-motion-touch interaction for the wearer. Through making pain experience unhabitual it aims to promote somaesthetic awareness of pain. Thus, through Pain Creature body can communicate with her pain and become anew with it.
2. Caring Companion
Designer & Model: Dila Demir
Photography by: Nesli Hazal Oktay
Extended [Textile] Soma: Somaesthetics of Bodily Discomforts is the title of my doctoral research through which I explore how movement-based interactive textile wearables as soma extensions may facilitate somaesthetic awareness of musculoskeletal chronic pain through mediating explicated interactions of it. I define bodily discomforts as chronic bodily conditions that disrupts the everyday flow of the bodies such as migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, chronic pain, etc. In my research, I specifically focus on musculoskeletal chronic pain as a bodily discomfort. On the other hand, I call movement-based interactive textiles that externalize the pain experience as soma extensions. Through soma extensions I mediate unhabitual interactions of pain as a way to reconnect with our diseased bodies, to find new ways of living and being with pain which is the somaesthetic awareness of pain. To scrutinize the main research question of this doctoral project, I conducted three creative case studies through which I examine different aspects of the main inquiry developing better understanding on the ways to explicate implicit bodily experiences and promoting somaesthetics of discomfort.
Caring Companion is the second creative case study of my Ph.D. research through which I explore how soma extensions may be designed to promote engaging interaction with people with chronic pain. Accoridngly, in this study I examine the ways of improving the bodily engagements of soma extension through learning about felt experiences of pain of others. I conducted a cultural probe kit study with five people living with musculoskeletal chronic pain. The kit included physical and digital items to cultivate participants’ felt experience of pain. The phsyical items were a soma extension (sound emitting wearable textile) , a journal, 12 body maps, 12-word lists consisting of 42 pain expressions, colored felt-tip pens, plasticine, a calendar, and a ‘how to use the kit’ booklet. The digital items are two yoga videos, one for the upper and one for the lower body pain, uploaded on YouTube and a sound file. The sound file consists of two sounds 1) squeaky wood sound representing pain and 2) atmospheric meditative sound representing relief from pain.
Participants used the kit for three weeks; they practiced yoga sequences by wearing the soma extension and documented their experiences using journal, body maps, word list and plasticine. I analyzed their visual and textual documentations of their lived experience with Caring Companion kit and as a result I formalized four design strategies to be applied for enhancing bodily engagements of soma extensions. These are 1) building a companionship, 2) unveiling the discomfort, 3) creating a room for improvisation and 4) supporting somatic engagements in daily life.
3. Squeaky/Pain
Designer & Model: Dila Demir
Photograph by Kadri Tiganik
Extended [Textile] Soma: Somaesthetics of Bodily Discomforts is the title of my doctoral research through which I explore how movement-based interactive textile wearables as soma extensions may facilitate somaesthetic awareness of musculoskeletal chronic pain through mediating explicated interactions of it. I define bodily discomforts as chronic bodily conditions that disrupts the everyday flow of the bodies such as migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, depression, chronic pain, etc. In my research, I specifically focus on musculoskeletal chronic pain as a bodily discomfort. On the other hand, I call movement-based interactive textiles that externalize the pain experience as soma extensions. Through soma extensions I mediate unhabitual interactions of pain as a way to reconnect with our diseased bodies, to find new ways of living and being with pain which is the somaesthetic awareness of pain. To scrutinize the main research question of this doctoral project, I conducted three creative case studies through which I examine different aspects of the main inquiry developing better understanding on the ways to explicate implicit bodily experiences and promoting somaesthetics of discomfort.
Squeaky/Pain is the first case study of my Ph.D. research which examines how chronic pain experience may inform the designing of soma extensions. To scrutinize this research question, I conducted first- and second-person exploration to cultivate the lived experiences of pain. The study started with a first-person inquiry where I explored my pain that resulted in the first prototype of the soma extension. Following that I tested the first iteration with three people who experience similiar chronic pain with me and according to their reflections I designed the second iteration. As a result, Squeaky/Pain is a soma extension that mediates sound-motion interaction mimicking the agony and relief of pain through sound. It uses squeaky wood sound to represent agony and atmospheric pleasant sound to represent relief. This study showed how pain can be used as a design material and how externalized interactions of pain can facilitate somaesthetic awareness. On the other hand, the study revealed that the bodily engagements of the soma extension needs to be enhanced for better somaesthetic interactions. Hence, I explore how to improve bodily engagements of the soma extensions in my second case study Caring Companion.
First iteration of Squeaky/PainPhotograph by Kadri Tiganik
Second iteration of Squeaky/Pain
Photography by Mehmet Can Boysan
4. AURA
Designer: Dila Demir
Photograph by Dila Demir
AURA is my MA gradutaion project. It is awarded as the best gradutaion project of 2019 (Disain ja Rakenduskunst” Parim Lõpetaja 2019. Aastal) by Eesti Roiva ja Tekstiililiidu.
AURA is a project developed as a critique to the radical shift of self-perception from the harmony of intangible aspects of being to body image to a material level. The designed artifact aims to act as a catalyst to change people’s perception of self by providing an interactive imaginary sensory experience. In this work ‘interaction’ refers to any kind of verbal and nonverbal conversation between the designed artifact and the body.
Through the use of two proximity sensors and Arduino which is connected to the light source and the sensors the artifact gain sensory abilities. Thus, AURA responds to the existence of a body with light regarding the proximity of the body to the designed artifact and generates four different levels of brightness and colors.
The color inspiration comes from the chakras regarding their symbolic meanings. Chakras are the seven energy centers that reside in the subtle body and from the first one to the seventh one, the colors line up from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo to purple. Therefore, AURA uses the changing color of the lights as a metaphor for the development of human perception of the self from the material being to an intangible being.
