Haptic Texture-ality
Digital experiences seem to be at the top of the focus list for every fashion house and platform. And, while engaging with garments in real life is engulfed with touching and feeling materials, the sensory experience online seems to be stuck at avatars wearing virtual garments. It is a stage in digital fashion that, for some, is not quite relatable and does not spark the imagination beyond static aesthetics.
As we find an overflow of written descriptions on how and what digital fashion can be perceived, we miss the tactile component of what constitutes digital materiality. In my work I attempt to create a sense of what this could be through the moving images that establish and embody haptic texture-ality. These moving images provide a novel and distinctive visual experience, one where the eyes embody their function as sensory organs to the fullest, by allowing one to visually touch the image through the screen.
Haptic visuality of fabrics adds to the experiential nature that the online realm of fashion currently lacks. As this form of digital materiality is open to individual interpretation, it does not aim to be presented as an ideal future wardrobe, but a body of content various people can relate to in different ways, unlocking a deeper layer of digital tactility, ultimately evoking different emotions, much like physical fabrics do.
All images courtesy of Maria Gil Mendoza, works made between 2018 — 2022.
