Re-Assertion of Bodily Presence

Artist and researcher Katherine Moriwaki's projects fuse technology, fashion and socio-urban interaction.

One of her many project (not her latest, but one of my favourite), Recoil deals with small magnets embedded into clothing, and causing unexpected and sometimes uncomfortable physical connections between people and objects in the city.

The magnets have the ability to erase data contained in many memory devices. The wearer creates thus a data-free zone around him/her, which also acts as a form of data terrorism. (Imagine emerging from a throng of people to find that your office swipe-card or credit card no longer works!) RECOIL also heightens awareness in the wearer and others as to the high penetration of digital technologies into our everyday lives and reasserts awareness of bodily presence in the environment.