An artist remains incomplete without an audience, and an art piece loses its function when deprived of a viewer’s inquisitive gaze. The strive for artistic recognition is rigid, often requiring a network of connections, as gallery spaces will always be limited. The internet is an excellent portal for self-promotion, but the number of artists lingering in the shadowy depths of Instagram with less than 100 followers outweighs the few lucky and proud who brandish their several-thousand followers.
This especially rings true for contemporary artists who work with digital, installation or animated artwork, and whose non-static images can’t simply be replicated. But now, with the emerging ability to translate digital art onto clothing and accessories, the promotional landscape for contemporary artists and animators can completely shift. Artists will no longer be confined to the four walls of a gallery or the virtual world. Nothing draws the gaze like a kinetic image plastered on the shirt of a stylish millennial strolling through Manhattan at rush hour. The wearer becomes a walking art gallery, capable of attracting attention in any social setting.
As much as we romanticize the life of a starving artist, the reality is that we all need to eat. There’s nothing wrong with making money off of your art, especially considering the fact that its collector will forever be graced by its presence. For digital artist, however, selling art is a particularly difficult obstacle; the immateriality of their work disallows its commodification. With the ability to project their artwork onto clothing, digital artists will be able to materialize their work into a sellable item. Moreover, digital artists can adapt to the marketing trends of the fashion industry: releasing their garments and accessories in collections, as is the case with shoes.
The trend of translating digital art onto fabric is already running rampant. Take the London-based label CuteCircuit, that has been vigorously interweaving technology and fashion since 2004. The technology implemented into their garments is 100% RoHS-compliant — meaning that the technology used is free of hazardous substances — and entirely sustainable. In collaboration with the whiskey and club-promoting brand Ballantine’s, CuteCircuit created the tshirtOS in 2014, a shirt with an LED screen that can be programmed via a smartphone app to display any message, image or animation.
The t-shirt maybe woven out of 100% cotton but the impressive technology it’s equipped with includes a camera, microphone, accelerometer, and sound for the perfectly interactive experience. The shirt is also connected to the internet, enabling users to directly upload pictures taken by the built-in camera to social media accounts, or share tweets from the user’s twitter account. For example, wearers can use the built-in camera to take pictures or live stream videos, and upload them directly to social media accounts.
The more important feature of these tech-imbued shirts, is that a single t-shirt is enough for a buyer, who can then project whatever image they see fit for the appropriate setting. In turn, the buyer can free up space in their closet.
Minimalism isn’t just fashionable — it’s practical and efficient. Rather than plowing through your closet in search of a snazzy outfit, digitally-infused clothing garments such as the tshirtOS will allow wearers to customize their outfits exponentially with just a few items to choose from. Jewelry, and other decorative accessories are particularly painstaking, especially since they’re constantly at risk of getting lost.
The company LIBER8 Technology has manufactured a tago arc bracelet that infuses high-tech and jewelry. Using a smartphone, wearers can adjust the bracelet to their mood with a variety of designs to choose from, including their own. Even without it’s digital function, the bracelet is stylish on it’s own, comprised of fine metal contours, and silver, golden and black plating designed by artisans and jewelry experts.
LIBER8 allows artists to submit their own designs. For example, with the “photo function,” users of LIBER8 can use their smartphone cameras to snap pictures of real-world designs that catch their attention, adjust and upload the photo to the application, and then project it onto the bracelet. The designs have endless possibilities, whether you need something to cheer you up from your morning slumber, or to make you look slightly more alluring when out on a romantic date. The design alone can be so charming that you wouldn’t need to wear any additional and potentially cumbersome accessories.
Now, take the concept of interwoven cameras — a function not limited to the tshirtOS brand — one step further, and imagine the inverse: a screen on a t-shirt. With web-enabled wearable screens, artists with fixed installation will be able to project their work in real time, yet again demonstrating how wearers can operate as mobile galleries.
The capabilities mentioned above serve as examples of the technological fashion posh_space seeks to integrate. Posh_space will provide a platform that connects digital artist, large brands, fashion tech startups and customers. Brands and buyers alike will be able to sift through a catalogue of digital art designs, and choose any one of their liking to project onto their clothing. Likewise, artists will be able to test how their designs can look on different brand items.
Customers won’t need to go to a store for new looks, and will have immediate access to thousands of designs through the posh_space. Posh_space provides digital artists with a medium through which they can garner an audience and monetise their work.
Posh_space remains committed to the artists themselves, protecting the rights of the artist, user and brand using blockchain technology to ensure that their work immune from forgery. Every time the digital copy owner resells the product to another owner, the original copyright holder gains 5% of the transaction.
Likewise, the artist will have full control over the quantity of copies they choose to sell and the ability to regulate the price at their own will. Posh_space’s core idea lies in fostering the concept of a “living gallery”: by selling their designs in limited collections, the digital artists can save their work from commodification. The digital art piece, like a physical art piece, becomes available in limited copies, attributing to it a value uncommon for digital art. The wearer becomes the “living gallery,” showcasing the limited digital art piece to random passers-by and onlookers.