The Ephemeral Wedding Dress: A Ceremony of Decay
Replicating, in a natural manner, the qualities that we expect from a long-term, luxurious cultural archetype: the wedding dress (fashioned entirely from beeswax)
Wax redefines the traditional woven textile ‘warp’ and ‘weft’, in which the catalysed state change from liquid to solid parallels as an alternative pathway of textile destruction and decay.
This transition uncovers the often hidden process in which the breaking down of textiles is visualised. By taking the time to decay into consideration, the lifespan of materials is rediscovered – becoming a ceremonial process of parting ways.
We often expect materials to be long-lasting and yet perish quickly. The artefact created through this study is a dichotomous symbol critiquing the form the ‘forever’ holds – by pairing an heirloom [intended to endure for centuries] with a transient material.
In a wider context, this questions how our approach to the ‘sempiternal’ will impact the future of material degradation. How can we adapt to the lifespan of materials instead of vice versa?
Tayla Horn
tayla_horn@icloud.com
taylahorn.com