Inrapture
2009
SL24H Critique Room, Visual Arts Complex at Fordham University
55 square yards of acetate fabric
“Without fail, a moment of silence would occur as she stepped into a room, much like a pause in a music score.” –Cornelia Guest
The piece is essentially a narrative revealing both intimacy and alienation, as well as playfulness and discomfort through the experience of a red dress. The lines and shape of a simple summer dress are extended to all four walls of the room, creating a horizontal plane 4 to 8 feet above the ground. A room normally used as an open place for forum discussions is suddenly transformed into a place of unusual experience, creating two new and distinct worlds within. The close, sensual, and romantic atmosphere of the billowy world below the dress invites the participant to find and ascend a metallic ladder through the passage of the dress itself. Upon reaching the neckline and suspended dress straps, viewers are subjected to the brighter lit, isolated and lonely landscape of the dress, unable to extend their arms or move freely. Here, the industrial black piping and vents of the ceiling become more prominent. The contrast between these two experiences emphasizes the nature of attention and attraction. How does a simple item of clothing take on such magnitude and transform into an object that may either embody or distance one from oneself and others? The red dress is, like the desire for connection— amusing, strange, tempting, misleading, and multi-faceted.
The Fordham Observer feature: http://www.fordhamobserver.com/slaveya-starkov-s-sculptural-installation-clothed-the-visual-arts-complex-1.1372301
