Marloes - BLUEPANELSHOE

BLUEPANELSHOE

Bluepanelshoe / 2015
Materials: leather and stainless steel
Commissioned by the Design Museum London for the exhibition:
Life on foot 2, 13 May - 1 November 2015
Curated by Pete Collard and Anniina Koivu
www.designmuseum.org

Bluepanelshoe is an extension of the research conducted during the Stanley Picker Fellowship, the initial results of which were accumulated in the exhibition A Measurable Factor Sets the Conditions of its Operation in 2013. One of the focus points of the fellowship – alongside an examination of the cultural connotations of women’s footwear – was research into the structural parameters required to support a foot (in a high-heeled position) while in motion. These parameters were derived from anatomic and kinematic studies, with the aim to use them as a base to generate new footwear possibilities. A series of 17 ‘hypotheses’ for high-heeled footwear were produced, each one forms a different mapping of foot-to-ground contact points, or ‘constellations’.

The maps were produced both as a set of silkscreen prints titled Constellations (2013) and as computer models. These contact point constellations were also produced as physical, 3D printed testing shoes titled White Prototypes (2013).

Bluepanelshoe, the first shoe generated from one of the 17 hypothetical constellations, is based on the following anatomic insight: In barefoot ambulant motion the heel strikes on the lateral side of the foot and propels the foot through the big toe. The hypothesis is that in high-heeled ambulant motion, the heel (both the heel of the foot and the physical shoe part) should also strike on the lateral side of the foot. The resulting heel design derived from these parameters would make the foot prone to eversion and inversion. In order to negate this motion, a ring shaped constellation of contact is placed around the foot.

By ignoring the sandwich method – the traditional manner in which shoes are produced – and basing the design on these structural parameters and adhering contact constellations instead, the aesthetic and structural possibilities open up completely. Congruently, these new set of parameters, which shirk fashion trends, allow for new shoe typologies which defy cultural stigmas that too often lead to the stereotyping of women.

Mapping of foot-to-ground contact points followed by computer model (in mint green) for 3D printing the testing shoes White Prototypes (2013).
Constellations (2013) silkscreen print on paper.
White Prototypes (2012-2013) nylon rapid prototyped and high impact polystyrene.
Bluepanelshoe (2015) leather and stainless steel.

Constellations (2013) silkscreen print on paper.

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