Part of an effective communication of creative works is their display. The staging of design from ideation, via prototyping, to production asks for visual or plastic presentations that provide context for the work: through narratives about its function and usage, by grouping it with related types or class of products, or via its integration into a larger concept. The contextualization of designed products through displays substantially adds to their meaning. In this course students study the way in which design can be presented meaningfully through exhibition making. Among the aspects to discuss through visual, audio and textual examples are: 1) types of exhibition spaces, from virtual venues to the subversion of retail; 2) techniques of display, from screening mediated objects to their demonstration in physical performances; 3) materials, from site architecture to designing display systems; and 4) curatorial concepts, from themed presentation of collective work to monographic shows. The course is aimed at students who want to experiment with original displays of their work, as part of integrated research, building portfolios, or communicating capstone projects. Exhibiting Design counts towards the core curriculum of Parsons’s BFA Design History and Practice and the Museum and Curatorial Studies Minor; it combines seminar-style instruction with creative work in studios, with curators, designers and retailers scheduled among the guest contributors to the course. Making+Meaning: MATERIALS approaches materials as creative technique and as concept. It combines practice in (virtual and concrete) studios with theoretical instruction, as an inclusive method of applied reflection. Texts, like objects, are elements that can be freely deconstructed or fused, without following a canon or prescribed context. The student’s creative originality in developing and reflecting on such approaches and processes is tested out in the course. Students are encouraged to integrate the knowledge they acquire from their studio and seminar experiences in this Making + Meaning course.

What is an archive and how can we understand its existence and purpose? What questions can an archive prompt? How can an archive foster further conversations and new interpretations? What new revelations, engagements, and perspectives can someone else bring to a living / existing archive? What elements of an archive can spark further collaborative investigation? This course examines the purpose and significance of fashion archives and ephemera, and give each a new critical and creative life. Students will analyze various types of archives and ephemera, learn how to utilize archival resources, and develop a deeper understanding of how the past shapes contemporary and future fashion discourse. A chosen archive becomes the starting point of their project utilizing their personal experience and specific interests incorporating a multitude of disciplines. They will be asked to interpret an archive through their own discipline, presenting an original new narrative; incorporating essays, collages, drawings, photography, poetry, performances, installation, artworks etc. Like all Making + Meaning: MATERIALS classes, Fashion Archives and The Ephemera is a hands-on hybrid studio and seminar class. It will incorporate guest lectures, and outside archival visits to both industry, museology and private collections. There will be supportive readings, printed matter, obsolete technologies and current digital resources to support the students ongoing projects. This course is led by faculty who has extensively worked with archives to inform their own fashion practice, and is currently exploring the future positioning of their own archive. We will approach materials as creative technique and as concept. We will combine practice in (virtual and concrete) studios with theoretical instruction, as an inclusive method of applied reflection. Texts, like objects, are elements that can be freely deconstructed or fused, without following a canon or prescribed context. The student’s creative originality in developing and reflecting on such approaches and processes is tested out in the course. Students are encouraged to integrate the knowledge they acquire from their studio and seminar experiences in this Making + Meaning course.