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November 25, 2014 12:30 PM

The harsh environments of our neighboring planets will require proper attire, with 3D-printed, biological fashions that, in the words of the designer Neri Oxman, "blur the boundary between the environment and ourselves." Oxman's other recent work explores similar lines of utility with her organic, post-industrial aesthetic: some of it disturbing and some sublime.
posted by a lungful of dragon (20 comments total)

So...is there anything more than handwaving, here, at the supposedly functional aspects of these designs? From what I can see they look pretty cool, but it's all about the design implying "bio-organic function" metonymically and not at all about any serious attempt to imagine what costumes designed to have such functions might actually look like. Or am I missing something?
posted by yoink at 12:37 PM on November 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Keep dancing
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:53 PM on November 25, 2014

yoink, these are just flights of fancy; no one is really going to penetrate the mysteries of Uranus in one of these costumes.
posted by Mister_A at 1:01 PM on November 25, 2014

yoink, these are just flights of fancy; no one is really going to penetrate the mysteries of Uranus in one of these costumes.


Well, the costumes might.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:18 PM on November 25, 2014 [7 favorites]

Skull, you're on a roll today.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:20 PM on November 25, 2014

Blurring the boundary between the environment and ourselves seems like the last thing we'd want to do when walking around on planets with biologically inconvenient atmospheric conditions.

However, according to at least one guy who's done the calculation, it is theoretically possible to carry around enough algae to make all the oxygen you can breathe. Your high-fashion space suit might need storage for as little as six litres of water for it to live in. Of course you'd also need to supply it with light and carbon dioxide. Not practically wearable unless you have a CO2 atmosphere and a yet-to-be-invented compact energy source, and of course some fairly sophisticated gas exchangers and such, but once all that is available we'll be glad that someone has already worked out the fashion design problems.
posted by sfenders at 1:26 PM on November 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

This apparently deliberate misapprehension of my innocent statement about penetrating Uranus and its many mysteries is sophomoric, scandalous, and an S word to be named later.
posted by Mister_A at 1:30 PM on November 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

Sartorial?
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:01 PM on November 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

I do have to say that many of these outfits look like the model is wearing their insides on their outsides. Which might happen on another world, if you aren't careful with the pressure, I suppose.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:03 PM on November 25, 2014

yoink, these are just flights of fancy; no one is really going to penetrate the mysteries of Uranus in one of these costumes

Well, no, I wasn't asking if these are fully functioning prototypes. But there's quite a lot of sciency, problem solvy bla bla bla in the designers rationale for the designs and I'm wondering if that's entirely I-made-some-stuff-up-because-it-sounded-cool or if there's actually some element, no matter how conjectural or sketchy, of genuinely thinking about aspects of functionality here.
posted by yoink at 2:41 PM on November 25, 2014

This reminds me of stuff from the Prophet reboot.
posted by special agent conrad uno at 2:48 PM on November 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

yoink, these are just flights of fancy; no one is really going to penetrate the mysteries of Uranus in one of these costumes.

That wasn't a Matthew Barney joke?
posted by pullayup at 3:22 PM on November 25, 2014

Sartorial?

Spelunkalicious
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:23 PM on November 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

They lost me at the "full of bacteria" part.
posted by happyroach at 3:56 PM on November 25, 2014

Think of it as an extension of your own skin, which is chock-filthy-full of bacteria.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 4:08 PM on November 25, 2014

sciency, problem solvy bla bla bla in the designers rationale

This is one of those presentations where it's not clear whether the rationale is part of the work.

A library of algorithms inspired by form found in nature informs the design and fabrication process.

Or, "We copied a bunch of stuff from sea creatures. Maybe Duke Nukem."

I thought many of these were really interesting and well done, but the text undermines the actual objects. Maybe it's not helped by poor translation.

Revealing nature's design language, this collection of objects represents a library of design principles inspired by nature suggesting that the ancient myth and its futuristic counterpart unite where design fabrication recapitulates fantasy.

It's baloney, you say?
posted by sneebler at 4:14 PM on November 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

They lost me at the "full of bacteria" part.


Full of bacteria? Hell, they're going to be covered in it once they're done with Uranus.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:49 PM on November 25, 2014

Think of it as an extension of your own skin, which is chock-filthy-full of bacteria.


Yeah, I'm all full up, thanks. Don't have room for any more. Even on Uranus.
posted by happyroach at 6:18 PM on November 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

The idea sounds interesting, but treating it as a fashion show sounds...stupid.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:26 PM on November 25, 2014

Skull, you're on a roll

I see what you dead there.
posted by ostranenie at 8:13 AM on November 27, 2014