CATALYTIC CLOTHING ('Herself')

“Herself’ the result of an ongoing (1994 – 2011) collaborative working relationship with Helen Storey,Professor of Fashion Science,London College of Fashion. Herself is an experimental, “couture” textile sculpture, first shown in October 2010 in Sheffield. In colaboration with The University of Sheffield,who granted Belford an EPSRC budget allocation of £13.496.92 to research the technical logistics of delivering a hybrid dress meshing together concrete and velvet as an indicator that scientific research could pave the way for clothes that could purify the air. Herself the first of a series of cultural interventions, is intended to illustrate in artistic form the idea that textiles can eliminate certain pollutants from the air and is presented as the ‘world’s first air purifying dress’’ ‘Herself’ has been toured in the public domain as opposed to a gallery to provoke public debate around real solutions to change the world. From Sheffield to Ulster to Singapore Science festival (July 2011) the key was in attracting new, unexpected and diverse opinions. Local media interest with radio Ulster and BBC Science now have put Ulster on the global map of collaborating with esteemed artist Helen Storey MBE and scientist Professor Tony Ryan OBE, who value collaborative methodologies of Belford’s textile practice as a tool to reach a wider audience. Invitations from The worshipful Company of Dyers colour conference (2009) and Stroud International textiles (2012) for us to speak together on one platform indicate the growing realization that diverse disciplines can make a difference. The textile research methods were presented at the International Flock Symposium in Munich (March 2011) indicating new ways the process of flock could be developed.The rich body of collaborative work carried out by Belford will be documented in a forthcoming invited chapter for Berg Publishing * the working title is ‘Collaboration through craft: Theory and Practice.