'Pharmakos' investigates jewellery and body adornments at times of social conflict. The symbolic and physical agenda of the wearable craft object is examined both historically and in contemporary times. Key focus is to explore the materialisation of social friction on these mediums and their operation in the public realm. On this knowledge, Vivi Touloumidi enquires the social significance and performativity of the wearable craft object in engaging with current events today.
The project draws on a mixed method approach which includes archival research, artistic writing, interrelated theory and practice based research. The research strategy employs comparative study and reflective analysis through social science and cultural history with the aim to identify focal points of the medium’s agency of dispute and marginalisation.
Aspects of suppression as well as resistance are diagnosed through the lenses of wearable objects and their effect on social identity. Geographically, the main focus is within western Europe and culture.
The Phd research aims to contribute relevant knowledge on the sociological impact of wearable objects from the perspective of social conflict and by creating a synthesis of aspects it points to reveal new relations and analytical tools for the up-to-date inquiry process.
Promotors: Pascal Gielen (ARIA - UAntwerp) & Roel Arkesteijn (Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp)
(image: Vivi Touloumidi, 'vom Abzeichen zum Auszeichnen', 2020)
