MDJ: Muzyka Dla Jeży Papier Projekt

Overhead view of the hat with accessories.

The MDJ Papier project, in collaboration with Muzyka Dla Jeży [1], is my attempt at a more contemporary and involved way of working with embroidery and the context of where and why it is made. It is inspired by the electronic ambient music created by Igor Torbicki and Jakub Pawlak. I really enjoyed listening to their first album Muzyka Dla Jeży [2] and following Zapętla [3] EP. Both giving off strong emotions that I caught onto and honed in to work out shapes, colours and compositions. I experimented with a similar working process in my BA graduate work, Cuh Opilamonnia Rs, but only as an element of a whole project, so this was my chance to really focus and refine those ideas. MDJ isn’t music that I find myself listening to every day, but it’s something I began to admire because of the way it stayed in my mind, a bit like reading a book. Getting deeply engrossed, but only when you hold it and open it and stare. I was privy to some of the behind-the-scenes production of the album, and that informed my perspective in more personal ways through conversation and getting to know the artists behind the work. This was in mind with the theme of communication that I keep forwarding throughout all my projects, and felt like an appropriate branch in that direction. I realised that often when taking inspiration from music, it is from artists whose either reputation or output/work-wise, are far above me professionally. It has often felt pointless trying to create a piece of embroidery in a fashion context that fits that artist, with the realistic idea that they might ever wear it or appreciate it. The antithesis of what I feel healthy communication is in the abstract artistic sense. On my end, at least, everyone involved is in some way on a level playing field with the additional inexperience of each other's practical disciplines. Embroidery is pretty far removed from music, seemingly. Differences that make it all so exciting and difficult to predict outcome-wise. 

Regarding the outcome, I decided it would be a hat, a cap style. It would be worn during the performance by MDJ and would act as a complementary item to their live music. Alternatively, it behaves as a container of an experience, representing my interpretation of their current portfolio, a physical review, or memory. Embroidery for an electronic music context means considering how the thread interacts with strobe lights, darkness and any surrounding environment. I used bursts of slightly reflective yellow neon thread throughout the design to make the hat stand out. I wanted to be careful with this balance as I believe it should be delicate between how much attention the art takes from the object it is complementing. These reflective braids, done with Hansen Stitch [4], were blended with a pale yellow that worked with the other pale and slightly beige cotton threads. The Hansen Stitch was pretty convenient to use because it is only anchored at the start and end of the working process, making it really good for working on curved surfaces like a hat. Sculpting around a sphere. The whole palette was based on colours that came to mind from the scenery I imagined when listening to the tracks. KONIEC [5] is widely cinematic and feels like I’m watching a scene of someone walking through the city in frenchthe middle of the night with a flurry of taxis on the road with yellow lights underneath a deeply dark blue sky. i jego przyjaciele feat. Filip Domarecki [6] solidifies a beat and rhythm that vibrates throughout the album, staining everything with a sort of silky pale blood. I love the buildup to mocno gazowany jez [7], the way everything pools under that track and then gets cleaned up and cut through with elektrojez [8] in a super striking and electric way. The start of the album feels warmer, with the end feeling melancholy but hopeful, a spectrum of salmon to ultraviolet. 

Aside from colour, a specific shape structured from lightning and that overall smoothness and wide sound was formed, to have one side much sharper with a soft “belly” in the middle and one side much softer with sharper ridges. A strong and imposing shape that I chose to grab and clutter the surface of the hat, emphasising the round silhouette. Realising this in a flexible white card multiple times, layering everything all over works really well on a black base. A strong superimposition of layers that works with certain stitches. There is space between the curves for Soft String Padding [9], which creates a nice raised layer that I covered with fabric complementary to the base. Raised work [10] needlelace then works as a chainmail over those areas, flat or raised. Any kind of netting has an awesome effect on smooth paper, and I worked with watercolour paint to hint at and play with that embroidery, which exists as a third-dimensional layer compared to the two-dimensional drawings beneath. It is unfamiliar for me to experiment with the medium of paint in this way, in a similar way to print, but not quite the same. Especially in the order of work, I could be much more experimental here with drawing on colour as I went along, whilst embroidering with pre-printed fabric appliqué [11] or as a base, everything is much more permanent and set. This experimental aspect suited the overall vibe I was going for in this project, and the paper here works as a “layer, fabric of sound” anchored to the base quite crudely. The majority of paper appliqué here is embroidered around the edges in stitches least damaging to the paper, whilst also revealing most of its surface. This works out well when the whole point is to yield to the paper as much as possible. The effect comes off as quite patchy with those contrasting bright stitches, which isn’t something I’m used to, but feels appropriate and brash in the context of the sounds and textures it is representing. 

Other experiments with paper relied on enlarging existing stitches like Point à la minute [12] to fit in slits of paper underneath every line. Weaving into the existing structure. Then, repeating that stitch into a pattern to legitimise and solidify that design. Expressing that experimentation pretty blatantly, partly for that loose atmosphere of design, but also the free nature of embroidering without any distinct plan. Inspired by the active listening of music, and then translating those thoughts into stitches in real time. Always having that one area where an experiment is conducted and then another where it is brought back in small bursts throughout the piece. In a rule of three of sorts, but in the symbolic sense. Thinking about the balance of how much is where on the piece. Noticeably, the left half of the hat is way busier with embroidery than the right. The intention was to have a light, on the edge of overwhelming feel to the composition. Lines of paper curve around the centre and all point towards the front and right half of the dome. Implying movement and direction, where things might go. The back right half is contrasted with the front left, also extremely busy, but through technique, not the amount of stitches. A thick Hansen Stitch and crushed velvet fabric raised appliqué bordered with Bullion [13] and French Knots [14]. Stitches that overlap any paper or appliqué rather than piercing into it. There isn’t a clear direction for anything on the piece; it just exists to reference everything else in proximity or overall composition. A composition that favours a focus on the individual wearing it might be more suitable for performance next, as an alternative design. 

Another design element made possible by paper is the sharp spikes created by the material. A representation of hedgehog spikes from the aforementioned Muzyka dla “Jezy” (Music for hedgehogs). A fun visual reference that I maximised in one of the accompanying magnetic accessory pins with sharp red unsecured spikes streaming over the edge of the base fabric. The question of whether to secure or keep elements loose was considered, but the execution differed immensely based on the base fabric. In the hat, it felt important to include black silk here and there to ground any colourful elements when they became too overwhelming during the stitching process. Black silk and stranded cotton also become lines that weave in between some of the design elements throughout the cap and congregate at the symmetrical centre to then trickle onto the cap. A subtle and symbolic representation of embroidery on the hat. Black thread on black fabric; the colour raised from the base. In its most basic form. 

The embroidery works with the context; it is collaborative throughout and ends up in the hands of MDJ for any future use in performances, worn or displayed. The experience of making this piece has been extremely rewarding, from the active communication between me and the musicians mentioned. The experience is as valuable as the end result. I think that a methodology that focuses on collaboration to encourage art cultivated in the same spaces/ adjacent creative levels and environments is valuable in the way it can synchronise practices across disciplines. The aspect most intriguing to me is the way I felt like a fan/audience member to the media I was consuming, but very much in control of how I interpreted it in a resulting artwork. I was comfortable where it ended up. Some quotes from Alexander McQueen echoed through my mind throughout this project:  “Style is not about the clothes, it is about the individual”[15], and “I think of people I want to dress when I design.”[16] This process can exist on the grandest scales of celebrity, but also in the most raw and simple terms. I need to know and possess some level of understanding of who I’m creating embroidery for. With some level of that in return, otherwise, the embroidery would be lacking, and the process would be incredibly lonely. 

Bibliography

[1] https://www.instagram.com/muzykadlajezy/?hl=en

[2] https://open.spotify.com/album/2Dh0ajwPWLzEW9VzcpxRnt

[3] https://open.spotify.com/album/176PhvOgzVsmsqmdW3pCoE

[4] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/hansen-stitch

[5] https://open.spotify.com/track/0jl0wfLfHTIgfu9fQsYTuu

[6] https://open.spotify.com/track/4vnCekzkpSLw1jh0ycAGmO

[7] https://open.spotify.com/track/3rvoWnAKt2qHl9kl92uANj

[8] https://open.spotify.com/track/2xnQR10W8pxFOJhAYdkUXE

[9] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/soft-string-padding-goldwork

[10] https://rsnstitchbank.org/structure/raised

[11] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/stab-stitch-applique-beadwork

[12] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/point-a-la-minute

[13] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/bullion-knot

[14] https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/french-knot 

[15] https://quotefancy.com/quote/1322247/Alexander-McQueen-Style-is-not-about-the-clothes-it-s-about-the-individual

[16] https://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/remembering-alexander-mcqueen

Cuh Opilamonnia Rs: HH D

 

All diamonds overlayed together. 

Forming a heart with your hands tends to produce a diamond-like shape in the middle stages of the action, just after intention and before completion. Embroidery is likewise an art focused on the process, and certain parallels like the transience and unimportance of the process can be applied to this gesture. Embroidery and various other types of media, like cinema, music, usually don't disclose their working process to the consumer. Not that they’re not important, sometimes it’s to protect specific techniques or ideas from competitors. When designing motifs for my graduate piece, I wanted to effectively distil themes relating to relationships, familial, romantic, and friendly into shapes that could permeate my piece without being noticed outright. Hidden in the final result, whilst being evident in the process. To achieve this, I mimicked the way smear frames capture the feeling of motion in between key frames in movies with multiple distorted brush strokes, glitched effects. I formatted the composition and layout of colours to the structure of a pop song/ballad, the bridge, chorus. Encompassing every design aspect of my motifs with these considerations allowed them to blend in and accentuate the main print and embroidery of the garment. My approach of combining multiple similar things to achieve a similar effect in another medium is arguably haphazard and considerably chaotic. In Opilamonnia, this wasn’t a problem as the whole project centred around the power of contradictions and visually translated into quite chaotic forms and designs. For future projects that wish to incorporate intermedial practices, a careful cherry picking of schematics to suit a stricter colour scheme would also work if the work commits to an uncritical conversation with itself. All four main diamond motifs pictured here experiment with my feelings towards individuals in my life. Put on show with the use of my diary entries as text, yet obscured by my hesitance to share them. Plagued with a self-conscious design directive. Drawings of sketches of objects associated with people I care about and people I don’t. Drawings and photos of hands, always reaching outwards for something yet drowning in a sea of unreal and unrealistically vibrant colours. Nothing in service of celebrating or condemning a certain person, but simply portraying their existence/idea. The colours work to mystify their colloquial meanings and it is never clear if they’re warm because they’re loving or cold and damning, but certainly always full of intent and passion and purpose. A burning insecurity and desire to be seen and seen through strikes through these designs. 

Maintaining them as subliminal features of Cuh Opilamonnia Rs was a priority at first, but when I came to consider them for a revision and remix a couple of months later, I utilised the idea of “process” again. As these insecurities and relationships shifted in my personal life, I felt like manifesting one of these diamonds as a main and forward piece/accessory. When redesigning this piece, I changed the colours to match ones picked out by certain people and myself. New people. Some colours remained, but the reality was that I couldn’t exactly match the shades of my digital designs with the thread I had, and it wasn’t something I wanted to spend time attempting, as this was an opportunity to change something about the design. Therefore, I made the most of embroidery as a medium and incorporated textures that introduced new meanings to the piece through technique and thread type. I utilised red silk thread that represented a finality in understanding, as seen also in the third panel of my overcoat. A conversation that has come to an end and a colour that you can bask in, representing blood, passion and desire. Then to make the most of the accessory, I stitched it with buttonhole stitch down the middle on both sides, to then cut it in half. To wear it on both ears, to give to someone else. I think what I love about embroidery is the grounding in reality it provides through the process and possibilities of display. Particularly transformation and potential for change, and every aspect of my work bleeds with change. Along with the third panel, the first panel (interchangeable) features colours inspired by ammonia, urine and skin discolouration. Colours that are present in the human body alongside blood represent decay. All subtly interwoven and strengthened in meaning and importance through each revision and remix. 

"Blueprint": Design and Embroidery Overview

 

Closeup photo of "Blueprint"

“Blueprint” is about figuring out. Every shape present and outlined with chain stitch and buttonhole represents areas of a city and country I’m unfamiliar with. No city in particular and no country that exists. Just shapes formed from how my hand moved while thinking about people close to me. 

The first step in the process is documenting what you don’t know. As far as I know, embroidery is something that I force into helping me understand things. The actualisation of this intention can be an overlapping second layer, working from the order of embroidery, that plays with the first. I chose the buttonhole stitch as a consistent technique in this stage because a neutral element had to be included, one that could represent me. The way your train of thought sticks to a set of tracks when you’re focused on an idea and intention. Appearing in the repetitive and uniform structure of every stitch, that kind of consistency can be related. 

Each mix of two stranded cotton threads showcases my singular perception of a given person through colour. With a total of four colours for each person and a myriad of lighter and darker shades between them, I am aiming to express the nuance of personalities and how much I think I know other people. Combinations sometimes share similar shades in proximity to sections but don’t follow any rules that bind them to blend consistently. The goal is to imitate a thought process, and thoughts don't always tend to blend from one idea to another. I think a sweet way of thinking about it is an abrupt cut in colour where you’re thinking about a person you’ve only been on a date or two texting you. A nice surprise. Maybe something commonly experienced in long hour sessions of stitching and maybe a sign to choose a vivider thread that expresses a strengthening of thoughts. Design/Technique and Meaning. 

The richelieu bars holding each enclosed space together stick to an attempt at objective reality. Green represents residential zoning, blue commercial and yellow industrial (credit to Simcity 2013 for those). What I find special about buttonhole in this application is the subtle link I can make between every ridge and numerical statistic; one, one-hundred people/businesses/homes represent every one of those stitches. Those statistics change day by day, and expressing those entities as scaleable and abstract represents them fluidly and justly. Considerations that could be better represented in media like the aforementioned video game or movie yet may feel special when attempted in embroidery. Motion and change visualised in static art. 

Context drives the change in meaning. Zoning with colours that are present in Simcity (a simulacrum of reality) enables a universality where meaning is linked and not lost with what we are used to. While different countries practice different urban planning schemes, those colours won’t be consistently the same across cities. But with Simcity 2013 and “Blueprint”, things are set in stone and universal. Simcity is a game anyone can play, and my shirt fits everyone. XXXL is a great size when you want as much fabric to flow and move with the body as possible. Especially when continuing, from Cuh Opilamonnia Rs the theme of fashion that wants to be worn in cities and around people.

I must be realistic in my lack of understanding of a certain space, community, or location. The effort to understand is key. Therefore, a “Blueprint”, a plan to build a relationship or bond with all your uncertainties, is laid bare. Embroidery that communicates intentions through technique, colour and theory. 

Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Embroidery Practice)

Credit to Atlus Sega, not my designs or composition, I have no idea where this exact promotional art is from but it is very relevant to the text so enjoy.

To express yourself you have to believe that there is someone out there that understands you. A fervent bet on something unknown. With it being impossible to truly know how someone sees you from their perspective. You build new versions of yourself with every person you meet. 

This is what I believe Persona 4 Dancing All Night represents. The following analysis and review are based on the 2015 video game published by Atlus. It is a spin-off from the main series of Persona games and specifically Persona 4 Golden. 

A soundtrack review, looking at the themes behind certain individual tracks but mainly the whole album. Coming from the perspective of someone who knows nothing of music theory or instruments but has played the games and listened to these tracks extensively.

A DANCING GAME!!!! Full of remixes of songs from the original game. I felt compelled to write about it because the sense of absolute joy it induces in me through its use of music and my understanding of it has inspired me immensely. I would implore you to listen to this soundtrack on any platform available to you as I want to cut straight to my thoughts on everything and experiencing it firsthand/ compared to the original is time worth spent in my opinion. 

A REMIX. There is something so continual about remixing any existing piece of art or media. You use up the existing parts of a song to create an alternative version of it. Usually with input from various artists not tied to the original. One can move from one to another but seldom is a remix considered a sequel to the base, not a remaster or enhanced version but a continuation of ideas. Like a branch of a tree that grows outwards in another direction. I think the topic of identity follows a similar pattern sometimes. You feel like yourself but also like there are many versions of you that exist in the eyes of others. Each ‘other’ an artist on a different track. 

To desire communication with another person you sometimes feel like you have to dance, to express yourself through the lens of someone’s eyes and face the gaze of people who represent a deep unknown. Presenting yourself is what true communication is, the way light bounces off you and into another person's eyes. Light that cuts through misconceptions and false perceptions. Light that exists around you and one that you use to express a sense of self. If we understand the world as not shrouded in darkness but clouded in a heavy fog, then this idea could work as you refine how you feel about yourself throughout your life and cut through the fog with light as much as one can cut to the feeling of something. This is all very metaphorical and full of references to the themes of Persona 4. Facing yourself and reaching out to the truth. Yet these ideas come to me as I listen to this soundtrack and reflect on it. A lot of it reminds of this idea of the truth and how it can represent a number of things. 

 

What I am interested in specifically is the furthering of truth that comes about through an effort to relate and communicate. I don’t expect people to dance to a dancing game soundtrack but more so to believe that through art one can move through life violently. Bursting with effort to change oneself similarly to the remix, through the involvement of others. To dance is to actualise, to create a simulacrum of the song and through a never-ending cycle of dance, sing, play much like songs (that you stream or play in different contexts, never the same as the original) are simulacra of themselves, so are ideas. Always changing, with nothing ever being the same because of the passage of time. The inevitability that the world will move on with or without you whether you move or you don't. That is what might drive one to live and to change. With it all being as fun as possible because you get to hear some fantastic jazz along the way. 

Aesthetically, the visuals remind me of clubs and disco (visuals) none of which I’m super aware of because I don’t go clubbing nor really ever have. So perhaps there is something I’m missing with how I perceive this game, but that question doesn't linger much in my head. I’m not sure why, I just feel fulfilled with my experiences, so it doesn't feel like I am missing anything. I could make a comparison of when I went to go see Ethel Cain live. The concert was fantastic but hearing her live did not live up to me sitting in my room with pink mood lighting listening to her “homecoming” demo or with her “crush” music video up on the screen above me with my head on the desk, eyes closed. The context here is what I’m on about. Just like with any experience there is no universal ‘better’ way of experiencing something. Hearing Mitski live was probably the best vocal performance I have ever witnessed, and I still think about it all the time but it's my experience in a moment in time and it was as true then as it might not be now. In the same way a lot of things aren’t the same as they were before. 

What’s not the same as a club is the people you are with vs by yourself in your bedroom, or at the mall, library, high street. What fulfils me is the lack of the emptiness that usually comes around from experiencing something without the perceived need for others to be there. The feeling that something is wrong, denominated into loneliness. The aesthetics (long tangent sorry ^^) don’t channel this loneliness. How I believe the game does this is through the masterful way that energy is presented, which is mainly consistent. A lot of bright saturated colours, mainly extremely bright lights and over stimulating effects throughout gameplay. This is despite the plot which centres around somewhat negative and insidious themes of death or mental suffering, somewhat exasperated by this contrast with bright colours. Persona 4 Golden does this consistently too so what the difference is, is the ‘dancing’ as the title says kind of obviously. Dancing is the absolutely crazy energy injected into these visuals. Character renders for both 2d promotional art and 3d dancing segments have extremely expressive silhouettes and animations. Especially when we compare it to the base game, which we should because character designs are extremely considered in the Persona games. I would recommend you listen to Hiding In Private’s Persona 4 colour analysis because a lot of what I am about to say is inspired by their work. 

Every main character is pretty much wearing slightly different versions of their casual uniform outfits. Looser and unbuttoned or street wear inspired for practical reasons. All for the purpose of dancing. All presented in a very casual way, not as if these characters are professional dancers at all. The plot supports this, being invited to participate in a music festival by a member of the main cast who is a professional performer. Whilst existing as a plot point to set the scene of the game, I believe it is a very relevant and grounding situation. It is far from fantasy. Far from escapism. It is a progression into a different branch of reality. Like how I mentioned with the mechanisms of the remix, the characters are remixed for this new setting. Canonically because of their choice to participate and choice to modify their outfits and change themselves to suit their new chosen situation. Choice that comes from self-expression. Self-expression that drives and comes about from change. 

Another interesting element is the yellow ribbon, all of the characters wear it and thematically it represents both good and evil motives. Characters are bound in yellow ribbons, Yuko Osada (a performer) commits suicide by hanging herself with a yellow ribbon, they tie up members of the supporting cast and mind control them/ feed into their misconceptions. Most importantly, our cast wears these matching yellow ribbons around their bodies, as a bandana, necktie, headband, cape. It unifies their designs but in an individual way. Yellow in Persona 4 most likely represents happiness, and positive energy, brightness but also deception and cowardice. Decay too, urine, crime scene tape. It’s always about showing different sides of one thing. A myriad number of ways to look at one thing. As much as a ribbon can be a symbol of binding or death it can also be a tool for self-expression and good. Dependent on choice, initiative. Realistically you can’t control everything but what you can is up to you and a lot of what is up to you is how you express yourself. Characters dancing with a yellow ribbon tied to them is a transformation of the meaning inscribed to the ribbon by Yuko Osada, the performer who intended to bond with people but couldn’t express her feelings and believed she could never form genuine bonds with anyone. These feelings transforming into something destructive, were not from a place of malice but one of loneliness. Loneliness doesn't justify forcing other people to connect with you but the challenge of transforming it into a passion and drive for positive action isn’t something one can always achieve alone either. So, in their own way, these characters show this drive that came about from their bonds with each other. Ribbons that promise to bind healthy relationships together can be as strong as any chain. They are far from restrictive and don’t have to rely on being close together because as mentioned in the epilogue of the base game 

“The bonds we’ve made will remain strong; everyone’s heart is connected to the people they know and trust. It’s those bonds that let us all search for our purpose in life. As long as it’s a purpose you believe in, there will always be someone to help you fulfil it”. 

A consistent theme presented in the Persona 4 series of games. That bonds with others are important in the furthering of your understanding of reality and yourself. 

This can all seem very basic and obvious, maybe childish but I would disagree. They are foundational in the communication between and understanding of others. Skills that everyone possesses even as adults. When so much of everything changes around us, it is useful to have the tools to understand and perceive things clearly and to make informed choices on how to move forward. 

I like to interpret light as a strong symbol of communication. Visuals that represent light; lasers at concerts, the light in someone’s eyes. Some more metaphorical and some more literal. In a very romantic sense, pretty much anything (well light is so universal, so it depends on how much you want to stretch it). I believe the game narrows it down to the usage of light as something that allows you to see things clearly, like I mentioned before, to make confident decisions in understanding reality. Truth in a way, reflected in the track names ‘Pursuing My True Self’, ‘Now I know’, ‘True Story’, ‘Reaching Out to the Truth’, ‘Like A Dream Come True’ (all remixed by various artists). It’s a interestingly thematic subject to tackle in a soundtrack and a dancing game. I think it is communicated pretty well through its visuals, and it is what I think is primarily important to me as an artist. I listen to music all the time, I have attempted to turn what I listen to into direction, composition, colour as embroidery but it never has felt complete or justifiable. I could also just be completely delusional and perfectionist because I never feel fulfilled completely when I make embroidery. Then again it is not delusional because with anything that is created it needs to be used and destroyed and used and rebuilt. All things that I am not in charge of control of and things that will happen in the future that I cannot possibly account for. A remix allows for a change and the passing on of an object. Contributing to a passage of time and allowing for it to change. I’m being vague but things need to change otherwise they feel incomplete. So, I would say if I don’t give my art to someone, or it isn’t used then it doesn’t feel complete. It feels stagnant, it would be much more rewarding for me if it was used for something else. Destroyed or cut up. If it all comes back to how time is something everyone must come to face metaphorically and literally in their life, then maybe what I create also should. Not passively but actively!!! Like how you would dance! Take action!

Dancing as much as a performance and anything art related is never an individual effort even when thought so on a surface level. It is all collaborative because people are inspired by others when painting or inspired by a city other people have built, someone's existence and face, vibe. Embroidery seems extremely individual. I hear a lot about how people do it in silence, to get away from things, as something relaxing. Embroidery from cross stitch to advanced techniques. Again, not always done alone but commonly so. There are benefits to it but ones that I find not applicable to me. I don’t want it to relax me, never has and I don’t like to feel like I am running away from something. How would you make embroidery feel as engaging as much you would feel engaged at the club or a party? Through the process, blasting loud music, technicolour lights that won’t allow you to see what you’re sewing clearly. Just surface level suggestions but they can contribute to a different outcome. Even if the embroidery still looks the same, is it really the same if the experience of making it was different? Is that valuable? Is it worth the time? If it only works some of the time then is it unreliable? 

When I embroider and design, it never is just about me. I need it to be about someone and how I may feel about them or what I mean to them. Sometimes when I will go out of my way to buy something that I know other people have bought or are wearing. Trends and all but in the sense that it feels special to experience something that is on the same trajectory as what other people are experiencing. It is something I like about going to the shopping centre and just choosing anything over thrifting or finding vintage pieces. Trying to be unique can feel incredibly lonely. Not always but even jealousy is a two-person activity, you need to involve others in your experiences. Everything I do will always be about me as much as it will be about everyone. Yeah, I know this was supposed to be a game review lol. Even writing this was a process and many people have influenced what I’ve written here and there. Some paragraphs are almost dedicated to certain situations or thoughts or people. I think you have to choose to be compassionate and therefore to move forward and further your practice, understanding, knowledge, interactions. The game shows this through dancing, through how anything menial or expressive or focused on the furthering of your understanding and communication is worth your time because it is aligned with time and time moving even if it is ultimately stupid or contradictory. There are so many possible things my work and embroidery and I could be as of this moment but what’s important is what I do with it and not to devalue it just because it could be something else. It can always change if I make sure it does. 

Please do listen to the tracks and don’t treat
this as a formal review, it is more of a diary entry but I think there are some valuable ideas here and there for me to reflect on maybe. 

Here are some of my favourite tracks:

Dance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=497kvOLTH4A&list=PLKnNtzNfg7jfy2LN-xeK92DxvVWMrBLQr&index=1 

Heaven - Norihiko Hibino Remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sbo2uDgORQ&list=PLKnNtzNfg7jfy2LN-xeK92DxvVWMrBLQr&index=8 

Best Friends - Banvox Remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxAo6P7xcSk&list=PLKnNtzNfg7jfy2LN-xeK92DxvVWMrBLQr&index=12

Signs of Love 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9z20nnS9CE&list=PLKnNtzNfg7jfy2LN-xeK92DxvVWMrBLQr&index=35 

Collective Will of All Who Yearn For Bonds 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFBheIchVk0&list=PLKnNtzNfg7jfy2LN-xeK92DxvVWMrBLQr&index=69 

An afternote but I would recommend for you to have a look at other instances of remixes and music in pop culture. Charli xcx brat album remixes are quite unique, the remix with lorde is a good example of furthering art through the addition or change. It works in a way because the remix comes after the original. There is a sense of suspense and conversation that happens in that gap of in between speculation. There is a call and response perhaps, definitely a change in context. Then looking at live performances and audience reactions etc etc. It is all a part of the art… 

Other links and sources:

Homecoming Demo - Ethel Cain

https://youtu.be/ogXPr3RmnWM?si=WjzCBeom2osroHPE

Crush MV - Ethel Cain

https://youtu.be/xu-t3tqDyAY?si=dbnCB2EF62tvsAlK 

Persona 4 colour and general analysis

https://youtu.be/GAgmxNx6vNk?si=NwraoDLdaRnlDyeb 

Yuko Osada

https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Yuko_Osada 

Game Info

https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Persona_4:_Dancing_All_Night 

Game Epilogue Cutscene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-zjR2riCmA