“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.”
-Nietzche
Continuously improving to attain something greater… Where there is chaos, we create order. When we see something lacking, we create. Evolution, revolution, convolution…
I am happy to have you all along for this process. And very thankful to have skilled artists like Omri, Joey, Alex, Jennifer, and others who embrace the process. We’re creating some amazing things together!
First up today is a really excellent creation from the process – the latest incarnation of the Chaos Dress. And all I can say is: YES.
Love it. Omri’s taken an idea presented during our last YouTube Livestream by “Alice_on_Elm_Street” – that we be able to switch between Order and Chaos with the Chaos Dress. And there you have it – a dress switching between order and chaos! Yay for cool fan-powered ideas 🙂
Omri’s also sent along a new variation on the Blackening Dress. For those uncertain about the NAME of this dress, do a quick Google search and you’ll find the concept is one contained in alchemy. The Nigredo is a phase in the alchemical process – usually the first phase – in which the ingredients are charred and blackened. In the psychological realm you might think of this phase as “the dark night of the soul.”
We can imagine this dress being linked with the event of the fire – but a reflection of the result (psychologically) vs. the physical fire (and result).
Looks beautiful to me – but then perhaps that’s just my inner goth speaking? What do you think?
And then we arrive at… (insert dramatic music)…
I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the Bargaining phase… the setting, the mental state Alice would be in, and how all this might reflect on her attire. While I think this dress is beautiful I also think we might want to consider the implications for a bargaining stage in Alice’s psychological state.
What I’m wondering is this: Would a 13 year-old girl, who has lost her family and wishes to return to the way things were, bargain from a position of power? Would she go up against the most painful situation in her life with knife in hand and wearing what appears to be the most gilded, expensive, powerful dress in her wardrobe? Or, in keeping with the stages of grief, would she be bargaining to trade everything (who she is, what she wants, who she could become) for a past which now lies in ashes?
Bargaining isn’t pretty. It’s not done from a position of power. It forfeits, discards, and diminishes the self in exchange for the ‘other’ – it is, in effect, giving up. Is this dress one you’d… grovel in?
So… something to think about… but perhaps we need a few more distressed dresses? Let me know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below!
And speaking of CHAOS…
That’s the box, bag, and frame for the Chaos Coin. Each coin will ship inside this beautiful collector set. This is just a production sample photo from the factory – I’ll have the physical items in my hands this weekend. But I have to say these are looking excellent!
We’re at 1731 Patrons as I write this. Chaos Coins unlock at 2000 – so we only have 269 more Patrons to go! You can help us get there faster by sharing our Goal via your social media channels. Show your friends the awesome Chaos Coin and Collector Set we’ll unlock when we reach 2000 Patrons. All the relevant info and images can be found HERE.
The actual physical coins are a thing of beauty – meaty and solid…
Let’s hurry up and get those coins unlocked because…
Jennifer is starting work on more Embroidered Patch designs – one of which is the cute little Lulu patch you see above. Other designs being looked at – Insane Children, White Rabbit (as in “follow the”), Rage Alice, Alchemy Symbols, and more. If there are patch ideas you want to share – please do in the comments below.
And once we’ve hit the Chaos Coin goal, then we’ll set up a new set of Patches as the goal after that (with an easier trigger).
From Shanghai with Woof,
-American (and Lulu)