project-3

-After discussing my ideas with my professor, and also considering time constraints, we decided it would be best to produce a small sample of this keychain mail, enough to be able to experience the effect this fabric would have: like its movement, flow, sound, light reflection etc.
- Through experimentation with the keyrings, I found that the fabric would not lie flat, or the way I desired it to look.
- I decided instead to use metal wire, this giving me more freedom to move and place the keys how I wanted, creating a kind of sewing/weaving process.

- Keys have many connotations, from keeping things safe, protection, security. Hence why I wanted to equate them with chain mail, an item worn by soldiers to protect them. However, keys can also connote theft, access, and mystery, something I wanted to explore in the creation of this project. I find it interesting how such a benign object can be imbued with so much meaning, and how it can change depending on how we transform the object.
-My father is also a locksmith, so I have an inside view and fascinating connection with the locksmithing trade, especially within the context of an institution as he works at Concordia.

Final sample pictured right:

New research for project 3

Main ideas explored in this work:

- Multiplicity of connotations the key as an object can embody simultaneously
- Weaving/sewing as a practice subverted
- Access and security
- Wearable art
- Process and exploration
- Sound and movement

Chainmail and its history

- "Chain mail (often just mail or sometimes chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was generally in common military use between the 3rd century BC and the 16th century AD in Europe, and longer in Asia and North Africa. Used to protect soldiers from injury. Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/chain-mail
- See example to the left of a Japanese's samurai chainmail called Kusari. Its linkages reminded me of how my keys linked together looked.
- It is also interesting to note how versions of chainmail were developed around the globe, making it a universal form of armour.

Weaving and sewing

- Weaving and sewing are ways of making traditionally seen as feminine, and so-called "low art" in the art history cannon.
- This project is ironically subverting this buy using delicate gestures and weaving to sew keys together to create a chainmail, which were traditionally made by and worn by men throughout history.

Keys as a symbol:

- Security as they keep homes safe
- Access as they unlock spaces, but also restrict access to others
- Protection but also theft, as a key can be used to lock away valuables, but also to open doors for stealing them
- Meaning of a key changes depending on its context

-There are countless definitions of key as well, it not only being the word to represent the tool that unlocks a lock. A key idea is something central in a particular thing, while the key can also be something providing information, or as a means of gaining entrance or control. Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/key

- A key to me is a symbol of contradiction, one loaded with meaning and connotation depending on a variety of contextual factors.

- Locks and keys have been around for over 6000 years, the first locks being used in Assyria and Ancient Egypt. Modern locks as we know them developed in the industrial revolution, as precision engineering and standardization came into play.

- "Historically, locksmiths constructed or repaired an entire lock, including its constituent parts. The rise of cheap mass production has made this less common; the vast majority of locks are repaired through like-for-like replacements, high-security safes and strongboxes being the most common exception. Many locksmiths also work on any existing door hardware, including door closers, hinges, electric strikes, and frame repairs, or service electronic locks by making keys for transponder-equipped vehicles and implementing access control systems."
- "Although the fitting and replacement of keys remains an important part of locksmithing, modern locksmiths are primarily involved in the installation of high quality lock-sets and the design, implementation, and management of keying and key control systems. Locksmiths are frequently required to determine the level of risk to an individual or institution and then recommend and implement appropriate combinations of equipment and policies to create a "security layer" that exceeds the reasonable gain of an intruder" Source: https://www.nbss.edu/blog/detail/~post/future-of-locksmithing-all-about-security

Process and exploration

- Finding a way to successfully link the keys definitely involved lots of trial and error, and tedious repetitive tasks.
- I ended up using a drill press to make all the cuts on my keys for the latter part of the vest, as it was much more efficient. Please see the photos to the left.
- The process of individually weaving each key with the metal wire was also a laborious process, perhaps harkening back to the manual labour involved din key cutting and locksmithing, but also chainmail making.

Sound and movement

- In line with keys having a multiplicity of connotations, the sound and movement involved in my final project evoke new ways of understanding keys and what they can represent.
- The light shifting as I move in the vest creates an interesting effect, as it is not a common sight to see so many keys in one place.
- The sound for me is a familiar and sentimental one as my father is a locksmith, and he always has a large keyring on him, with an even larger collection when he is at work.
- The clinging of keys for many is also one of nostalgia, excitement, and familiarity. The sound can mean that your day has just begun, you're rushing to lock the door on your way out the house. It can also mean that you're finally home, unlocking your door and getting ready to relax, or getting into a new type of family crazy after work. I remember hearing the faith clanging of keys when I was young meant my dad was finally home from work, or my mom other brother were about to come through the door. Even my dog reacts to the keys, as he knows his favorite person (my mom) will soon come through the door.

Images and videos of final work

India-Lynn Upshaw-Ruffner
Key-chain mail
24 x 14 x 6 inches approx.
Metal keys and metal wire
2021

Ideas for installation

- I think making a video project or performance would be the best course of action to push this project further.
- Perhaps wearing this around campus, trying to unlock doors and being unsuccessful.
- Or a performance of following the locksmith team at the university, documenting their reactions and those of on-lookers. Staging a performance during one of their routine jobs around the campus.
- Waking in areas of concordia we wouldn't normally see unless granted access (roof, basement, inside a locker or lockeroom, janitor closet, security office etc.)
- To display this work in a gallery, I think it would make most sense to document my performances in video and photography, as this would make the most sense conceptually.
- Dad is on sick leave so some performance ideas were not possible for me at the moment, and may not be possible logistically either.

Unmonumental

- Ideas of the unmonumental have been sprinkle throughout my above research, but I would like to state how my project relates to the unmonumental directly. A chainmail suit of armour, and a house or building are all monumental objects, serving to protect humans. My key-chain mail vest completely unmonumentalizes these things, as the vest does not provide protection against attacks, and none of the keys used can possibly lock or unlock any doors as they are all miscut keys saved from the locksmith office's garbage.
- The piece challenges the associations we make of keys, and offers new ways of looking at them, as a vessel for movement and sound, evoking nostalgia and excitement, but also possibly confusion, angst or fear.
- These piece rethinks the monumentality of objects, specifically the way we affix certain purposes to the way we use objects. I am repurposing keys and wire to make something new and wearable, and unmonumentally useless as protection or as a tool. The object is therefore about creating a new experience, and is a metaphorical too for exploring new ways to redefine objects and spaces through its use in an installation of performance for example.