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A Heavy Weight

The paper backing this was presented at a conference (Ad-Dressing The Margins International Symposium) in 2023 following an invitation from the board. An experiential history project focused on bringing attention to pivotal moments in history

This piece concentrates on Queen Elizabeth I’s reign and the issues she faced during her ascent - specifically John Knox. Knox was a protestant priest who truly believed that women in the rule are “repugnant to nature” and printed a long manifesto, detailing every reason for his thinking in a pamphlet called “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women”. This was printed and distributed as the young Queen was ascending the throne. Elizabeth had to lead Britain into the Golden Age of Britain with a heavy weight on her shoulders. The project consisted of recreating the coronation mantle that Queen Elizabeth wore and emblazoning John Knox’s manifesto across the entire 6 yards of the cape. I then took it to the streets of Austin. I interacted with people, asking them to try it on and how they felt in it. After some discussion, I would tell them the history behind it and ask them to evaluate how they felt about the piece now. The piece is an experiment of creating embodied learning experiences as a way to teach history rather than learning it through the traditional channels of books and classrooms.



Please do not hesitate to contact me if you want to know more about a project or would just like to chat about design or fantasy.