A polyomino is a collection of squares stuck together along various edges and forming some plane shape.
Polyominoes were used already in the early 1900s for puzzles, but most of us probably remember popular games from the '60s-'70s featuring polyominoes or other polyforms like polycubes and polyhexes.
This stimulating game based on symmetries, creativity and imagination guarantees hours of fun, but, as Lisa Shahno and Aroha Silhouettes' Tania Hennessy proved, it can also lead to mathematical discussions and to the creation of a wearable collection.
The Moscow-based artist and fashion designer and the Vancouver-based accessory designer teamed up to work on a joint collection based on the rules of a polyomino game. Both Shahno and Hennessy worked on garments and accessories based only on combinations of squares, creating seven unique pieces in six months and using only four colours – black, grey, white and violet.
The results of the Polyomino Game project were geometrical garments made employing only 30x30 cm squares of fabric accessorised with pieces made with 1x1cm squares of material. It is quite interesting to see the polyomino puzzles on Shahno's site compared to the final designs she made as the geometrical figures she created borrowing also from the world of early computer games, perfectly mirror her garments.
Shahno and Hennessy allowed fans to follow the process through pictures, drawings and illustrations posted on their blogs and sites, but the collection was then revealed with a final Polyomino photoshoot in Moscow. The shoot was inspired by futuristic themes and atmospheres.
When did you get the idea for the Polyomino Game and how did you and Tania get to know each other?
Lisa Shahno: A few years ago I read The Intelligent Eye by Richard Langton Gregory and became fascinated with impossible figures. I browsed images of such objects on Flickr and discovered Tania's designs which were mostly inspired by them. We started writing each other and, last summer, Tania suggested we made something together. I thought it would be quite interesting to turn the collaboration into a theme with a set of simple rules which you can easily follow. So in a way everything started as a game or an experiment.
What fascinates you about geometry and in particular about squares, anything related to Malevich's square?
Lisa Shahno: The black square symbolises crisis in figurative art, that's why I like this shape. I appreciate the mythology which Malevich and many other modernists created at the beginning of the 20th century. In my opinion every artist/designer should create their own reality rather than simply copy what we normally see around. Principles of geometry are the most suitable for such purpose, I think. The square is a general abstract unit for many pieces I've created previously and in the Polyomino collaboration it showed a completely new facet.
Was it difficult working from different countries on the same project or did you find it stimulating?
Lisa Shahno: I like acquiring new experiences - I haven't had an opportunity to work with someone from a different continent so it was a very good chance to try. It was an experiment with unpredictable outcomes which I wanted to do anyway to see what will happen next. Sometimes I felt that the whole enterprise was completely irrational, that's why I added a short description of the Polyomino in asemic writing on my website; it was an attempt to convey the state I was in.
Was there a moment of the Polyomino Game that you found particularly difficult or limiting?
Lisa Shahno: The theme of low-resolution images and pixels was exploited by many designers and it's very close visually to the concept of the polyomino, because the medium is just a simple combination of squares. For me it was challenging to look from a different perspective on this subject, but I think we have achieved the goal in some way.
Can you also tell us more about the background for the photoshoot, what inspired it?
Lisa Shahno: I was inspired (and still am!) by the idea of fabricated reality and replicants. I also like the aesthetic of the early computer games, it's a kind of nostalgia for childhood I think. I tried to mix these themes together in the photoshoot. We were also listening to Kraftwerk and to Vangelis' soundtrack for Blade Runner while shooting.
What did this collaboration teach you about your work/your approach to design?
Lisa Shahno: Maybe it taught me that if you have an idea which seems crazy, unrealistic or stupid it's still good to try and make it happen in your real life.
Will you do another project along these lines?
Lisa Shahno: I've bene working on a graphical series and I hope I'll soon be able to exhibit it.
Do you think your project will inspire other designers?
Lisa Shahno: I hope someone will be inspired by one of the classes of the polyomino (e.g. tromino, octomino and so on) and create something new out of it that maybe resembles the Domino or the Tetris game.
Will you be selling the pieces that resulted from the Polyomino Game?
Lisa Shahno: Yes. I designed this collection as a ready-to-wear line, that's why I used jersey and simple patterns which you can find in an abstract version on my website.
Image credits:
Photographer: Anastasia Markelova
Model: Anna Nechaeva
Make-up: Alina Asriyants
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