Worldwear
"Worldwear" (1999) was a project by Derrick de Kerckhove.
Worldwear is an art project to invite people to reconsider their own place in time (millenium change) and space (the Earth seen from satellites). By proposing a new line of clothes based on images of the planet in the year 2000, it offers a new way of interpreting one's self image and the image of the Earth. The Worldwear project in which body functions are controlling imaging clothes that replace the computer screen, is being developed for the Hannover EXPO 2000 and is directed by Derrick de Kerckhove. Clothes act as social filters of the personality. In the Worldwear project, we can choose to broadcast selected images through our clothes. The Worldwear clothes act as a screen for internet messages of websites sent, for instance, by friends and relatives. 'As we are nearing the famous date, the 2000 countdown could appear in hours, minutes and seconds in different fonts and characters on my jacket according to my specific time zone. Sensors or satellite-borne signals relayed to my sensitive clothing could project an image of the Earth gently changing angle in real-time according to my movements in space. Or they could show the mapping of my destination via GPS signal just as if I wore the instruments of a Munich taxi. Sensors taking my pulse and heartbeat together with moisture levels and emotional outputs could cameleon-like change colours and patterns.'
