muk.luk.flux, by Amanda Parkes (check also her other works: Topobo and Nomad Pneumatics), is a pair of boots which change shape based on the speed of motion of the wearer. By drawing an analogy between respresentations of mechanical movement in contrast to bodily gesture, they mock the notion of the “machine aesthetic.” An accelerometer in the boots tracks the wearers speed and when in motion, the boots expand into their ‘engaged’ position using a system of mechanical actuators in the structure of the boots.

They combine aesthetic inspiration from early 20th century Futurist design and classical Greek sculpture, with the notion of contemporary sports clothing investigating the absurdity of how fashion can change our identity, and ostensibly our performance, by making us appear faster, better, stronger with a stripe or a swoosh or a swirl…