The parameters required to support a woman in motion

‘A Measurable Factor Sets the Conditions of its Operation’ is an on-going research project and series of publicly exhibited materials originally developed through the Stanley Picker Research Fellowship at Kingston University. This paper outlines the method, process and contextual underpinnings of the project, which aims to rethink the ways in which shoes are designed by shirking traditional approaches. It instead employs an engineering method based on structural parameters, informed by biomechanical factors, required to support a high-heeled foot while in motion.

Through continuous critical reflection on the method as it was being developed, I identified areas of study necessary to understand and unpick the gendered connotations of the high-heeled shoe, which in turn informed the artistic framing of the project and additional filmic work. In so doing the work expands on the discourse surrounding high-heeled shoes and the gendering of different disciplines and objects.