This work is the first collaboration among FIXXAT's representative and bag designer, Hye-won Woo,  photographer, Sang-hyun Im and Jee-hyun Kwon, and fashion designer and researcher, Sun Young Choi.

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FIXXAT is an art platform established in 2018 for the purpose of ultimately fixing heart through art by putting various shapes around us into tangible and intangible works based on artistic sensitivity.

As a result of the first project, 11 bags and 11 clothes (6 shirts, and 5 sweatshirts) were produced.

A number of photos were taken in a total of 4 locations and 16 scenes including the street of Bukchon Hanok Village, Ilwoojae(Hanok studio) and National Museum of Modern Art, and leather workshop in Korea that inspired the work.

The work was also exhibited at the Corner Gallery in Bukchon, Seoul, from October 16 to 27, 2019 under the title of Bags & Objects: Somewhere between fashion and art.

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The intention and significance of this work are as follows.

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1. Combination of product and objet
   Objet in French generally refers to an object. However, in art, it refers to an object in a state where the intended functional and everyday position during production is changed and expanded to have a new existence of the object. In this project, the three artists refused bags or clothes that we often purchase and wear every day to be trapped within the framework of product, and saw as a medium to remind my precious memory or to communicate with others with my own story. Chungmu Nubi used in the bag design comes from Hye-won Woo's precious memory of her childhood with her mother. It aims to give a new memory and meaning to an object that she will now always put aside and use as she remembers the mother who asked for Chungmu Nubi when ordering new bedding for family. Thus, to make a daily work of art that comforts and delights every time we use it that we want to keep next to it, even if it is old rather than something one throws away easily, the emphasis was placed on making it strongly with quality materials in collaboration with Korean craftsmen with long experience.
    

2. Succession of tradition and modern application
   The technique used in the project's bag is Nubi (traditional Korean quilt). Korean 'Nubi' is a hand-sewing technique that fixes both sides of the fabric by straight broad-stitching with or without filling materials such as cotton or paper between two layers of fabric.  Among them, 'Chungmu Nubi' is the narrowest quilt with a gap of about 3mm that is mainly used in the old Chungmu area, which is the southern coast of Korea. Now, the area name has been changed to Tongyeong and is also called 'Tongyeong Nubi'. Chungmu Nubi was derived from putting cotton inside the military uniform fabric of soldiers and sewing it tightly to protect the body from cold and external attack at the time of the Imjin War (1592-98). It is still known as the most exclusive sewing used for bedding.
   Although the commercially available multi-line quilt called Chungmu Nubi is actually a method of sewing several lines at once with a machine, Chungmu Nubi, which adheres to the tradition, continues the method of quilting one line at a time. Above all, it is the presser foot(Fig.1, 2) that has led Chungmu Nubi's reputation to continue to this day. The presser foot in this area was produced by metal artisans who make the metal decoration for furniture in Tongyeong (Important intangible cultural property No. 64) at the request of the quilted producer. Since this presser foot is longer than a regular presser foot and has a groove on the back, one line is quilted, and at the same time, a clear line is formed at the interval of a furrow on the right side. This creates a straight, parallel straight quilt, and forms embossed furrow quilt rather than sewing several lines at once. In this project, we applied quilting, which is usually used for cloth, to a bag(Fig.3, 4). As shown in the figure below, the quilting technique is applied to the bag traditionally to emphasise the embossing feeling while keeping the gap between stitches narrow.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    

3. Concept expansion and symbolisation
   On the other hand, in the case of clothes, designers intended to shape the essential meaning of the stitch. By connecting two pieces of cloth or filling a gap, and shaping the function of the stitch that closes the wound, a hole was made in the clothes and a long piece of cloth symbolising the thread was passed. This symbolises the ultimate goal of the project of healing the heart through art.
   For shirt design, to make only the top part to open, or to move the closure to one side when making a hole in the closing of the front, and to pass a piece of cloth through it, several sampling works were conducted. Further, a piece of cloth inspired by the shape and function of the thread is reminiscent of hanbok's ties. This, combined with a shirt from Western menswear, reminds of a modern and traditional Korean aesthetic. The use of ties was extended to a design that elongates the entire panel on one side of the shirt front.
    

4. Collaboration of artists from different fields
   The significance of this project is the production of various results through collaboration with designers and artists in other fields. Hye-won Woo who majors in painting and designs bag, a clothing designer who majored in oriental painting and fashion, Sun Young Choi, Sang-hyun Im who specialises in fashion photography and Jeehyun Kwon, a creative videographer developed their own unique stories as they shared opinions about each other's design under the big theme of healing through art. This enables a critical and objective evaluation of creative work, which is usually considered to be personal work easily. Accordingly, it leads to new attempts and outcomes different from the existing ones. FIXXAT's project will continue in the future and is expected to become a platform that discovers new artists and grows together.
   
   
   Han, J., & Lee, E. (2018). The Current State and Characteristics of the Nubi Industry in the Tongyeong Region. (4), 59-68
   FIXXAT: Fix Heart with Art. (2020, February 06). Retrieved July 18, 2020, from ​

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