Gabi Schillig's Beneath the Skin proposes the development of wearable spatial textile structures that are able to mediate between private users and public spaces, provoking new relationships between bodies, clothing, architecture and the built environment. Through the design of alterable spatial garments, Schillig explores the potential for the soft geometries and surfaces of textiles, conventionally associated with the individual body and human scale, to generate alternative arrangements of social space and modes of interaction in the urban fabric. For Schillig, multiple users, desires, and urban contexts are necessary to materialize her work. Designed to be interconnected and shared, her second skins evolve an architecture built upon the creativity of its participants.

During her fellowship term, Schillig will implement a series of textile urban interventions in New York City. Experimenting with various materials, from fabric to felt and other textiles, she will create structures that can be folded and transformed from two-dimensional elements into three-dimensional modules, incorporating a range of functions including clothing, urban furniture, and shelter. To accompany her interventions, she will organize a workshop at Van Alen Institute wherein participants will design their own wearable devices that critically engage and activate existing public spaces in the city. Over the course of her residency, Schillig will also pursue her ongoing research into the work of Brazilian artist Lygia Clark.