Artist Yuen Fong Ling asks, “In a period of political and social uncertainty, how can what you wear help to express your beliefs and what you stand for?”

Towards Memorial is an art project that explores this question by remaking a pair of sandals designed and made by the socialist writer, poet and activist Edward Carpenter.

The project began in Sheffield City Archives and Local Studies Library, when Yuen discovered original photographs of Carpenter wearing the sandals, a small newspaper advert, and paper foot patterns for his customers. One pattern was inscribed with “Self 1892” and belonged to Carpenter himself.

See Recto Verso for the full set.

Re-making the sandal was Yuen’s way of interpreting the archival material and translating it into a contemporary design using modern materials, with ethical shoemakers Noble & Wylie (formerly Guat Shoes, established in Sheffield in 1978).

We decided to use Carpenter’s “Self 1892” as a knowing ‘brand’ concept, playing with ideas commonly found in the world of contemporary fashion. Like Carpenter, Yuen made many paper maquettes and prototype sandals, so an ever-changing logo was devised by finding letter forms in the positive and negative paper pattern remnants found on his studio floor.

A series of posters were made for the Towards Memorial exhibition at Yorkshire Artspace.

The design uses the “Self 1892” logo with photography by Mark Howe. The posters were produced at an oversized A0 format, on high gloss (fashion magazine cover) paper. We used rainbow colours to present the legacy of Carpenter’s influence in LGBTQ+ politics and history to a new audience.


See posters:

We repeated the sandal making process again, with the leftover posters from the initial print run becoming our new materials. Using our “Self 1892” glyphs as guides, we cut into the posters, creating our own increasingly abstract paper patterns.

We reconstructed the posters by loosely sticking down and layering the positive and negative shapes with tape. This gave the editions a handmade tactility just like the sort found in Carpenter’s workshop and Yuen’s studio. It was also a very visible process, furthering the self-referential visual language of the project and the posters became artworks in their own right.

These editions formed part of the exhibition and were given out for free.


Making the editions:

Selected poster editions:

Ultimately, the project asks whether a pair of sandals can be a form of public memorial when they are worn. Carpenter's biography and ideologies align with those activists who continue his legacy today, and the project recognises their contribution to the fight against injustice and the oppression of others, including LGBTQ+ Sexual Health, Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, and Sheffield Trees.

Standing in the sandals mobilises the stories, beliefs and struggles of the past, bringing them to life for each of us in the present day.