In Goo Floor Crawl (one of the three film-works from ten Bhomer’s Material Compulsion Series, 2012) the high-heeled woman is a complex construct, one designed for, and ultimately sanctioned to, the man-made environment. When placed in alternative settings (through the narrative of a film, for example) or when forced to walk through unique substrates, a woman in heels loses her equilibrium (both physically and culturally) and begins to slip, trip, sink or tumble, thereby transforming her perceived identity.

The Material Compulsion Series featured in A Measurable Factor Sets the Conditions of its Operation, Marloes ten Bhömer’s 2013 Stanley Picker Fellowship exhibition of investigative pieces, processes, tests and trials for a new footwear collection informed by engineering principles.