Doppelgänger – Cora Hickoff

Humble Trophy:

For my doppelgänger, I chose to replicate a trophy (which wasn’t mine) that I found in my apartment. I’ve never received one before, so I decided to make my own.

Instead of making a trophy that someone would be proud to have, I created a “lame award” that can’t even point upright and instead flops to the side. This adds a more human element, unlike the perfect, shiny trophies we usually see. I also liked the idea of choosing an object that’s hard and made of metal, and making its doppelgänger soft and huggable.

A classmate mentioned that this feels like the kind of trophy you get as part of a participation award, which I really loved. There was also discussion of my object touching on themes of what it means to be successful, as well as how we might feel more or less accomplished when given awards for our hard work. Why should we not be proud of receiving participation awards? Do we only feel like we did good work when we can prove it with a trophy or plaque? Do we even need to prove our worth externally?

Process

Originally, my plan was to use yellow pleather fabric for the top, metal portion of the trophy. The fabric was much stiffer and would have resembled the original trophy, but it didn’t have much personality. It was also more of a challenge to sew—the seams were very noticeable, and the fabric didn’t enjoy being stretched and wasn’t pliable.

So, I scrapped that idea and chose a fabric I had a more personal tie to, which was this black and white Swiss dot material from an old, high-school shirt. The other fabrics were found in a scrap pile. I used an abstract, wood pattern for the bottom, since the original base was made out of wood. I used fabric that was black and white to challenge myself and see if I could still create a shape that was recognizable as a trophy (even if it didn’t have typical trophy colors)

The cuts for the trophy cup (pictured in the above right photo) ended up being too wide—when filled with stuffing, that top half felt too heavy, so I folded the fabric in on itself and sewed those creases. This added some interesting curves to the shape and reduced the size. 

Future Plans

Currently, the top of the trophy is heavier than the base which doesn’t allow it to stand on its own. It’s a bit too floppy because of this, and less trophy-esque, so I plan to fill the base with sand so that it can sit upright without being held. I will also be adding a hand-sewn, black plaque which will be embroidered with text. I haven’t yet decided what the award will be, but I’m excited to figure that out.