Graffiti are a form of art and in some lucky cities around the world you may even get the chance to join a dedicated tour of the best works scattered around specific urban areas.
Those readers heading to the Old Truman Brewery in London for the Graduate Fashion Week (GFW), may spot along the way clever, fascinating, ironic or fun graffiti around Brick Lane and Bethnal Green like the one in the first picture in this post featuring two gigantic bees. Despite their size, the bees look rather cute, like the animal prints designed by Amy Clarke and seen at the GFW.
A graduate of the Textile with Business Studies course at the University of Brighton, Clarke has a peculiar style, a sort of crossover between Oilyly and Timorous Beasties (she actually gained some experience working at Oilily, Topshop, House of Holland and Timorous Beasties) with a fun and childish twist about it.
Clarke developed indeed a playful print collection for children and women's wear entitled “Into the Jungle” and inspired by tropical imagery.
The prints revolve around a cute narrative: a children's storybook about the jungle, the creatures living in it and the adventures that the place may have in store for those who dare exploring it.
Several designs feature waterproofing by means of heat-transferred lamination, iridescent details and hidden pockets of sequins, beads and glitter to be discovered.
In a nutshell, the collection seems to be the perfect antidote to all the gothic children's wear covered in skulls we have seen in the last few years. Hopefully, the designer will soon post on her site the entire collection, because Summer is calling and who can resist a whimsical chameleon, a solemnly looking mandrill or some refreshing watermelon slices?
It is always interesting to discover how traditional techniques may be employed in contemporary art and fashion in fun ways. Let's have a look at this topic (that closes a short "art of" trilogy that started on Thursday) moving from embroidery and from one of the special guests at London's Graduate Fashion Week (until 2nd June), the Royal School of Needlework (RSN).
Visitors interested in seeing embroidery in action can maybe stop and look at a young woman working on a piece, while Angie Wyman, the course leader of BA (Hons) Hand Embroidery for Fashion, Interiors and Textile Art, may introduce them to the courses on offer at the school.
The RSN was founded in 1872, and has one main aim - keeping the art of hand embroidery alive.
Besides conservation and restoration work, the school's Embroidery Studio at Hampton Court Palace (HCP) carries out commisions by various customers, including fashion and textile designers, but also places of worship, royalty, military and private individuals.
While the main pieces the studio works on may be wedding dresses, christening gowns, coats of arms, vestments, altar frontals, interior design elements and pieces for fashion collections, the designs and samples displayed at their booth during GFW could be filed under the conceptual embroidery category.
The small works presented reinterpreted traditional embroidery techniques in lovely ways: pins and coloured threads formed small three-dimensional paintings, a cross stitch loom was used as a frame for an embroidered portrait and everyday kitchen utensils like humble colanders were turned into unlikely canvases for cross stitched art.
It actually looks like this technique has all the potential of turning into a permanent fashion trend: in previous posts last year we looked at cross-stitching in interior design objects/accessories and fashion pieces and one fashion design graduate from the University of South Wales re-employed this technique in her menswear designs.
Cathie Thurgate recreated Disney-like romantic scenes of a prince and a princess kissing or running away on a horse in a sort of blow-up cross-stitched technique applied to coats or see-through shirts.
The cross-stitched motifs actually look better when seen from a distance or when captured on camera. Both the RSN artworks and these designs may be considered as exciting examples of how a traditional technique may be taken to its extremes (by blowing it up or decontextualising it using a kitchen utensil as a loom and a loom as a frame) in modern and fun ways.
On a building in Circus Street, Brighton, just around the corner of the university, there is a colourful graffiti of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Rather than being miserable and sad, the coyote is looking very nasty in it, since it has finally managed to get the incredibly fast and quite annoying bird. In many ways, fashion is as fast as the Road Runner, always dashing after the next fad, but it can also be as perverse as the Coyote, especially when big groups with too much money are involved, yet, when you see the work of different students and graduates, you realise that not all is lost.
Yesterday I had the honour of sitting with Mason Jung and Lilia Yip, both Designers and Lecturers in Fashion at the University of Brighton, and seeing over thirty presentations from the Fashion Design students at the School of Art, Design and Media at the University of Brighton.
Almost all of them produced their own fashion films, while some came up with ideas for photographic exhibitions, fanzines and magazines or innovative objects and products to present a collection.
The standard was actually quite high and the students found interesting, rather bizarre and at times obscure inspirations that went from personal stories from their own childhood or family background to more intricate narratives involving surveillance cameras, manifestos about the state of fashion and empowering women, bravery and the boxing girls of Kabul, Japanese carpentry, disturbing forgotten stories of Budapest as the "City of Smiles", criminals like the Kray Twins and funny takes on science and laboratory experiments.
For what regarded the films, techniques varied with some students experimenting with stop motion, others working on narrative films or developing choreographies with professional performers and ballet dancers. In some cases their energy, joy and fun were contagious even when their ideas were a bit jumbled and confused.
As London's Graduate Fashion Week approaches (from tomorrow until Tuesday 2nd June) you just hope that journalists, critics and fashion industry representatives who are planning to go will manage to spot the real talents and not just be influenced in their judgments by the name of prestigious universities.
A man is sitting at a long table mending a garment that belongs to a person facing him. It looks like an intimate scene of the kind you may glimpse in a house or in a small repair shop. Yet, if you observe things a bit better, you realise the scene is taking place in a different environment: the two persons are indeed sitting in a gallery or museum space and, behind the mender, hundreds of cone-shaped spools of coloured thread are applied to the wall forming a mesmerising installation.
This is "The Mending Project", an interactive conceptual work by Taiwanese artist Lee Mingwei.
The seeds of this project were actually sown after 9/11 when the artist used mending to react to a negative experience and transform it into something positive by developing a sort of intimacy with strangers and create in this way a network of friendships.
As the years passed, the project developed further with gallery visitors bringing damaged textile articles, choosing the colour of thread and watching Mingwei mending the article.
Once this phase is finished, the item is placed on the table along previously mended items, but with threads still attached. Owners can reclaim the items at the end of the exhibition, when Mingwei cuts the thread and everything suddenly unravels.
According to the artist, the act of mending has got an emotional value: people bring indeed to him favourite damaged items (in one case somebody took a very symbolic heart to mend...), and the mending - carried out in vibrant threads - is not done to hide the damage as the artist admits he is not a good mender at all, but to celebrate the repair.
This progressive and poetic project is currently part of the "Lee Mingwei and His Relations: The Art of Participation" event organised by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Mori Art Museum in Japan.
The exhibition actually features fifteen major works (including new work) spanning the twenty-year career of this artist born in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1964, and based in New York. Most of the works included could actually be defined as participatory projects.
Mingwei was awarded a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Yale University, and also studied textile art at the California College of Art, but he rarely works with these mediums, preferring to create projects that connect with and engage visitors, prompting them to share their emotions with the artist.
The form of audience participation varies, from works that anyone can become involved in on the spot to works that involve registration in advance and/or selection by lottery.
Among the others included at the Taipei Museum there are also "The Dining Project", a conversation occurring in the context of presentation and eating of food, and "The Letter Writing Project", in which the artist encourages visitors to write letters to people they wish they had written to but haven't.
In "The Sleeping Project" the artist shares instead an evening in the museum with a visitor, a revealing experience that was inspired to a trip from Paris to Prague on a night train, where the artist met an elderly lady who told him stories about surviving in a concentration camp.
Quite a few of these participatory installations have a cathartic quality about them: while working on "The Mending Project", for example, Mingwei found himself repairing garments and items belonging to different generations of visitors from the same family, symbolically uniting them through a textile project, and strengthening in this way the thread that binds humanity together.
"Lee Mingwei and His Relations: The Art of Participation" is at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei City, Taiwan, from 30th May to 6th September 2015.
French architect Hector Guimard is known for his iconic Art Nouveau designs like the Paris Métro entrances. Since he envisioned his architecture as a totality, Guimard also designed furniture, objects, textiles and graphics, all of them characterised by elegance and sensuality and a return to organic forms, evoked by sensuous curves and intricately elaborate flourishes.
Amanda Manashi moved from Guimard's works for her collection showcased in May at the annual Graduation Fashion Show of the Academy of Art University's School of Fashion in San Francisco. Her designs have an architectural presence and a strong organic form, but do not literally borrow from Guimard's trademark curvilinear elements and arabesques. All these sinous elements were indeed recreated through ample volumes and pleated motifs.
Guimard's designs embodied the architect's own vision of Art Nouveau, a reaction to the mechanized world engendered by the Industrial Revolution and to the historical revivalist style prevalent during the second half of the 19th century. In the same way, Manashi seemed to take a step backwards in time combining techniques that call to mind the constructions of historical costumes and of Haute Couture garments, yet she infused her designs with a wearable modernity.
The young designer seems to have something else in common with Guimard - Paris. While the architect studied at the École des Arts Décoratifs, Manashi was awarded a spot in the 2015 Paris Sister City Scholarship Exchange at L'Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers? Amanda Manashi: I was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Danville, California. I have sewn since I was a child and pursued Academy of Art University in the Fall of 2011 for formal training. My sources of inspiration are usually specific artist's works and ideals whether they be classical or modern.
How did you feel at showcasing your collection at the Academy of the Arts fashion show? Amanda Manashi: Being able to showcase a collection gave me a great feeling of accomplishment. I wanted to create a senior collection since I started Academy as a freshman and watching models walk in my clothes was a moment of excitement.
How did the creative process work for you for what regards this collection, did you first develop a story in your mind for example and then you transferred it on the fabric? Amanda Manashi: My creative process for this collection was heavily rooted in draping on the form. I proposed a line up in December that changed dramatically over the following months. I continued to roughly sketch, but these clothes came from pleating fabric and finding what volume would actually look like on the body as opposed to an illustration. There was a lot of trial and error.
Which was the most difficult aspect of developing your collection? Amanda Manashi: In my opinion, the most difficult aspect of the collection was functionality and color placement. The pleat detail translated differently in each piece and at times I would find myself draping pieces that would not be the easiest for girls to step in and out of. For what regards color, keeping a balance between light and dark was very important. Using striped fabrics looked overwhelming on certain designs until I found the right combination and worked in solid fabrics.
Can you tell us more about your main inspiration for this collection, Hector Guimard? In which ways did you interpret and integrate his forms and shapes into your designs? Amanda Manashi: Hector Guimard was a French architect that helped define the Art Nouveau era. I focused on one of his sculptures that is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I aimed to integrate his balance of softness and structure. The sculpture has small linear elements that carry into larger organic shapes. I began to pleat as a way to mimic the fine lines on the sculpture. The volume that the pleats create loosely refers to the organic volume and silhouette of Guimard’s work.
Do disciplines such as art, architecture or science usually inform the construction of your pieces? Amanda Manashi: Yes, these disciplines do play a subtle role when it comes to construction. In my case, much like an architect approaches the layers and foundation of a building, I had to consider a foundation or support system for each piece. Incorporating underpinnings and basic dresses to act as a base was the key to each piece. Each look is two to three layers accounting for lining, a basic pencil dress and the pleated design that is actually seen.
What kind of materials did you employ for your collection? Amanda Manashi: The collection is mostly silk, while the underpinnings are made in duchess satin. Each piece is backed and hand mounted on silk organza. The solid fabrics are silk faille and the striped fabrics are men's tie silks.
What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at AAU? Amanda Manashi: The most important thing that I learned from AAU was to constantly experiment and solve problems. From entry level classes in textiles, knitwear, and construction, to my last semester I was advised to try and explore all directions for a specific design and remain open minded about different solutions.
In your opinion, where is the real "future of fashion": in the techniques linked to printing, in specific materials such as smart textiles, or will genuine innovations come from new solutions in tailoring/volume design? Amanda Manashi: In my opinion smart textiles and 3D printing are the future of fashion, but it may take many years before this type of garment construction is mainstreamed. Nike and Adidas are slowly incorporating 3D printings and designers like Iris van Herpen are making interesting garments but, in the meantime, I still find genuine innovations come from new tailoring and volume design solutions.
What plans do you have for the immediate future? Amanda Manashi: I am currently still looking for a summer internship and plan to continue school in the fall at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
If they would ever do a sequel to the cinematic adaptation of Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin's British cult-comic-strip Tank Girl and they ever needed a less demure and more futuristic attire for Jet Girl, they wouldn't have to look further than JC Munoz's first collection.
The recipient of several awards in the 2015 Royal Society of the Arts competition (the Pointcarre Design Software, License and Support Award for Textile Design, the Sustainable Design Practices and the Founder's Portfolio Awards), Munoz's collection was inspired by aviation.
Rather than looking at pioneering female aviators as other fashion designers so far did, Munoz turned to engineering: by focusing on the fluidity of fighter jets, he came up with aerodynamic sporty shapes evoking the silhouettes of the F-16 and B-2 fighter jets. These deadly bombers have one thing in common - they are multi-role fighters, capable of attacking other planes and ground forces as well. So, in a way, Munoz may have been hinting at empowering modern women who seem to be constantly multi-tasking and juggling different roles in their lives. The designer himself actually attempted to play multiple roles: Munoz designed and made his own textiles and materials, piecing together for some of his looks over 300 felt stripes.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers? JC Munoz: I was born in Salinas, California and grew up in Austin, Texas. I had a sport-driven upbringing as a kid and was mainly focused on sports, starting to play baseball at the age of 5 and receiving a scholarship for baseball in Houston. I played two years of college ball, but then decided to pursue a career that would allow me to express my creativity and allow others to enjoy it with me. I therefore moved to San Francisco to begin my studies as a designer. I had no experience in sewing or drawing, so I was terrified coming to the academy with no knowledge in construction. I didn't even think I would be showing a collection my senior year!
How did you feel at showcasing your collection at the Academy of the Arts fashion show? JC Munoz: The feeling is unexplainable. It was a mixture of nervousness, anticipation and adrenaline all into one.
How did the creative process work for you for what regards this collection, did you first develop a story in your mind for example and then you transferred it on the fabric? JC Munoz: I began researching an inspiration I wanted to follow. I've always had a obsession with airplanes and with the fact that their design can determine speed, beauty, and function. From there it all went into researching different types of planes, how they are identified, their names, materials used to make them and so on. As that process began to develop, so did the research in fabric. I wanted to use unconventional fabric that could hold its weight but yet have beauty to it.
Which was the most difficult aspect of developing your collection? JC Munoz: Figuring out finishes for my garments - it was all trial and error to figure out what looked best aesthetically and functionally.
Can you tell us more about your main inspiration for this collection, aviation? In which ways did you interpret and integrate the curves of fighter jets into your designs? JC Munoz: As you can see all my garments are covered in prints. I have an exceptional passion for prints and the impact they have on a simple shape. I wanted to not only integrate the design aspect but also the print aspect. Fighter jets are all determined by the number tagged on them, so that's where all my numbers came from. The linear prints are all inspired by the shapes of each individual piece of metal used to construct a plane. As for my silhouettes, the strips all came from the internal design of specific planes. I also wanted to include simple smooth shapes that capture that same feeling of aerodynamics.
Do disciplines such as art, architecture, engineering, technology or science usually inform the construction of your pieces? JC Munoz: The motto "The more you know, the better the show" makes sense in the design aspect of construction. The more you know about architecture, engineering or technology, the greater your creativity expands as well as the construction of your pieces.
How was it developing your own textiles? Did you find it exciting but time consuming or challenging? Would you do it again? JC Munoz: I would have to say that was the most work I have ever done in my entire life. Would I ever do it again? NO! Was it exciting? Yes, but having to balance design, construction and textiles was the most challenging and insane decision I've ever made!
What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at AAU? JC Munoz: To find yourself as a designer and pursue what you love.
In your opinion, where is the real "future of fashion": in the techniques linked to printing (think about digital printing...), in specific materials (smart textiles/3D printing, etc.) or will genuine innovations come from new solutions in tailoring? JC Munoz: The future of fashion is in sustainability and technology. Hopefully in a couple of years' time we designers will be able to create clothes that don't affect our environment, but instead help it. Technology will also play a large role because we need new fabrics and concepts and innovative dyes to help create a better world.
What plans do you have for the immediate future? JC Munoz: My present plan is finding a mentor and learn the ropes from top to bottom to later open up my own brand and influence others to create art that impacts our community.
San Francisco's Academy of Art University (AAU) is definitely among the institutions offering courses in fashion and design that have been rising to global attention. Roughly two weeks ago, 39 student designers from the School of Fashion at AAU presented their final collections at the annual Graduation Fashion Show in San Francisco.
Among the honored guests there were The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and School of Fashion alumna and 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner up Ryan Roche, but the real stars were the students with their fresh ideas, innovative materials and experimental silhouettes.
The best thing about the 21 collections presented is that six of them were the result of a collaboration between students of different disciplines, such as Fashion Design, Knitwear Design, Textile Design, and Jewelry/Metal Arts.
Ye Kuang, B.F.A. Fashion Design, collaborated for example with M.F.A. Jewelry & Metal Arts Designer Candy Hsinyu Chu.
The fashion students at AAU are always encouraged to look for unusual inspirations for their final collections: Kuang moved from Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat's Incineration Line in Roskilde (View this photo). An incineration line is usually something practical to deal with local waste, but van Egeraat's incinerator is actually an outstandingly modern structure engaged in a dialogue with the landscape. Though the building is angular and solid and features a tower echoing the twin spires of Roskilde Cathedral, the laser-cut circular openings piercing the surface of the aluminium structure infuse it with an illusion of lightness.
Using neoprene, imitation leather and lace provided by Sophie Hallette, Kuang created a series of pierced looks characterised by ample silhouettes wth angular lines. The holes cut out in the fabric evoke the surfaces of the Incineration Line, while Chu constructed jewelry from vinyl tubing in a color palette inspired by Nordic summers.
Can you introduce yourself to our readers? Ye Kuang: I was born in the Shandong province, and raised in Shanghai, China. I studied in Shanghai from elementary school. Architectures and sculptures are usually my inspirations, because I like their silhouettes and geometric shapes. I've always loved fashion since I was a young girl, but I launched my practice only after I came to AAU. Candy Hsinyu Chu: I was born and grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. I studied art since junior high school specializing in watercolor and Chinese painting. After that, my parents encouraged me to study overseas exploring the world of art. In 2013, I got my BFA degree of fashion design at AAU. After four years of professional training, I learned how to build a women's wear collection, gathering inspirations, creating moodboards, sketching, designing, cutting and sewing. I did six women's wear looks for the AAU 2013 Spring fashion runway show. Meanwhile, I also nurtured my passion for handmade jewelry in a class with David Casella. So, I decided to follow my dream again pursing an MFA Degree of Jewelry and Metal Arts at AAU. In 2015 Spring, I showcased my 6 pieces of laser cutting jewelry made for my collaboration with Fashion student Sue Ye Kuang.
How did you feel at showcasing your collection at the Academy of the Arts fashion show? Ye Kuang: I felt very excited and satisfied. This fashion show was very meaningful to me, because it was my first fashion show, and it was a good summary of my four-year career at the Academy of Art University. I spent 9 months working on the collection, so it became a bit like my baby. And I was very happy with it! Candy Hsinyu Chu: I spent at least 3 months working on this interesting laser cutting collaboration with Sue. We faced many difficulties and conflicts together. We learned a lot from each other. I am so glad we took it this further. On the day of the fashion show, I couldn't believe it was all happening. It ended in a second, but I felt so proud for both of us. I can't wait for the next collaboration!
How did the creative process work for you for what regards this collection, did you first develop a story in your mind for example and then you transferred it on the fabric/accessories? Ye Kuang: I did a lot of research in summer before the pre-collection, and what came to my mind was the Incineration Line in Roskilde designed by Erick van Egeraat. I followed the design process to contribute a lineup; at the same time, I chose the fabric - neoprene - to support my design. I also made 3D samples to try the 3D pop-in detail, which was inspired by the main door of van Egeraat's architecture. Candy Hsinyu Chu: The first piece I developed was an acrylic necklace with LED lights which I made in my laser cut class. In the beginning, I was inspired by a Chinese concept: Yin-Yang/ Light and Shadow, symbolizing how two opposite energies interact with each other. I wanted to create a contrast but also a sort of transition in my pieces via colors, shapes and composition, showing how energies can maintain a balance. Later, I incorporated the colors and design elements borrowed from Scandinavian influences.
Which was the most difficult aspect of developing your collection? Ye Kuang: I think the most difficult aspect of developing my collection was the sewing of the fabric, because neoprene is very hard to sew due to its smoothness, and it is also hard to finish. It was a challenge for me. Candy Hsinyu Chu: Wearability was the most time-consuming and difficult aspect for me. Jewelry is not only about good design, but about body comfort as well. Besides, you have to take care of how easy it may be to put on or take off a piece.
Can you tell us more about your main inspiration for this collection, Erick van Egeraat's sculpture? In which ways did you interpret and integrate his forms and shapes into your designs? Ye Kuang: This architecture attracted me a lot, the silhouette, the holes, and the detailed door. I chose the fabric, neoprene, keeping in mind the strong shape I wanted to do. I took the shape of the building, and transferred it to the sleeves, and the silhouettes of my designs. At the same time, the holes on the building cannot be missed, so I had the fabric laser cut and it turned out very nice!
Do disciplines such as art, architecture or science usually inform the construction of your pieces? Ye Kuang: Yes, architecture is the main discipline that informs the construction of my pieces.
How was it working with prestigious fabrics such as Sophie Hallette's? Ye Kuang: It was a very great and unforgettable experience. The lace fabric is very beautiful and elegant. The lace emerging from the laser cut holes added some softness to the designs and made them look very feminine.
Did you find any stages of your collaboration difficult or challenging? Ye Kuang: No, I thought the collaboration went very well and smoothly. We kept updating and exchanging our ideas every week. It was efficient. Candy Hsinyu Chu: It took me a while to figure out what kind of jewelry items went well with Sue's designs and what could make us both look unique and innovative. Apart from the six pieces of jewelry - 2 necklaces, 2 bracelets, and 2 purses - that I showcased at the fashion show, I also experimented with headpieces, ear cuffs and knuckle rings.
What's the most important thing you learnt from your years at AAU? Ye Kuang: I learnt a lot from AAU, but the most important thing is how to manage my time and how to communicate with people. Candy Hsinyu Chu: Always take notes and record in my journal everything I have experimented with, felt and designed.
In your opinion, where is the real "future of fashion": in the techniques linked to printing (think about digital printing...), in specific materials (smart textiles/3D printing, etc.) or will genuine innovations come from new solutions in tailoring? Ye Kuang: In my opinion, I would like to say the future of fashion is in the new deconstruction of the classic clothes. Nowadays more and more designers are trying to use new and innovative materials in fashion. But I believe that, in future, people will go back to more ordinary fabrics, and the structure and construction of the clothes will catch people's eyes.
What plans do you have for the immediate future? Ye Kuang: I will go to New York for an internship at Milly New York. Candy Hsinyu Chu: I expect graduating in Spring 2016. I then want to find a job in New York and in the future I'd like to launch my own jewelry business.
Image credits for this post
All images in this post courtesy AAU. Image 2 in this post: Sue Stemp of St. Roche reviewing Ye Kuang's portfolio by John Perez.
In the last few weeks we have neglected fashion in favour of art. So, let's remain in Venice, for another day, but move away from the Art Biennale spaces to explore a fashion-related event at Palazzo Mocenigo.
At the moment Hélène Kuhn Ferruzzi's textiles decorate the main hall of the Palazzo. Some of them are displayed in glass cases, others are scattered around in one of the sumptuous rooms of the palazzo.
The exhibition - entitled "In the Rhythm of Colour" (until 3rd June 2015) - features several pieces by the French painter and textile artist.
Born in Nancy, France, from a family of musicians, Kuhn moved to Venice after meeting the artist Bobo Ferruzzi who taught her to paint on fabrics and textiles.
Kuhn developed further the basic technique she learnt launching a very personal research revolving around colours, and the power of rhythm and energy in defining different nuances and shades.
Her works were displayed in international galleries and collections in Paris, London, Milan, Rotterdam, Bruxelles, Toronto and New York, but the showcase in Venice is particularly intriguing because it combines a series of materials - cotton, silk, linen and velvet - techniques and motifs with Kuhn's poetical diaries.
In the standing panels in the exhibition, such as "Caligada" (2011; second picture in this post), "Serafin", "Cantastorie" and "Schiarite" (all 2012; fifth picture in this post), the artist analyses the themes of action and movement via energetic and rhythmic explosions of colours. In these works Kuhn leaves dynamic traces of colours on silk panels, creating abstract compositions.
The fabrics decorating the large windows are instead inspired by Kuhn's first artistic alphabet - geometry.
Radiant squares and triangles form infinite combinations on shiny golden fabrics calling to mind "opus sectile" or intricate Venetian flooring, and hinting at light and opulence in the local palaces.
The glass displays feature instead several fabrics and textiles inspired by various themes including vibrations and variations, cell and planet-like discs, or lines and waves, motifs that remind of the lagoon's movements.
Visual alphabets are another key theme in Kuhn's practice: the artist tattooed on her fabrics intricate or simple ideograms and calligraphies, and abstract symbols that point towards the Arabic, Hebrew or Persian alphabets, almost creating a very personal system of symbols.
The diaries are probably the best thing in the exhibition: as Kuhn applies her fabrics on their pages, her notebooks and exercise books turn indeed into unique sketchbooks.
Fabric becomes the medium and colour turns into a very special ink to tell a visual story and personal narrative that inspires visitors to try and find their own international language based on abstract motifs and recorded on textiles rather than on words printed on paper.
With many thanks to the staff at the Palazzo Mocenigo ticket office for facilitating my visit and helping my research.
In yesterday's post we looked at a couple of accessories from the classic male wardrobe to explore themes such as human rights and discrimination in a project that could almost be considered as "archaeological" for its main subject and for the research involved.
Let's continue these threads moving from further examples seen at the Cyprus Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition, in Venice (located in the oldest part of Palazzo Malipiero, dating back to the 11th century).
Curated by Omar Kholeif, the pavilion features a selection of pieces and installations by Christodoulos Panayiotou, collectively entitled "Two Days After Forever".
The starting point behind these projects is the invention of archaeology and its role in forging narratives, but the artist tackled these themes through different works inspired by architecture, choreography, text and (indirectly) fashion.
Architecture and archaeology are explored via a series of stones extracted from archaeological sites that Panayiotou turned into sculptures and through handmade terracotta tiles produced in Limassol using the earth from of an excavation site removed by archaeologists (lucky visitors may be able to see at certain times of the day Jean Capelle performing Nureyev's "Death of Nikiya" from La Bayadère on this terracotta floor).
Further references to choreography and dance are embodied by the theatre backdrop for the performance entitled "The Parting Disclosure" hosted in May at the Teatro Goldoni in Venice.
The backdrop is neatly folded in one room, symbolically laid to rest like another abandoned piece in the exhibition, a rolled-up red carpet, both the objects hinting at images of recent archaeology.
In another corner found materials and a single cathode of copper sourced from the Skouriotissa copper mine in the Xeros area of Cyprus form a rather minimalist and improvised temporary fountain (as soon as the water stops running, the fountain goes back to being nothing more but an assemblage of assorted bits and pieces), while pointing towards copper mining as a dominant subject of the archaeological discourse in Cyprus.
Accessories from the male wardrobe come back in this pavilion as symbols: seven pairs of custom-made shoes stand on plinth-like boxes. They may look rather ordinary, but fashion connoisseurs may realise they are made with a rather strange and rigidly synthetic material - fake designer handbags bought on the streets of Venice in early 2015.
Revolving around the fake and original/wearable and unwearable (the pieces will never be worn though fitting session were carried out to produce them) dichotomies, the shoes are a direct development of the "Untitled" project that started in 2013 and that saw Panayiotou transforming the leather handbags gifted to him by important women in his life into custom-made shoes in his own size.
In transforming something, the artist creates a new narrative, but, in the case of the fake designer bags, Panayiotou seems to tell us that you can produce an original work of art from a copied design and a cheap material.
Like the piles of shredded Cypriot banknotes (destroyed after the introduction of the Euro) spilling out of the rooms in the palazzo, the shoes explore not only the transformative potential of art-making, but also issues of authenticity, authorship, production.
If you're into men's accessories, one of the first things that will strike you while visiting the Estonian Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition (located in Palazzo Malipiero, San Samuele Square, Venice) is a display containing a pair of soft leather gloves and a green fedora hat.
Your perceptions will immediately change, though, when you discover these are not simple accessories with an aesthetic value, but pieces charged with symbolic meanings. The leather gloves and the hat are indeed props, objects that serve as proof in a wider criminal case, the main subject of the pavilion.
Estonian artist Jaanus Samma's "Not Suitable for Work. A Chairman's Tale" revolves around the story of a war hero and family man, kolkhoz (collective farm) chairman Juhan Ojaste (1921-1990).
Accused of homosexual acts, Ojaste - better known as The Chairman - was expelled in 1964 from the Communist Party. He was subjected to a trial and sentenced to one and a half year in a labor camp.
Having lost his family, job, social status and dignity he eventually moved to Tartu where he only had access to low-status jobs. In Tartu he became part of the local gay community where he was known for his outrageous behaviour. He was killed in 1990 probably by a Russian soldier and male prostitute.
The accessories in the display case are therefore charged with specific meanings - the leather gloves mark the beginning of the end; the hat is a trademark of the Chairman's new identity in Tartu.
The court case started indeed when a friend of the Chairman, a restaurant waiter, accused his younger lover of stealing his gloves. This triggered another drama since the lover, fed and angered, went to the police and accused the Chairman and the waiter of homosexual activity.
After the trial, the Chairman moved to Tartu, where he lived an active gay life, cruising in the parks and public toilers: in the later 1960s, due to his trademark green fedora, he could easily be spotted lurking around town.
The display case also contains a wedding ring, hinting at the Chairman's status, a tube of vaseline, and money referring to a key deposition by a witness who claimed he had been paid 3.50 roubles by the Chairman for anal penetration during a one-off encounter.
Another display features a series of torture instruments, and the cabinet is surrounded by disturbing and provocative videos shot in collaboration with screenwriter and director Marko Raat that document three episodes in the life of the Chairman, "Public Toilet", "3.50 Rubles" and "The Trial".
While the videos and the audio installation inside an opera balcony (a reference to the decadent aesthetics of opera) in an alcove of the palazzo represent the arty part of Samma's project, the archival materials from Soviet Estonia in another section of the exhibition provide a sort of less arty and more tangible documentation of the Chairman's existence and of his work.
In one picture the Chairman is shown talking to two milkers, then he is portrayed after his arrest, while a page of a newspaper recounts his murder.
Visitors who want to know more about his life can also stop in the small library, where they can read the excerpts from his court file. On a wall, a timeline of the events in the life of the Chairman chronicles instead his achievements in the war and as Chairman of the kolkhoz in the Elva district, documenting his trial from January to July 1966.
The pavilion is a perfect example of how the archaeological approach to archival research (and Samma did an in-depth research as he seems to know a lot about the Chairman: in his timeline there is even written that he imported in 1986 a VCR player and started organising porn nights...) is actually producing interesting installations. Yet this is not the main point of this project.
Samma highlights how Ojaste was indeed murdered a year before Estonia regained independence and homosexuality was decriminalised, and this final point reshifts his story from personal into the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
The Chairman's criminal case - told from a microhistorical perspective - becomes therefore a wider and global story of LGBT rights and human right violation in the past and the present, a denunciation of all forms of discrimination (The Chairman's face is erased in one picture, hinting at the fact that he could be anybody), reminding us that art is not just a game of power and money played by wealthy people, but it is a vehicle that can be used as a way to provoke and prompt critical thinking, embrace co-existence, and acknowledge and respect differences.
