Ernesto Neto; The Edges of the World. Hayward Gallery

Visited 4/09/2010.

http://festivalbrazil.southbankcentre.co.uk/ernesto-neto/about

Stretchy, tactile fun....  I loved the colours, interactivity and translucence of Horizon of events III. Lots of tubes to push your arms down, some narrower for greater resistance, some twisted to prevent you from pushing through to the other side! Spent a long time just watching and listening to other people. One woman, who moved with the elegance and poise of a dancer was photographing herself as she moved through the spaces. Children tangled themselves hysterically in a sea of vertical stretchy tubes, others lay around in womb-like, ventricular tents. The environment seemed to remove a lot of adult inhibition and strangers laughed spontaneously together at the strange playfulness of it all. I went on the second to last day so it was fairly busy, lots of exclamations, chatter and movement everywhere.
The form and construction of the various the layers and chambers were cleverly engineered to create some very beautiful and atmospheric structures; the most intriguing for me were at intersections, and in places where a number of layers and elements were being brought together.
In addition to the less complex stitching used to connect most components, there were joins made with a more visible and complex decorative lacing. This created subtle shifts in scale and detail, and influenced the surface qualities/tension of the mesh. I found this piece fascinating technically, but I'm not completely sure what I think about the installation as a whole.
Going to write this up with reference to interactivity and haptic experience.
Just wanted to pop this on now and get the ball rolling. These photos could be useful as I don't think mine are going to come out very well. They give a really good account of how people were using the installation and of the general mood... and yes, I regressed too!

http://festivalbrazil.southbankcentre.co.uk/ernesto-neto/mms-gallery?page=1

My photos...
People:

Holes & Tubes!

Maison Martin Margiela; Somerset House

Visited 1/9/2010.

This is where it all comes from...truly, truly good stuff!
Seriously inspiring, innovative approaches to fashion with bucket loads of integrity. The perfect antidote to celebrity culture and all the nonsense that goes with it. This made me want to rush home, cut all my clothes up and do sew them back together again in unthinkable ways.    

Will write more on this but wanted to get it up on the blog sharpish!

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/fashion/maison_martin_margiela_20/default.as

A Concise Dictionary of Fashion; Judith Clarke & Adam Philips

Visited 2/05/2010
http://www.artangel.org.uk//projects/2010/the_concise_dictionary_of_dress/about_the_project/the_concise_dictionary_of_dress

Went to see this fantastic installation at the weekend. Set within Blythe House, previously home to the post office savings bank, now the repository for the V & A archive. This is an hour long exploration of the building and its contents punctuated by a series of curatorial and psychoanalytical responses to the fashion collection.  These are presented in the form of site specific installations accompanied by definitions that provoke an idiosyncratic interpretation of the clothing in terms of 'anxiety, wish and desire'. The guide is not allowed to answer questions about interpretation but can assist with information about materials and practical matters concerning the conservation areas and stores that we pass through. Personal response and interpretation are everything and each visitor to the piece will notice a different set of details. The building is vast; a labyrinth of alarmed corridors on I can't remember how many floors. A warren of staircases, cavernous rooms containing racks, glass fronted cupboards, cabinets and rolls and rolls of textiles wrapped up in conservation white. You catch a glimpse of objects partially obscured by the glare of light on glass and have to pop back momentarily to confirm what you have seen. A spinning wheel, an Islamic vessel, the edge of, what looked like, a stunningly ornate Grinling Gibbons mirror. Stacks, rows, objects propped up against walls and the orderly labels, the labelling and organising of a vast collection of 'things', mostly hand written, some crossed out and updated. Instructions to staff... 'Do not  put anything on this surface or use it for rolling' and there are staff there on a Sunday, waiting patiently for us to move on so they can resume their work carefully shifting artifacts on a trolley. We start at the top of the building, on the roof with panoramic views over London and finish in the basement. I notice strange and seemingly unimportant things; three plastic bin liners of rubbish in a corridor, the surface of a wall, a piece of disused machinery, the thing about an 'Experience' like this is that you are always questioning what parts of the environment are manufactured?

The 'interventions' are whimsical, provocative, amusing, evocative, playful and challenging.

Review; Silver Wedding Dress with Bridal Bouquet by Victor & Rolf.

Ideas around this piece are currently feeding into my project proposal. Initially because of the materials and techniques that have been used, and the gender associations that relate to them. I need to research electro-plating and find out if/how I can organise/generate some samples. I think that it could be a way of preserving the detail and distressed qualities of my fabric pieces whilst turning them into metal. watch this space!

Review/Critical Presentation:
Strapless wedding dress and bridal bouquet, silver-plated;
‘Silver’ Autumn/Winter collection 2006/07.

Designed by Victor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren; Dutch fashion designers who have collaborated together as ‘Victor and Rolf’ since 1993. It featured in a retrospective of their work: The House of Viktor and Rolf’ presented at the Barbican Art Gallery in 2008.

‘For Viktor and Rolf, Couture is an artistic medium, a commodity, and a laboratory of ideas.’ (P6; Merrell) Renowned for collections that straddle the boundaries between ‘Art’ and ‘Design’ they critique the fashion industry while working within it, challenging preconceptions of what clothing can be, using materials in suprising and innovative ways and presenting their work through performance and site specific installation.

 Essentially nostalgic, the dress references a period in the 1940’s /50’s when fashion and femininity was being totally redefined following the launch of Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’.
The piece was presented in a number of ways; as a full size garment on a mannequin, in miniature on ‘Caroline,’ a doll within a doll’s house, and through footage of the catwalk show.
 To categorise this piece as a garment at all is questionable! Clearly it can be worn, but the movement of the wearer is restricted, the process of electroplating subverts the function of the garment transforming it into an object. Inspired by the Dutch custom of preserving a baby’s first shoe for posterity by electroplating it in silver, the dress is an exploration of ideas around the preservation of a memory or event through transformation of a perishable artefact into a resistant, durable momento. It has been described as ‘a metaphor for a desire to give permanence to fashion and still its fleeting nature.’ (P178; Merrell 2008) but also has other connotations.

 The wedding dress with it’s associations; a rite of passage into adult life, the fulfilment of romantic aspiration and social norms, is loaded with significance. Other garments within the collection have individual components that are plated with silver; a cuff, a bow, the hem of a skirt, but the wedding dress is totally covered in precious metal! It is therefore possible to interpret this as a commentary on the value given to marriage culturally and/or the extravagance and consumerism that now dominate the marriage industry.

 Presented as installation in the Greek Revival ‘pillar hall’ (Belsay Hall, Northumberland 2007) the dress becomes classical sculpture; elevated goddess like on a plinth, it alludes to antiquity and the representation of idealised beauty. It is both ‘an ode fashion’ (P178 Merrell 2008) and an indication of Viktor and Rolf’s aspirations.
When viewed closely at the Barbican, the intricate edges of its lace skirt imply the delicate qualities of the fabrics used. The preservation of construction detail and form indicate the level of craftsmanship required in realising this piece, a technical triumph! However, metal surfaces strongly lit from above in a darkened space made the dress look vulgar, like a massive silver charm that will inevitably tarnish as time passes. A critique of the ephemeral nature fashion industry or a comment on the state of matrimony? One thing is clear, heralded as the climax to the 2006/07 Autumn/Winter collection the cultural importance of the wedding dress is maintained and reinforced, both as the ultimate aspirational garment and a pinnacle of the creative process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEvp9jkErmo&NR=1&amp:featur=fvwp

Bibliography:
The House of Viktor & Rolf: Merrell; 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEvp9jkErmo&NR=1&feature=fvwp
http://www.showstudio.com/contributor1363 25/19/2009.
Inside the House of Viktor & Rolf – Symposium; Viktor & Rolf in conversation with Penny Martin (Barbican Centre, 13 Sept 2008) http://www.showstudio.com/contributor1363 25/10/2009.

The Golden Age of Couture; Paris and London 1947-57.

Edited by Claire Wilcox. V&A 2007.

Picture sources:

http://www.styleskilling.com/

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvPNbGWqo9TUa9PE4lt8x5se7KbbhK7rvFFTbw4a3lqcgTYwzEPxnlveviUMancQcWqJ6P4w1HpRPmEyNBF-eVJPzKilUInO8bF8QLJd_oyRWWoxh0rT3Qzax8ORFOeIMCXDybT5aZ52VC/s400/the-house-of-viktor-rolf7.jpg

Christian Dior ‘New Look’ 1947.

http://choubelle.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/fashion-that-even-hetero-man-fashion-dunces-understand/

http://www.sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/wp-content/uploads/LiveInFullColor/JulieHoylen/Ray_Ban/15matter_650.jpg

Sarah Sze; Tilting Planet at the Baltic Gateshead

Visited this exhibition on 26/8/2009 whilst visiting friends in Newcastle. My first experience of a Sarah Sze installation was at the Victoria Miro Gallery in 2007; I felt an immediate affinity with her work because of the obssesive precision of her arrangements, the familiarity of the objects that she was using, her beautiful use tonal use of colour and her extraordinary handling of material qualities. Everything just felt right; It was one of those 'I wish I had made these pieces myself' moments! So I was really looking forward to seeing her response to baltic space.
Some of the work was familar from Vicoria Miro while other parts of the installation were site specific. All components were linked in some way leading me through the gallery space via different paths and connections. I did have to think quite carefully about the best way to negotiate the work as some routes were more difficult than others. Her work is like a three dimensional map inviting you to explore the space in any number of ways.
Without the usual barriers and restrictions associated with viewing work within a gallery, I was free to investigate the scultures on an intimate level. I enjoyed the pysicality of crouching down, bending, peering and tip-toeing around the pieces, conscious all the time that I could be in danger of putting my feet in the wrong place or stepping back into the work while concentrating on another section. I found myself seeking out particular view points, experimenting with perspectives and trying to look at the objects within the space from as many positions as possible. This intraction on both a visual and physical level made the experience even more satisfying and enjoyable. 
Sze suprises you by using a familiar objects in an unfamiliar way, inviting you to look at them afresh and to re-evaluate their value and aesthetics. I enjoy the decorative relationships within her pieces; the use of multiples, repetition and layering all result in beautiful patterns and rythmns. Her practical dexterity and handling of material characteristics is exquiste.    
Reading the pamphlet that accompanies the installation there were two quotes that seemed  to capture the nature of her work for me;

'Size determinds an object, but scale determinds the art. If viewed in terms of scale, not size, a room could be made to take on the immensity of a solar system.'
Robert Smithson, quoted by Sarah Sze in Sarah Sze 

[By making her art in the margins we are drawn to it, searching for it behind pillars, and under cornices. The rewarding discoveries create an intimacy with the details formed in a quiet corner by her tinkering hands]
Robert Blackson, Sarah Sze Tilting Planet, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.  

More information on Sarah Sze; see past exhibitions at the Baltic and Victoria Miro links below

http://www.balticmill.com/

http://www.victoria-miro.com/

 SARAH SZE 10 April - 31 August 2009 Tilting Planet
BALTIC presents American Artist, Sarah Sze’s largest UK solo exhibition to date. Tilting Planet is a cluster of sculptural installations each cobbled together out of common disposable items such as water bottles, drawing pins, paper, salt, string, lamps, matchsticks and wire. Sze’s expansive sculptural vocabulary uses these items constructively to precisely build structures that defamiliarise our preconceived ideas of these objects, lending them a new found use and vitality. These cumulative sculptures mould themselves into spaces – spreading ivy-like throughout the gallery. Sze’s architecturally inspired works are extremely delicate and tower precariously in gravity-defying structures. These spectacular and tactile constructions can be large, complex, and beguiling in scale and composition. Operating almost as an independent ecosystem, the sculptures that comprise Tilting Planet will become a singular topographical terrain, a unique landscape emerging from components of the everyday.
Quoted from Baltic Website