Chalayan is an artist and designer, working in film, dress and installation art. Research Chalayan’s work, and then consider these questions in some thoughtful reflective writing.
1. Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996) , are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer. What are your personal responses to these works? Are Afterwords and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?
Afterwords, 2000
Burka, 1996
Not all clothing is fashion, so what makes fashion fashion?
Fashion is a popular trend describe in the dictionary however, people can have their own views on what is and isn’t fashion. What I believe makes fashion is a statement that people make something with a wow factor to me and something that I take an interest in visually. Fashion is up and coming and constantly changing. People have their own opinion on what is fashion and what isn’t for an example there is the latest fashion of colour blocking.
It is hard to establish the difference between the words art and fashion because there is an art in fashion, in the creative sense of the ideas and the making. Both artists and designers have similar interests and influences. I feel that there are many different ways of thinking about what art actually is, but in fact there are many genres that would classify under the word art such as architecture, digital design, fashion design. Art is what you make of it, it is a text in which gives you something to talk about or to think about. In the work Burka (1996) I think that the ideas that were challenged to the viewers and the wearer show things to think about such as femininity of the female and the burka.
I think it would of initially offended many people who were not interested in the artist before hand because in a way at first glance it seems that Chalayan is going against all the islamic cultures values and morals. But when you look into the text more, you realize that he is making a statement on women in burkas rights and femininity. Hussein Chalayan was the first to go there. He sent oddly pubey models down the runway with only their faces covered way back in 1998. The New York Times, unable to call it for what it was – adding genitals to something we don’t understand – called it “a provocative exploration of the Islamic women’s place in society using the chador as a fulcrum”. (Would you wear a burka?, 2010)- I believe that Chalayan’s burka to me is not necessarily fashion although it was a collection but I think that his ideas in this went beyond the thought of fashion able to wear and became more of a statement that got people thinking and discussing world wide and deals with the issues of the burka, ‘femininity, modesty and identity’ (Hussein Chalayan- Burka, 2010).
In the work Afterwords (2000) it shows wearable, portable architecture displaying clothes able to transform into tables, suitcases and chairs. I feel that this shows a lot of art, architecture and minimum fashion, I do not think that Hussein is fazed by what is fashionable or starting trends, he designs to be creative and to evolve ideas for the viewers in his garments. His last pieces of Afterwords, shown in the show I feel are so incredibly amazing and mind bottling on how he made these that the seem so clever almost too clever for the runway. Like McQueen Hussein is so talented in the way that they both incorporate the best of their skills in their collections and leave the outstanding for last. If the collection was just clever portable architecture it wouldn’t be the same and those significant last pieces. ‘chalayan uses fashion as a medium for expression’ (Hussein Chalayan fashion + video, n.d)
I like quite a few architects: renzo piano, jean nouvel, parts of zaha hadid, rem koolhaas and mies van der rohe, alvar aalto and le corbusier. Quite broad, but again, parts of what they do.’ - Hussein Chalayan.
2. Chalayan has strong links to industry. Pieces like The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose (2006) are made in collaboration with, and paid for by, commercial business; in these cases, a vodka company and a crystal manufacturer. How does this impact on the nature of Chalayan’s work? Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?
Art is everywhere, whether it is recycled and made into something, something that is already branded, something that has been made from scratch, art is on t.v, the internet, advertising, product design and much more. Therefore the meaning of art does not necessarily change when he has used other products to make his art to sell their product. It makes it more popular, is a clever marketing strategy for both Chalayan and the product owners however, at the end of the day it is still something made and creative and presented in an exhibiting way. It is up to the viewer to decide if it is still art, however, I believe so because in a post-modern world anything could be art if the artist decides it is so. This just shows on Chalayan’s work that he is very creative and talented in many ways whether it is selling, creating and designing top-notch pieces of art or clothing. The result was The Level Tunnel is a 15 meters long and 5 meters high traveling installation that captures the essence of Level Vodka. Essentially Chalayan looked at Level as a means to echo all aspects of it from the bottle to the drink itself. (Tunnel Info General, 2008) In doing this people were blinded folded and listened to the flute that was made out of a level vodka bottle, they also activated the smells in the vodka by walking The individuals going through the tunnel might feel like they re able to feel the smell or taste the sound resulting in a synaesthetic experience. Drinking the actual vodka at the end completes the experience of the tunnel but if not it may feel like the vodka is still consumed by other means. (Tunnel Info General, 2008).
The Level Tunnel, 2006
Repose, 2006
- Chalayan’s film Absent Presence screened at the 2005 Venice Biennale. It features the process of caring for worn clothes, and retrieving and analyzing the traces of the wearer, in the form of DNA. This work has been influenced by many different art movements; can you think of some, and in what ways they might have inspired Chalayan’s approach?
A video installation telling a story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology. The film questions whether the extent to which identities can adapt to new environments. (imdb, 2005) The art movements that I can recognize from reading about this film (because I cannot find a video online) are modernism, post-modernism. Modernism in the way that they believed that science would fix everything, I think that Chalayan has a love for science and technology in the way that he said in an interview ‘technology creates new possibilities and i think it creates in a way new realities and new connections between things that maybe you couldn’t do before. I feel like it’s a really exciting tool but then again depends on how it is used.’ (The Art Of Fashion, 2009) he also takes advantage of science and technology and uses it to his advantage (which is not a bad thing) in the way that he is always using technology in new and exciting ways to create amazing works. I think the scientific revolution has also had an influence on this film such as progress the idea that humans could be improved by science, and science is the key to expanding all human knowledge.
http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/art_projects.absent_presence.overview/
ALVC semester 1 hand out book
4. Many of Chalayan’s pieces are physically designed and constructed by someone else; for example, sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works from Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) and Before Minus Now (2000) fashion ranges. In fashion design this is standard practice, but in art it remains unexpected. Work by artists such as Jackson Pollock hold their value in the fact that he personally made the painting. Contrastingly, Andy Warhol’s pop art was largely produced in a New York collective called The Factory, and many of his silk-screened works were produced by assistants. Contemporarily, Damien Hirst doesn’t personally build his vitrines or preserve the sharks himself. So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?
I think that it makes it more special and significant when an artists makes their own pieces of work, we do all know that the ideas obviously come from the artist but everybody needs some assistance especially when artists have such grandiose ideas that would be impossible to achieve alone. Also when artists start to get loads of money such as Damien Hirst they are allowed to get lazy and get assistance and work on other projects. I find sometimes a bit disappointing when I find out that the artists has not actually constructed the piece such as Damien Hirst’s shark, but at the end of the day it is their own quirky weird ideas. It is important for the artists to make their own pieces when it is in their area of focus.
wow, you wrote so much for this blog entry!!
ReplyDeletein this comment i am referring to this text written by you in your answer to question 1:
It is hard to establish the difference between the words art and fashion because there is an art in fashion, in the creative sense of the ideas and the making. Both artists and designers have similar interests and influences. I feel that there are many different ways of thinking about what art actually is, but in fact there are many genres that would classify under the word art such as architecture, digital design, fashion design. Art is what you make of it, it is a text in which gives you something to talk about or to think about.
i think it is very correct the way you have said art is included in fashion. I too think that the works are art and fashion as fashion comes under the heading of art and desing. A prime example is the course we are doing this year - Certificate of Art and Design - which includes painting, fashion, digital etc etc
My goodness, you did write alot and all very interesting. I thought that you described the differneces between art and fashion very clearly and I enjoyed reading your point of view of what you thought was fashion was and meant. I agree with what you said anwsering question 2 espically with the pharse "in a post-modern world anything could be art" I thik this is very true.
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