 |
| Source Fowler |
The
Third Event that I attended was in deep North Campus, farther than I had
ventured in years, although I suppose that was the point. The Fowler Museum’s “Making
Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem” by Vivan Sundaram was an incredibly interesting
exhibit, showcasing a number of very interesting dresses, and other clothing,
made from non-traditional items.
Many
of the dresses were made from industrial materials, car tires, chain mail, corrugated
plastic. It was a very interesting discussion of just what could be made into
clothes if no other materials were available.
I
found it to be a really interesting comparison to the fashion trends currently sweeping the world. Although ‘real’ fashion never used medical breathing masks,
or shoe leather as building materials, much of what is considered ‘haute couture”
seems (to me, the uninitiated) similar.
A random assortment of odds and ends, poufy here, tight there.
The
juxtaposition of that fashion trend with these dresses which were made by
grabbing items intended to be strange, is a powerful parody of the current
fashion world. I attended the event with a friend, and there were several
(though not many) moments where she concluded “I might wear that.”
 |
| Source Fowler |
Another
of the interesting commentaries on contemporary fashion was how many of the
dresses seemed to be incomplete, or at least far too expository that I would
have preferred. Its possible that the artist was casting a future look into the
next century of fashion, with lower decency standards.
All
told, this made me think of the discussion of Orlan and MedTech in Art. I’m
still not sure how comfortable I feel with body modification, expression and
display being an art form, given that it has a objectification component of the
subject, but they are similar in style. Both Sundaram and Orlan are using art
to show the human body in ways it had never been shown before.
 |
| Source Me |
"Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram."Fowler.ucla.edu. The Fowler Museum, n.d. Web. 08 June 2015.
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