 This week I spent observing the work of my peers over at the MA Chelsea Summer Show, continued to read a number of books and I went to the London Design Biennale which was very inspiring, but I will leave that review for another entry. I thought it would be more interesting to reflect on the practice of my peers at Chelsea instead. There are 4 key themes that I would like to reflect on that struck me most from the show, which actually were also informed by the installations I came across at the Design Biennale as I would write about eventually. For now, the themes are: 1. Making and Prototyping 2. Observing Empirically 3. Flights of Fancy 4. Lo-tech tactility vs. Hi-tech fantasy 1. Making and Prototyping One of the things I miss the most in this MA is having a studio practice. While most of my work is done through reading, thinking and research, I enjoy creating prototypes and making things. Seeing the prototypes that the MA Interior & Spatial Design students exhibited was inspiring and made me think of ways that I could apply prototyping into testing out physical methods of displaying dress. (Can I find a space to experiment with different ways of displaying dress and note down audience interaction?) There were 2 installations that drew me particularly for their making. Afifeh's laboratory was not only beautiful, but it slowed down my 'looking' process to analyse and anticipate how the machine works. It was a mix of pulleys and aims to fuse art and science together. Most of the systems are exposed and you can figure out how it mechanically would work. Machines nowadays are not so simple. If you pry open a laptop, it would be impossible for the layman to figure out what part does what..or at least for me! The second project by Apeksha Mehta was aesthetically intriguing to me from a perspective of dress. It explored the tension between restraint and the body in creative practice. Referencing the work of Rebecca Horn, and physical artists like Jackson Pollock, she created a series of objects that marked the body's restraint. I don't wish to simplify her work too much, but it drew me for its aesthetics --so do take a look at her reflective statement which has been laid out into an e-book here. 2. Observing Empirically Liliane Nguyen's work challenged me to think more empirically when considering curating spaces. Her research question was "A study into the perceived notions of boundaries that exist within a gallery context, and the impact this can have on the physical movement within that space as well as the psychological memories taken away from the experience.". Liliane did 2 experiments and observed how it changed the way audiences interacted with the artwork/space. She took detailed notes and observations. This attention to detail and to behaviours is something I am very interested in, but I have not made it explicit in my research. As my thesis is exploring mended and altered garments, which are part of the slow fashion movement, I would like to explore how to 'slow down' the process of looking at garments in a fashion exhibition as well. When I was at the MoMu Game Changers exhibition, I noticed many would pass by rooms quite quickly, sometimes just snapping a picture for instagram. I thought it was a pity that so much detail was being missed out, and wondered how I could slow down my audience to get them to notice certain details. While there is an element of subjectivity (i.e. different things are interesting to different people) I think the only way to be able to observe this phenomenon is to look at audience reactions in situ after identifying certain types of display techniques. I do have a soft spot for data, spreadsheets and organization, so this is something I would like to pursue further. I have already identified some exhibitions/galleries/spaces I would like to observe, so it would be a case of organising this and recording my observations over a period of time. I need to think about what my research question is in order to create the best conditions for my empirical observations. 3. Flights of Fancy This was an interesting spatial reaction to a serious topic that has also been dealt with at the London Design Biennale--global warming and how to display data in an visual manner. I think it is something to think about when dealing with a topic such as sustainability/slow-fashion as there is a lot of horrifying data but sometimes we have to use artistic mediums, flights of fancy, to communicate fact through art... Luman Chen creates a beautiful installation that aims to "utilize artistic and efficient ways to transform scientific data and quantifiable facts of the Antarctic into communicational visual installation." I think it is beautiful. 4. Lo-tech tactility vs. Hi-tech fantasy
Overall, I think due to the student nature of the projects, most were created with lo-tech materials and were very tacttile, experimental and delightful. There was only one project I saw that engaged with virtual 3-dimensional models. After seeing the Bjork Virtual Reality exhibition, I think there is still a lot of wonder to be experienced IRL.
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