Textile Design at Chelsea College of Arts

[cherrymoxon]

Reflective Statement

I feel that I have gained analytical knowledge about the history of museums, fashion and textiles. It was exhilarating critiquing popular exhibitions and artists. Also it was enjoyable seeking for (what I believed were) errors in the curators work and to argue my opinions which had been heavily influenced by the theory lectures. I feel like I have gained an analytical eye as I have been questioning the presentation of museums and Brixton. It was interesting recording visual aspects of Brixton in a variety of ways which I then reviewed on my blog.

By posting my studio work, as it has been progressing has allowed me to develope my ideas further. I find that by reading a written document reflecting on my work, helps me to decide where to take my work next and to see my strengths and weaknesses; instead of all of my thoughts floating around in my head. I feel that my research has met the criteria for my blog as my journey has remained up to date though out the process, and it is this which has been my biggest strength. I found it satisfying to regularly communicate to the world my opinions on particular exhibitions ect, I feel that I sensitively considered the audience reading, by toning down my own beliefs in a rational form.

If I were to improve my blog I would try to strengthen the quality of my photographs (these were good quality but once uploaded onto my page the quality appeared to change). Another factor which I would consider to improve would be my presentation of my blog (although this is my first blog so I do have room for improvement). If I were to create a new blog in the future I think I would choose a different website other than Tumblr to have more control over its presentation. Overall I feel that I have succeeded the brief by regularly reviewing my artwork and exhibitions.

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Rough Guide project

Looking through old photos and love these photos from Brixton. See my oldest posts for my rough guide project.

Brixton

Dull, poverty, markets, diverse culture, litter, unemployed, dirty

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Final Prints

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Screen Printing 2

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Screen Printing

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Summer collection for print

These are my print designs which I have put onto models to show what my patterns would look like in a fashion context. I found the photos of the models in my Elle magazine, which I then scanned into the computer. The images I chose were in black and white which I feel emphasises the colours in my prints. I wanted the colour to pop out in the print as I wanted to create a summer collection. Summer seemed like the closest season to my objects within my collection, due to the colours and the objects themselves. It was fun to explore clashing colours and high saturation, such as purples and oranges. The main tool I used on Photoshop was the magic wand ( which was new to me) to enable me to place my prints inside designated areas.

 I really enjoyed this task as I wanted to see what my prints would look like on the body and in a commercial way. If I had more time to improve my prints, I would like to see what my designs would look like in an interior context, especially the clashing elephant sample. 

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Digital Print samples

I have finally finished working on my print samples. I took a while as I have been getting used to working on photoshop. I believe that my prints compliment each other through the use of colour, shape and sizes. My favourite print is the 3rd one, due to drawing quality which I kept in the design. On this design I also experimented with the opacity and fill when adding colour. This tool I found really useful as it gave my prints depth and contrasting tonal qualities. The overall theme of my prints was geared towards a summer collection for fashion. To show these ideas I will create some fashion images, which I will post shortly, to emphasise my sample designs.

If I had longer for my print block, I would focus on strengthening my photoshop knowledge, to create more advanced samples. Overall I am pleased with my prints, in the short space of time which I had to create them. I feel that I have learnt key skills from the workshops on photoshop as well as Illustrator which I hope to develop in the future within the specialism which I eventually choose.

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Digital Print

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Collecting the Exotic

Stereotyping

For my last blog task I had to watch a series of videos and critique one of them. My chosen video was Katy Perry singing Unconditionally dressed as a Geisha for the American Music Awards. A Geisha is a traditional Japanese female entertainer. In my opinion this video displayed the most controversy, Katy one of the biggest pop stars of the moment was representing the Japanese culture, in what could be argued as a racist way. The culture was stereotyped in a number of ways including, the fashion, makeup, colours, hair, set design, the music and props.

What are the problematic representations they reinforce or wish to break down?

To some viewers (but not all) the stereotyping that is represented could be seen as problematic and wrong. This is due to the fact that Katy is dressed as a typical Geisha from head to toe, wearing hair and makeup. Personally I find the hair and makeup of her costume the biggest issue here, as she is actually wanting to look like another race, with black and powdered white face. The fashion side of the performance I don't see as such a big deal as Kimonos were very popular in the spring/summer of last year in Britain; which was however developed from traditional dress in Japan. The Kimono is a non sensitive way of designing, however wanting to look like another race for a music performance is a sensitive design which I don't agree with. Similarly, The Turkish Bath House painted by Ingres in 1863 features Turkish females bathing who are all painted as white; this was done to make the viewer satisfied with the women within the painting. At the time the white women were superior over the orient. However this is so politically incorrect today, although this is essentially what Katy has done by visually made herself look Japanese. 

What issues are highlighted?

Another key issue that is addressed in the video is femininity and sexuality. A stereotypical Geisha is known for entertaining males and as Katy Perry is dressed as one, we can only assume she has similar ideas too. Her dress has a very high thigh split which some may say is provocative and doesn't leave much to the imagination. However this is the theme that most female pop stars go for in todays media. Edward W Said, believed that the Eastern world was weak, the object, the other and represents femininity; whereas the West was a culture of masculinity, the self, strong and the subject. The culture divides are represented in the video, as the stage design has lots of floral elements, feminine colours, lots of beauty and costume. Katy and the dancers flirt around on stage with traditional Orient fans and umbrellas. These themselves are stereotypes and Katy is emphasising the sensuality of the Japanese culture. It could also be suggested that by impersonating as a American and by exaggerating the culture that Katy is trying to improve the reality of the Orient. This idea is due to the fact that the show is theatrical and that Edward W Said believed that the European is the powerful. In history the West had the power over the Eastern world.

Why is this video not harmless?

It could be argued that this video is just art expressed by an artist who is interested in another culture which Katy does not belong to. When I stereotype my East culture I think of miserable weather, and jeans for our fashion; this creates a very contrasting image. Perhaps Katy was only exploring the unknown to her in a very theatrical style, after all it is exaggerated performances which make the press. Edward S also believed that by imaging the Orient divides the world into West and East. The West identifies itself by contrast to the orient. It is very unlikely that she would have even considered that her work could possibly offend people due to the fact that the costumes, staging and makeup were beautiful but when I realised she was mimicking a culture this then made me upset. Although we have to just accept that everything in todays world is stereotyped such as movies, the media and clearly music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXqcjgX-I9E

http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Entertainment/Music/News/2013/11/28/Katy-Perrys-geishathemed-performance-is-not-offensive/

Said, E. W. (1995). Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. 1978.Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin.

http://www.styleite.com/news/was-katy-perrys-ama-geisha-performance-racist/http://www.bustle.com/articles/13250-katy-perry-explains-geisha-incident-proves-shes-willfully-ignorant-about-japanese-culture

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Print Inspiration

Todays assignment was to find inspiring print fashion in the London streets. However I found this task very tricky as Londoners were wrapped up warm from the cold. The next best thing was to visit Selfridges. It was really interesting to see high end designer collections of prints. I had a great day finding brightly coloured patterned fabrics. The swimwear section was by far the most exciting, lots of digital printed fabrics which would have been manipulated on the computer. I was particularly interested in how designers had created their collections by having a variety of colours and styles of garments. I look forward to creating my own patterns using photoshop and illustrator tomorrow. Today has been useful and I will take what Ive seen and put the creative energy into my own work.

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Final samples mounted

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Weave Sketchbook

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Nail Polish Art for research

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Inspiration in London

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The Imperial War Museum

The Holocaust exhibition was designed in a emotional way to set the mood and the history to which it was going to convey to its audience. The lighting was darkly lit, creating a tense atmosphere. The sign as you walked in clearly stated no cameras or mobile phones; the curators of the show wanted to suggest a quiet exhibition almost to make the viewers feel nervous and scared. A similar feeling to the Jews that they interpret. 

The particular story which attracted me the most was the Chelmno death camp; as there were items on display which belonged to those who had died. Seeing items such as glass, mugs, cutlery, combs, shoe insoles and buttons hit me hard as the story became real to me. “Attention! All clothing to be deposited, all items of your possession, except for money, valuables, documents and shoes, must be left at the disrobing point. Money, valuables and documents must remain in their owners possession until handed over to the counter. Shoes to be tired in pairs and handed where indicated. When completely undressed, enter together to bath and inhalation”. These items were the last personal items which the Jews had kept. I began to look at the items as if they were people behind a glass cabinet under spot lights. I almost wanted to give identity to the people who owned these objects by giving them a name, age and gender instead of just looking at them as a Jew or as an object. There weren't many names throughout the exhibition as a whole,this maybe because they were unknown or because the museum was trying to stereotype. In some ways I believe both ideas, after all there were about six million that were killed. 

Also I looked at the objects as a collection, the objects were beautiful; green glass glistened under the light, in contrast to the rusty copper items, which made a visually interesting colour pallet and an even more inspiring textual combination. However the museum has changed my perception of the conflict throughout the war due to the fact that I feel I have been studying the items in great detail guessing about who the owner was. Overall I feel that the museum is missing a great deal of knowledge and what I want to know is why are they missing this.

The first room I walked into in the Holocaust exhibition a large sign read, “Under the cover of the 2nd world war, for the sake of their ‘new order’, the Nazis sought to destroy all the jews of Europe, for the 1st time in history, industrial methods were used for the mass extermination of a whole people. Six million were murdered, including 1500000 children. This event is called the Holocaust. This exhibition looks at how and why these things happened”. I read it as if I was a school child learning about the Holocaust for the first time; it was patronising. Ask anyone and they will know what the Holocaust was- “This event is called the Holocaust”. Another line which I found insulting was “This exhibition looks at how and why these things happened”. THINGS. It could be suggested that the museum haven't considered a more emotional response when telling the story, a more relevant word would be tragedy.

There was an SA stormtroopers uniform at the exhibition from the 1930s in a glass cabinet. This garment felt so out of context, folded up neatly on display. It had been removed from battlefield to the museum, a place so far away from its owner who wore the uniform. The description read, “Uniform of a Nazi Stormtrooper. In the 1930s the SA had some 100,000 members, mostly young men and 1st world war veterans. The SA offered them comradeship and a sense of purpose. The SA were often called ‘brownshirts’, a reference to the colour of the uniform”. Refers to the stereotypical SA man and not to the person who wore the uniform. The shirt itself had a few stains and had a faded colour. The personality of the man was so far removed, it would be more suited to display the uniform on a mannequin. As a viewer I almost expect to see a sign with the mans name and age however this was missing at the exhibition, it was almost like the museum itself was protecting the identity of the German who killed men. Overall I feel that the museum could have embraced a more emphatic approach, as I felt that the exhibition lacked consideration to the people who feature on display without any identification.

[cherrymoxon]

Weaving Samples

Surprisingly I have enjoyed my weaving block more than I thought I would have. To begin with I didn't know anything about weaving and in the two weeks I have come away having learnt a few woven terminology and produced some samples which I am happy with. Below are some of my favourite samples using a straight and pointed draft on a loom. These samples I am about to hand wash and I will post the washed samples later on.

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V&A Horst: Photographer of Style

After hearing how popular the Horst exhibition had been, I'd been encouraged to visit it and see for myself. I was most inspired by the Haute Couture dresses which were displayed on mannequins, on stage under spot lights. This design had strong similarities to high end designer shops, where garments are behind glass cabinets. The Haute Couture dresses were portrayed as if they had been frozen in time like in a snow globe; the dresses looked unworn, and in perfect condition despite them being worn in the 1930s. There was not a tear or button missing on these dresses which suggests that the curators and the preservation of the garments is well considered. However all of these garments would have only been worn by supermodels and actresses that appear in the photographs within the exhibition, such as Lisa Fonssagrives (known as the first supermodel). The show suggested that Horst was interested in the texture of luxury fabrics such as satins and silks which he expertly conveyed through his master skills of studio lighting. Satins and silks are not the sort of material most people have the opportunity to wear, which makes us in awe of the garments and the lucky supermodels which wore them.

Similarly, Breward C talks about celebrities and the upperclass as ‘They are known for the image they create for themselves. They are highlighted by museums not just because of the importance of individual pieces within their wardrobes, but because of the way they reflect and navigate the consumption side of the fashion system’. This quote emphasises the idea behind why museums like the V&A exhibit shows with hundreds of images of beautiful women modelling designers like Dior, Robert Piguet and Molyneux; is it to advertise to the upper class or to put the middle class in admiration? What is missing from this show is Horst photographing women in casual clothing that would be seen on the high street that most people could afford. But it could be argued that this exhibition would not sell as viewers could easily go to the shop to do that.

The overall theme throughout Horst’s photography represented females in an unrealistic glamorous manner, almost like a mannequin which could pose in anyway Horst would like. Many women would look at his photographs and feel jealous, wanting to be the female. It could be suggested that the models wearing the ridiculously expensive dresses (which not many people could afford) and that they were photographed in a very unnatural way. They often would be looking seductivly away from the camera, resting their head on their hands. This idea is represented throughout Palmer A 2008, ‘Over the past 20 years fashion photography has been increasingly embraced by museums worldwide and its links to glamour, sex and celebrity culture has attracted large audiences’. The celebrity glamour lifestyle successfully draws in audiences to this show. However it is about time the V&A exhibit fashion with models who aren't posing for vogue wearing fashion from the past which the middle and lower class wore.

Horst. (1939), (Mural Maxwell, American Vogue). Available at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-horst-photographer-of-style/about-the-exhibition/. (downloaded: 28/12/14).

Breward, C (2008). ‘Between the museum and the academy: Fashion Theory’, The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture’. 12(1), 65:81.

Palmer, A (2008). ‘Untouchable: creating desire and knowledge in museum costume and textile exhibitions. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture’. 12(1), 31:63.