Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion

Future Beauty

Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion is the first exhibition in Europe to comprehensively survey avant-garde Japanese fashion, from the early 1980s to the present. Curated by the eminent Japanese fashion historian Akiko Fukai, Director of the Kyoto Costume Institute, the exhibition explores the unique sensibility of Japanese design, and its sense of beauty embodied in clothing. 

Japanese fashion made an enormous impact on the world fashion scene in the late 20^th century and designers such as Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto redefined the very basis of fashion. Their works will be shown alongside Kawakubo’s protégé, the techno-couturier Junya Watanabe, together with the acclaimed Jun Takahashi, and the new generation of radical designers including Tao Kurihara,Fumito Ganryu, Matohu, Akira Naka and Mintdesigns




The Japanese culture of the kimono is very apparent in this exhibition, the cloths can only be described as shapeless and genderless. Western designers use the contours of the body to design in 3D but the japanese wrap the body in fabrics which hides the body shape.  


 Rie Kawakubo/ Comme des Garcon plays with this idea of proportion and what the contours of the body , creating garments which often either conceals the body or disfigures the contours of the body.

Flatness:  These garments designed by Rie Kawakubo/ Comme des Garcons were photographed by Naoya Hatakeyama in both dimensions  one gives you an image of the garment as a painting and the other as sculpture. this idea allows the viewer to see the garment seperate from  

At the end of this Exhibition the concept of "ma"  has fueled my ideals. The word "ma" can only be roughly described as "gap" "space" or "pause"  and when put into practice is the understanding of from and non-form in other words  negative space.
`

Reflective statement

Reflective statement                                                                      

This term so far has gone well, i just finished my Stitch and Print rotations. I enjoyed Stitch because of the freedom to constrict fabric. For the Print rotation i i found interesting because of the range of techniques which we could do. i liked my digital print scarfs and the concept of defacing. for my "POP UP PRIMITIVE I" o focused on the textural qualities and line within my wooden carvings. for the next project i'm going to change the object  but following the theme of objects at home.I plan to focus on form and colour within my objects.

Turner prize 2010

At the turner prize i found works of  Angela de la cruz very inspiring:

ANGELA DE LA CRUZ

Angela de la Cruz has been nominated for her solo exhibition, After at Camden Arts Centre, London. De la Cruz uses the language of painting and sculpture to create striking works that combine formal tension with a deeper emotional presenceAngela de la Cruz was born in La Coruña, Spain in 1965. She moved to the UK in 1987 and studied at Goldsmiths College, London (1991-94) and the Slade School of Art, London (1994-96). She lives and works in London.

her work reminds me of pleats and folds which i use to present my samples she uses of drapery and colour  to convey her concepts. 

DIAGHILEV AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE BALLETS RUSSES, 1909-1929

Visits to Diaghilev at the V&A Around 1900 artists and designers became fascinated with exotic themes. This can be seen in clothes by Poiret, and in paintings by Picasso. One of the most important influences was Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, which employed Picasso, Poiret, Chanel and many other important designers. This session will include an overview of the design movement and a visit to the V&A Diaghilev exhibition.  Serge Pavlovich Diaghilev was an impresario and the best of his era, a visionary in the dramatic arts and what we would call ahead of his time. He had visions of modernity and hired those who sheared that vision. He brought the arts together hiring the composers, artists and chorographers in a collaborative project where they made imagination a reality. We are told “nothing was costume it was all real” the experience of his shows were moving and still influences the arts today. The inspiration for these productions came from all over the world.  indian influence   Fashion inspired by the ballet russes Here are some drawimgs of the costumes which i found really interesting:   ‘Culture is a sort of theatre where various political and ideological causes engage one another’ Edward SaÏd, 1978 ‘Orientalism is not a picture of the East or the Easts. It represents longing, option, and faraway perfection’ - Richard Martin, 1995 The influences of Asia on european culture was very significant during the 1900 the quotes from artists during and after this period  confirm the influence which countries like China and Japan had within design and art was major.  Orientalisms, 1750-1920 Design                                                                                                                         Life 1761                 George III builds `Chinese Pagoda’ and `Turkish Mosque’ at Kew                         Napoleon’s army invades Egypt and brings back antiquities                    1798 1815                 Royal Pavilion at Brighton decorated in Chinoiserie style                         Britain defeats China in Opium War, forces new trade terms                    1842                         American Navy forces Japan to open up after 200 years             1854 1862                 Japanese works shown at International Exhibition, London 1867                 Manet paints portrait of Zola with Japanese art 1875                 Liberty opens shop, East India House, selling oriental silks 1876                 Whistler works on decoration of `Peacock Room' 1877                 E W Godwin designs `Japanese' furniture for W Watt & Co 1885                 ‘The Mikado’ by Gilbert and Sullivan 1887                 Vincent van Gogh exhibits his own collection of Japanese prints 1891                 Book on Utamaro, Japanese printmaker, in French, sells 25,000 1904                 Premiere of ‘Madame Butterfly’ by Puccini 1906                 Poiret sets up as an independent designer 1909                 Poiret shows clothes with Oriental influence, including trousers 1909                 Diaghilev puts on `Cleopatra' and `Prince Igor' in Paris 1910                 Diaghilev puts on `Scheherezade' and `Firebird' in Paris 1911                 Poiret stages Oriental fancy-dress party, `1002nd Night’ 1913                 Premiere of `Rite of Spring'; Nijinsky leaves Diaghilev                         World War I                                                                               1914-19                         Russian Revolution, followed by civil war                                   1917                         Chinese Civil War (Emperor deposed, 1912)                               1919-28 Web Pages: http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/british_galls/styles/index.html `Encounters’ exhibition guide http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1196_encounters/index.html Christopher Dresser http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1324_dresser Tate Britain exhibition, ‚The Lure of the East: British Orientalist  Painting’ http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/britishorientalistpainting/default.shtm

Trade between East and West

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/intx/hd_intx.htm Visits to the V&A Museum Many things that we think of as typically British, from tea in china cups to chintz curtains, were originally imported from China, India or Japan. One of Britain’s most important past industries, cotton production, was developed to compete with India. This session will cover the history of trade with the East (1600 to 1900) and explore the V&A galleries for artefacts showing the influence of the East. The British east India company was became the main colonial power in  india by 1757 and were trading with south- east asia for spices, coffee and many luxurious goods which could not be found in europe especially their textiles. Indian textiles such as woven silks, muslin , cashmere  and chintz  not only were washable but had unique floral images which were very popular in europe at this time. Here is an example of chintz an elegant floral pattern and could only be found in india.  Indian printers often adapted their designs to their markets such as indonesia.  The European chintz on the left  and indonesian chintz on the right the difference is remarkable and roved to be advantages for the Indian traders. chintz wasn't only used for clothing but also interiors and were extremely expensive to buy.   As neoclassicism came around in the 1800 the dress and style of homes changed and was inspired by the ancient greeks which meant that muslin and soft Kashmir became very popular. During this time was the  invention of the steam roller made england the new major exporter of printed cotton  and soon after england manufactures printed cotton for india and many of the countries in the east.  The importing of british fabrics to india put pressure on local trade and craftsmen ignited the decline of the East india company as locals started to revolt and soon was abolished.  This wooden model marked the decline the of the british  empire in india and was ordered to be made for sultan Tipu.

“POP UP PRIMATIVE “

   “POP UP PRIMITIVE “

I   collected object from my home which reflected my west African heritage i focused on mainly wooden craft and carvings .

British Museum - Collecting Things, Collecting People

Visits to the British Museum The history of collecting and its links to both Colonialism and Science  and will be explored, looking at how collecting is practised by ethnographers today to record changing societies. It considers the politics of collecting and debates about cultural property. Room 25: Africa The diverse cultural life of Africa has been expressed through everyday objects and unique works of art since ancient times. The Museum’s collection of over 200,000 African items encompasses archaeological and contemporary material from across the continent. Highlights on display in Room 25 include a magnificent brass head of a Yoruba ruler from Ife in Nigeria, the Tree of Life (a sculpture made out of guns) and some objects from the Torday collection of Central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry. When exploring the museum you are faced with an eclectic collection of artefacts which aims to give you a better understanding of the objects and the African culture.  The rooms are divided and categorised so that the information is not over whelming but exciting as you meander through the rooms. Room 24: living and dying

People throughout the world deal with the tough realities of life in many different ways. The displays in Room 24 explore different approaches to our shared challenges as human beings, focussing on how diverse cultures seek to maintain health and well-being The new displays provide case studies on the theme Living and Dying using material from New Zealand, Ghana, the Solomon Islands, South America and the North American Arctic.

The displays consider different approaches to averting illness, danger and trouble, and investigate people's reliance on relationships - with each other, the animal kingdom, spiritual powers spirits and the world around us.

Objects range from ancient gold artifacts and sculptures to a specially-commissioned art installation, Cradle to Grave by Pharmacopoeia

With in this room are several glass cabinets each from a different culture in the would and objects which are used in the celebration of life and the rituals of death. 


One thing that i noticed amongst the cultures is the celebration of both life and death and the use of objects as symbols. 
they all look at death mysteriously and always try to send the dead of in a very ceremonial way.  


There  are ways we  can deal with life and death for the people who lived on the Polynesian islands they carved large rock head in order to recognize the people of the past and living .

The exhibitionStudy task                                                                                                            What object would you collect to symbolize the way you think about life?  What would you collect to show the difference between your ideas and those of your parents about life? Life for me is a gift and the only way you can really recognize the magnitude or greatness of this gift is through death. Death itself can't really be symbolized it can only be represented through its effects which would be the life that was. The things it leaves behind and the way it effects others. With reference to this the objects which i would collect to reflect the idea of life and death would be images of the course of a life and the things within that.  the items which were used every day and those which have memory for each life the objects differ.