MEP Sunday Visit

Always inspired by the works I see for the first time here.

There are always at least several that stand out, unexpected, in the three floors of the museum divided usually into four themes/photographers.

BIASIUCCI / PALADINOCASA MADRE

 FERRANTE FERRANTI, "ITINERRANCES"

L’ŒIL D’UN COLLECTIONNEUR: SERGE ABOUKRAT, DU CLICHÉ-VERRE À PHILIPPE HALSMAN

COSTA-GAVRAS, CARNETS PHOTOGRAPHIQUES

MEP website

And from quite the other end of the art spectrum: this weekend in Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp) there was plenty of inspiration- mostly conceptual- enough to exhaust you- and continue to exhaust from the long trails of thought still meandering...

To the end that I don't know what to do with them- do they translate to fashion? In very conceptual ways definitely; but in a more understated voice it's a less obvious solution. So is it a fine art response? In some kind of photo project or series of paintings?

I think that part of the reason I was (am?) so exhausted is from all the notes I scribbled during my visits. Can I read the words now? Maybe enough to grasp the thought that would have been so fleeting if I had not documented it in the moment.* It makes me feel safer. Like I don't have to run home and produce an artwork of my reaction before I forget what I saw (I already can't remember what I saw in Brussels...24 hours ago..!) But I can put the notebook back in my purse, and then filed on my shelf when it's filled, and read through it in the future and be RE-inspired. Or maybe the mental filing is all I need- the critical information accessible to be triggered by some new visual/musical/tactile stimuli. Well who knows...For now, about some of the art:

That's right!! Jeff Wall! At the museum of contemporary art in Brussels, the Jeff Wall exhibit was a compilation of his work, mixed among the work of other artists (painters, filmmakers, sculptors, photographers) that influence(d) his photography. So much more insightful than a solo retrospective, in my opinion, these clues into the artist's process are really so crucial to the understanding of their work. A couple things I noted:

*I want to site an observation on the great effort it takes in moments of inspiration that are ruled by the right brain, the telescopic perspective side, make it hugely difficult to accomplish the simple task of picking up the pencil and jotting down the note. That left brain activity, the organizational microscopic perspective side, seems trivial in this moment of clarity. but how often do we forget those things we wanted to remember because we neglected to respond to that demand of the left brain. I'm looking for the exact passage from Colin Wilson's Starseekers where he puts it much more concisely and eloquently.

Hussein Chalayan in Paris

This really fantastic exhibit was all about technology and exploiting the possible overlaps within Chalayan's vision of fashion. A brilliant designer who could have chosen any medium, he often incorporates those diverse design sensibilities in his runway instillations and video presentations. Also in his garments, as they super conceptual extreme is sculptural and not at all conventional clothing. What makes it distinctly about fashion is the role that the body and identity play in his creative commentary. By using the body as a foundation for his creations, there is an implied set of ideas that are connect to the idea of the body and the self. But in the context of his very thoughtful concepts he is able to send a different message each season. Part of that is thanks to the experimentation with new materials and processes which are often of a scientific or technologocal nature. Even his more rustic, raw, hand-made references come together in the form of some kind of modern hybrid, and never exist solely on ideas of the past.

this image is from my favorite Chalayan collection (one I cited in my first project design at SCAD) and the image if from the museum's website
Here is my coverage for TheFashionList

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

I am sadly going to miss this exhibit. Part of the surrounding enticement is due to the too-early death of the designer, making the garments on display like relics of his life.

Because I can't be there, I was so thrilled to find that the MET had put together this site with images, videos, a guide through each themed room, and beautiful photographs.
The best thing short of going myself. It is rare to find so much information shared surrounding an exhibit, ("you have to visit if you want to see...!") But in this case the digital element makes a really great complement (I imagine) to the actual visit. It is, however, clear from the videos and images that the richness of the spaces and textures and garments themselves just aren't done justice via digital reproductions.
But about the exhibit: I have admired Alexander McQueen (a fellow Lee) for seemingly forever. But I was never in the McQueen fan club. I also took his collections for granted. I don't think I really ever looked at his collections in the big picture sense. I saw the spectacle and appreciated his theatrics- saying that he was doing things differently. An industry that has so many codes of conduct and 'how tos' needs people who break some of those rules- boldly; no toe-dipping in the water.
The themes of nature, the future, his heritage, mysticism, goth, and current social climates are manifest in his collections. The literal interpretations might be considered costume-y if it weren't for the refined color palette, and masterful and tasteful couture approach. His design hand is was so refined; maybe as result of the time he spent learning the skills of tailoring on Saville Row.
Lastly, I have only recently awakened in myself an interest in and love for the idea of the future. While I have lived most of my life lamenting the past, dreaming of living in an America of pre-western expansion: "Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam" kind of nostalgia. This has revealed itself as a limiting mindset, where little can be expanded upon without getting into modern territory. And those same sources of inspiration I have seen exploding as trends all up and down the apparel market. Which puts into question every sense of identity and purpose. It is an emotional thing, creating.
And that is exactly what McQueen used to his advantage. For people who can't escape the power of strong emotions- emotions that can sometimes feel debilitating- to be able to channel them, and fabricate them, is one way of learning to control them- or at least make them work for you.

And so I'll live vicariously through everyone who gets to go see and visit the exhibit this closing weekend or who has visited it over the past months.
enjoy and appreciate
And for those of you like me who can't visit: here is a preview of the beautiful images the website shares

MONUMENTA

Anish Kapoor at the Grand Palais-
Amazing to see the space so fully engaged in the one sculpture. Inside and outside.
When first inside you go through a revolving door into the space of about 100 square feet, with about one hundred people inside. It is hot, and red, and dark- the light is so surreal. Like you are in a womb. The warped perspective is an effect of the seams of the balloon, and also the silhouette of the greenhouse structure with the lights shining through.
I didn't realize we would go into the palais as well, and see the sculpture from the outside. What an amazing contrast, I took a deep refreshing breath. It was a very strange experience to be inside the giant balloon that I was now looking at, and touching the thick taught skin from the outside I could not imagine that hot space I had just come from was contained within.
What Romain said: I have never visited a sculpture that had people inside of it before- neither had I. And it was interesting to know that while I was inside of it I had no consciousness of the hundreds of people walking around outside of it in the bright, sunlit space. So much the opposite of the red stale aired enclosure.