A Visit to The Surreal House

Entrance to The Surreal House


Today, a visit to The Surreal House exhibition at the Barbican. It was recommend to me quite a while ago to pay a visit here, but having only just managed to get around to it, am glad I took the time. Anyone familiar with the gallery space at the Barbican will know it is often a ‘difficult’ space to fill, with a larger open space on the lower level, and a series of smaller rooms, or rather large alcoves, on the upper level, from where it is also possible to view the lower level, and vice versa. This sense of different levels and viewpoints seemed to work well, however, certainly giving any visitor the sense of having entered a kind of ‘house’ space, and offering the opportunity to view exhibits and films from differing angles. The aim of the exhibition was to showcase the links between the concept of the house and surrealism, and while many of the exhibits were certainly familiar, it was intriguing to have the opportunity to look at them again from a different viewpoint. Interestingly, there was a mix of exhibits by the ‘original’ surrealist artists, writers and designers, such as André Breton, Dora Maar, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp, complemented by others whose work has shown a surrealistic influence, or whose work includes elements of the surreal, such as Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Francis Bacon, Francesca Woodman, Jan Švankmajer, Joseph Cornell, Paul Thek and Gordon Matta-Clark.


Untitled (Black Bath), Rachel Whiteread, 1996


In keeping with the ideas around the surreal, it was curious to see a number of exhibits appearing seemingly out of context, or in curious juxtaposition. Most striking perhaps was Lucien Freud’s leather desk chair, on loan from the Freud Museum in London, which was displayed alone behind a glass panel, appearing almost like a spectre, the chair of an interrogator or a torturer. Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Black Bath), 1996, meanwhile, certainly had the ‘’demeanour of a stately sarcophagus’’, as the exhibition blurb put it. Interested in dreams and the possibilities of dreams, the surrealists were much influenced by the use of film, and also made much use of the medium, and visitors could certainly spend much time in this exhibition exploring the various manifestations of this. I was particularly intrigued by a series of photographs by Francesca Woodman, and the theme of appearances and disappearances that was evident. Jan Svenkmajer’s films Jabbawocky and Down the Cellar, were also still startling instances of mixing the surreal with a playful, yet very dark and grown-up sense of intrigue and possible danger. In particular, Down the Cellar conveyed a sense of how we ourselves often mix these up in everyday life, making us question what is ‘real’ or ‘unreal’.


Still from Down the Cellar, Dir. Jan Švankmajer, 1982

As someone interested in fashion as a research pursuit this exhibition was again a reminder of how the collaboration between art and fashion has perhaps been most successful in their meeting through surrealism, or surrealistic elements. Fashion is often perceived to be ‘ridiculous’ or ‘absurd’, as so many media commentators on the fashion still take great delight in emphasising during the bi-annual catwalk presentations. Yet it is this very absurdity that continues to make fashion relevant as source of release from the mundanity of everyday life, which all of us need from time-to-time. The only outfits, as such, included in the exhibition were a pair of latex dresses from 1979 by Louise Bourgeois. Other ‘fashion artefacts’, if they may be called that included Alberto Giacometti’s Table Surrealiste of 1933/1969, a kind of ‘’dressing table’’, with four different legs, a veiled mannequins head and a dismembered hand. The walls of the exhibition itself were also painted grey, almost like a ‘’traditional’’ haute couture salon, or some rooms appeared in shades of pink or a deep plum/aubergine colour, and indeed the overall ambience of the exhibition could be described as ‘’chic’’, with a sense of the exhibits being both well lit and well placed. I especially liked the placing of the antique glass vitrines in several of the rooms, adding a sense of both the ‘’traditional’’ practices of curatorial display and also a play on the idea of the ‘’wunderkamer’’ or ‘’wonder room’’, or looking at ‘’an exhibition-inside-an-exhibition’’. Perhaps the most ‘’fashionable’’ exhibits, however, were a series of black–and-white prints made by Nicholas de Larmessin (1640-1725) illustrating a number of trades-people, including a lingerie seller and a miller. Their appeal as surrealistic inspiration was evident in the very bodies or outfits of the figures in the prints as they were made up of the accoutrements of their trade, even including their headwear and footwear. It is very possible to imagine how these extraordinary outfits may be realised in ‘’real-life’’ on the catwalk at Christian Dior.


Table Surrealiste, Alberto Giacometti, 1933 (1969)


Installation view of Table Surrealiste


Although not a ‘’fashion exhibition’’ per se, The Surreal House was an interesting example of how fashion permeates different areas, and also how the realm of the domestic, that is ‘’the house’’, continues to have such a profound influence. In developing my own work as a researcher through the medium of film it was also a good opportunity to view a number of films, not only to view the film-making of the films themselves, but also to engage with how film is presented. The Surreal House showed its selection of films on both large and small screens, sometimes with the opportunity to sit on a bench if the film was of a longer length. Interestingly, the section Electric Cinema, featured a miniature version of a real cinema, with plush red curtains on the walls and matching, ‘’real’’, old-style cinema seats, offering the visitor a ‘’real-life’’ cinema experience, with a series of full-length feature films, such as the surreal masterpiece La Belle et La Bête. In the creation of films, this is perhaps an aspect that is often not fully realised, yet with the growth of 3-D presentations as way of enticing and retaining people’s interest in the cinematic experience, this is an area that retains a great many possibilities to explore and consider. Echoing the surrealism and filmic quality of the day, I arrived at the exhibition on an overcast, if dry day, and left in the rain, weaving my way to the tube station without an umbrella through the labyrinth that is the Barbican complex...

Resources:

Barbican: http://www.barbican.org.uk/

Fashion Clash Maastricht 2010

Just back from the beautiful city of Maastricht, located in the very south of the Netherlands in the Limburg region. As in my last post I do not really see myself as a 'maker' in the traditional sense, so visiting to take part in the Fashion Clash Expo was certainly an experimental venture. I exhibited my first short film Serendipity, featuring the work of Caroline Collinge, who also exhibited a costume installation, in what was for both of us a kind of combined work.

Due to a misunderstanding on the part of the exhibition organisers, who were under the impression Caroline's installation was 6x6 metres,rather than the skirt circumference being 6 metres in total, we were given a much-too-large space to exhibit in, albeit with a great sky-light and prime position next to the Café/Bar area of the exhibition venue. Fortunately, however, we had arrived early enough on the day before the exhibition started, so we were able to move another more intimate space, almost like shop unit, within another part of the venue. Viewing again the pictures below, this suited the work much much better, yet there remained enough room in the space for visitors to walk around our work from differing angles. We were lucky in the that the Timmerfabriek, an old factory building, where Fashion Clash was located, had such a range of different room sizes and atmospherics to play with.


Installation view at Fashion Clash Maastricht


Installation of my film Serendipity, featuring the work of Caroline Collinge


Costume Installation by Caroline Collinge


Close up of Costume Installation by Caroline Collinge


Boschstraat on the way to Fashion Clash at the Timmerfabriek


Fashion Clash Exhibition Banner


Entrance to Fashion Clash at the Timmerfabriek

As perhaps with all events and exhibitions, you are perhaps never quite sure who it will appeal too, despite all the best laid plans and huge amount of advertising. Yet both Caroline and I were surprised by the diversity of the and range of the visitors, who included not only fashion 'professionals' such as designers, trend forecasters, students, photographers, journalists, but also those just curious to see what was happening and to enjoy the (overall) high-standard and intriguing work on display.


Timmerfabriek, the Fashion Clash exhibition venue in the Boschstraatkwartier

Many exhibits at Fashion Clash were located in their own, self-contained space, which for any exhibitor or curator is quite a luxury. Yet the main room of the venue includes perhaps many of the elements of a 'standard' exhibition space, including a large skylight and windows along the wall, allowing plenty of natural light in which exhibit and view the intriguing exhibits in this room. The photo below also indicates the diverse range of possibilities for displaying fashion exhibits, from high tables, to perspex boxes, mannequins to garments being suspended on ropes.


Main exhibition room at Fashion Clash


Café/Bar area at Fashion Clash, scene of the opening night and closing parties


View of the Hoeg Brögk and Sint Servaasbrug across the Maas River

Outside of the main exhibition venue, the organisers of Fashion Clash had set up an Etalageroute, where photographs and fashion artefacts were displayed in shop windows of boutiques and dis-used shops throughout the city. One of the main elements of this was experimental garments made up in calico by students from the fashion department of Maastricht's AKBM, one of the most striking of which included the inclusion of a pink dinosaur in the window of the De Bijenkorf department store. This was an intriguing element in the organisation of Fashion Clash as it demonstrated how event of this kind can be embraced and incorporated into the local community, utilising the whole city as an exhibition space.


Window display, De Bijenkorf department store, part of the Etalageroute exhibition


Photography by Valentine Vos, part of the Etalgeroute exhibition

For both Caroline and myself one of the most intriguing aspects of this exhibition was what kind of work our fellow exhibitors would be showing. While my own work is much more in the realm of fashion than Caroline's, one of the main aims of this exhibition was to showcase the work of unusual practictioners in the field, or whose work makes use of a 'fashion' element in some form. Hence the word 'clash' in the title. While in some instances the sense of clash in some exhibits was not so clear, in others it was more pronounced. Some the work that most intrigued us had to do with the both the materials used, such as Ulrik Martin Larsen's knitting together of plastic tags to create almost jewel-like pieces, and also in the theatrics of their display, such as Sophie Duran's jewellery, exhibited in jars normally associated with taxidermy, entirely appropriate for their crustation or insect-like form. Susanne Klemm's ceramic necklace and cameo rings were also a highlight of the exhibition.


Knitwear by Ulrik Martin Larsen


Jewellery and film by Sophie Duran


Necklace by Susanne Klemm

In participating in Fashion Clash it was an interesting opportunity to discover more about how fashion can be exhibited in an way that retains its aura of vitality and exuberance. This was particularly the case with the Etalageroute, where visitors were encouraged to explore the whole city of Maastricht, and its own status as a 'Fashion City'. The inclusion of 'performing fashion' through fashion shows and the location of a shop selling clothing and jewellery by the exhibitors inside the exhibition space also added to this experience. The main down-side for us as exhibitors was the mis-spelling of Caroline's name on the exhibition's flyers and in the accompanying magazine, proving that it's not always possible to control everything in relation to your own exhibit. Another curious side of Fashion Clash was the magazine commissioned by the organisers, and made in part to comemmorate its staging. Much of the content of this publication had little to do with the actual content of the exhibition and its accompanying events overall. It was also poorly designed, which was rather surprising given the excellent international reputation of Dutch typography and graphic design generally. Overall, however, both Caroline and I were impressed with the organisation of this exhibition experience, and it will be intriguing to track its future development as it establishes itself as one of the Netherlands leading annual fashion expos. In answer to the question of whether Maastricht is a 'Fashion City' in its own right, it's probably better to say that it is certainly a place of fashion consumption, judging by the number of high-end boutiques to be found in the city. Judging a city on its ability to produce, as much as consume, fashion will, no doubt, be something I shall return to during the course of my research.

Even more photos, including those of the catwalk presentations, taken by top fashion photographer Peter Stigter can be viewed on the Fashion Clash website: www.fashionclash.nl

More of Caroline's work can be viewed at: www.cabinetofcuriosity.org

Return to Blythe House - The Concise Dictionary of Dress

Last week some of the F&T research group made the return journey back to Blythe House, this time to view the exhibition The Concise Dictionary of Dress, curated by Judith Clark and Adam Phillips in collaboration with Artangel. For anyone who has not yet seen this intriguing exhibit, I am almost rather loathe to reveal too many details, for fear of spoiling what is probably the 'must-see' fashion exhibition of the year.

To give an overall impression, rather being located in a glossy, purpose-built set, as many of Clark's past exhibitions have been, the exhibits were instead located within the working archives of the V&A Museum, located at Blythe House. Visitors are not allowed to wander at will through the vast rooms and winding corridors, which to some may come as a relief, such is the labyrinthine quality of the building. As a fellow visitor remarked, you certainly have the sense that something awful could happen to you, for instance, if you were accidentally locked in for the night. Instead, we were guided through the exhibits on a structured tour of the building, being with a journey in a large goods lift up to the fourth floor of the building. Beginning on the roof, we were led through a variety of rooms, travelling up and down winding staircases, eventually finding ourselves outside in the courtyard where the old coal-bunkers were located.

What struck me most about this exhibition, was less about the actual artefacts that we were directed to look at, than the play on the ambiance of the building itself. Atmospherics were very much an important part of the overall 'feeling' and experience of this exhibition for the visitor. Often, in exhibition design the 'comfortableness' of the exhibition experience is often forgotten, particularly if anyone who has had to endure the heaving crowds of a busy 'blockbuster' exhibition on an otherwise relaxed Sunday afternoon will appreciate. Yet in The Concise Dictionary of Dress the visitor was exposed to a contradiction in the experience of this exhibition. On the one hand we were offered the privilege of being allowed to explore a building normally closed to the general public, with the added 'luxury' of being attended to by a personal guide. Yet at the same time, in being (gently) forced to move around the building to view the next exhibit, there was little time to linger or savour the exhibits as you might in a 'normal' (and uncrowded) exhibition space.

Judith Clark and Adam Philips are to give a talk in a couple of weeks at LCF, where Clark is head of the MA course for Fashion Curation, so am intrigued to attend that to hear more about their motivation and intent for this exhibition.

Curating Design

Today I attended a cross-college seminar hosted by David Crowley from the Critical and Historical Studies Department on the subject of Design Exhibitions: What are they? And what might they be? The seminar consisted of a short presentation from several practitioners/curators in the field of design exhibitions including Claire Catterall of Somerset House, Daniel Charney an RCA tutor and curator at Aram Gallery, Nina Due of the Design Museum, and Gareth Willams, formally a curator at the V&A, and now a tutor at the RCA.

Each curator gave an insight into their own experiences and reflections on their approaches to curating design within the context of their own specialism and/or institution. Catterall gave perhaps the most personal perspective, reflecting on her experiences working in both formal institutional settings, such as the Design Museum and Somerset House, and also as a freelance curator, through her own set-up as part of Scarlet Projects. Due gave an interesting insight into the Design Museum’s current perspective of enhancing the visitor experience, where visitors are encouraged to engage and be inspired as much by the events the museum hosts as its static exhibitions. Charney, meanwhile, described his experiences of working in a not-for-profit curatorial space located within the confines of a commercial setting in the form of the Aram Gallery in the Aram shop in London’s Covent Garden. Finally Williams reflected on his experiences as a curator for both the permanent design and architecture collections at the V&A and also for temporary and topical exhibitions, such as the recent Telling Tales. Following on from this, a panel discussion was formed of each of the speakers, who were also joined by Mark Sladen, formally of the ICA, and moderated by Crowley.

My own interest in curating is as a research methodology, as in my own current project on Fashion Souvenirs, and while none of the speakers raised this, the seminar raised some intriguing points. One of key points made towards the end of the discussion was about the ‘ordinariness’ of design and design objects in everyday life. Yet by taking objects out of their intended context and placing them on a pedestal in a gallery space poses problems for curators who seek to engage in their audience in participating in design exhibitions, not merely as passive observers, but as active and fully absorbed participants. Many curators today are engaged not so much in putting on exhibitions per se, but ‘projects’, or perhaps ‘event making’ to create a dialogue and active awareness in exhibition visitors. This has particular implications for the curating of fashion and textiles, where the tactile nature of the objects on show is such an integral part. Yet for reasons of preservation and conservation touching in any form usually remains strictly forbidden. An interesting example where this can be circumnavigated comes in the form of the Centraal Museum’s recent retrospective on Alexander van Slobbe in Utrecht, where a whole room was set up as an atelier complete with sewing machines, cutting tables and an ironing board. In this space visitors were encouraged to make their own simple tunic-style dress supplied from a pattern of one of van Slobbe’s archetypal designs. While many UK museums such as the V&A and the FTM run practical workshops under supervision, it is difficult to imagine how any would locate such an apparent health and safety ‘risk’ directly in the gallery space itself.

Overall, this discussion was an insight into the diverse strands of curating design and the challenges and opportunities provoked by differing contexts in the curation of design objects. Design, taken generally as something commercial, has often had to fight its corner in being accepted into grand institutions. Yet, as was raised in this discussion, many design 'objects' are made specifically for exhibition, that is their 'usefulness' is not to be found in their practicality, but rather in the appreciation of their design as an end in itself. Yet, as I have found with my own curatorial project, Fashion Souvenirs, their remain many aspects of design that have yet to have their 'ordinariness' fully appraised or appreciated.