alexmpankuli

[alexmpankuli]

Do Clothes Talk?

We can all admit to using our clothes to portray who we are, convey who we want to be and signal to other people our characteristics before we even say hello. So what role does fashions play in the representation of our identity?

 Many fashion theorists and journalists claim that Clothes are ‘a universal code used to communicate mass emotions’. This could be taken on a literally scale if we look at Viktor&Rolf Spring 2019 Couture. Where big dresses were printed with words of emotions as models walked down the runway and let the dresses and the mood speak for itself.

But clothing has always been the first point of communication between humans, as we announce our sex, age and class to people when we meet them, through what we are wearing.

With this in mind let’s look at an example, American rapper Kashdoll announcing her sex with mainly womenswear. For example, the bandeau top and fitted pencil skirt suggest she is young adult as these type of clothes we see more on younger people. Her necklace and luxury branded shoes implies that she is of upper-class .

 This use of clothing to announce our identity isn’t all new though, it has a long history, shaping status and class in society.Sumptuary laws allowed people to identify each other on the street without even talking. On the right of the picture are two women of high status hence the bigger hoop skirt where’s the left are the working class with the smaller hoop skirt.

 it is said that wearing something and sharing the understanding of it makes people into members of a group. We do use what we wear as a signal, whether it be to impress our peers and admirers, or to warn our enemies and haters. A durag for example, to people who have different cultural values this suggests a sense of criminality and unfriendly family values. For those who have the same values will see the durag as a sign of hair care and brotherhood

Modern consumerism has become an important part of constructing modern identities. People design lifestyles by buying the things which link them to a certain identity and status, which they then accept as a desired sense of self or create a new ‘them’ through new purchases which has led to the retailers tapping into the phenomenon.

Fashion Nova replicated a 1998 Thierry Mugler dress after Kim Kardashian was pictured wearing it and with 20 minutes of it being on the website, it was sold out. Many believe the idea of adoption of new styles is simply the result of greedy designers, manufactures and fashion editors.

Shopping now has become a social activity, as people use it to acquire and maintain identities. Shopping centres and global brands have become symbolic markers of identities. This can be seen on Channel 4 TV program ‘Rich Kids Go Shopping. The show follows the lives of six wealthy teenagers, spending their time in shopping centres as this is a part of identity on the show and in real life.

 So, clothes definitely do talk for us, being the first point of communication in signalling our identity. They always have and increasingly are becoming more important in representing who we are, and the retailers are cashing in!

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                                             Tate Modern Liverpool

Tate Liverpool Features all different types of art in terms of artistic style and dated period. Having more than 20 artist and there work can create a space of creativity and ideas. What I love about the tate is the art culture from femminst art, surrealism, land art , impression and abstract art.The exhibition Roy Lichtensteinis my favourite as I love his work for having a sense of ease but thought at the same time. I have followed his work ever since being introduced to it at art GCSE and to see it first hand makes me engage with I even more.

One of my favourite pieces is the Roy Lichtensteinis Sun and sea mini series. About A3 in height  the simplicity of just using two colours, different shades of blue and yellow and putting that against his icon dot and comic style drawing which he is known. Seeing this in landscape imagery instead of his usual way of working is interesting. I personally appeal to it because blueing being one of my favourite colour and its calming. Another image at Tate that I found interesting in terms of colour is the Chicago board of trade 2 By Andrew Gursky. I'm a fan because it’s a busy image, I engage with it because my brain is bust at work trying to calculate what the artist was trying to paint and portray in every section. Upon a close looker the painting has a pattern in terms of colour, it sort of direct the eyes. Gursky techniques involves him taking pictures of a subject and then scanning the image to a computer where he can merge and manipulate them. His aim is to use digital technology  to heighten the image and capture a sense of movements in certain areas of pictures.

Roy artist rooms features a white background and his pieces (original ones) framed and others just hanged without frames. Doing this has big impact on how the audience views his works. Leaving some without frames lets the audience see the painting in its rawest form and engage with it more. I would have loved to see his his big pieces  of his icon style in the same space as this would have a big impact and for anyone to see what his famous and known for  against his other works.

Overall Tate Liverpool does a good job in presenting the artist works. From the humongous Chicago board trade that I liked to the Roy Lichtenstein  small pieces which I also liked. Since the Tate featuresa collective of artist showcasing there work, the impact in which this has alone on the art world is big, art students such as myself have the opportunity to see it. Overall feeling of the exhibition was exciting as I got to see Roy's work through my own eyes not those of a computer screen

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                                         Walker Art Gallery Liverpool 

Visting the new works by the Singh Twins – Slaves of fashion  at the walker art gallery. It explores the history Indian textiles, empire , enslavement and luxury consumers. There art is social engaging, The sister paint what has happened or  what is social and economically happening now. there's message engraved in this even with there past works. Being the Indians at a Catholic Convent school, when asked what's the inspires them..”from the age of seven when they started at school, Christian imagery, decoration and narrative played a influence in there aesthetic taste.

The Singh Twins work always is busy but to me I call this beautiful busy, where everything make sense and works together instead of against. I remember walking in to the exhibition and my eyes were moving to every painting. The Singh Twins have worked with political figures before and the Donald trump “the king is dead: long live the king” appealed to me because its current interesting and  its use of details again was beautiful busy. Another painting I liked is Partition Poltics:Business as usual its fits the the Singh twins aesthetic and is relevant to what is happening now. Indigo- the colour of India is a beautiful painting, another one that had my interest. The blue of the jeans again drew me In as blue is one of my favourite colours and the blue that the Singh twins had for the jeans was memorising. The jeans also work as contrast  to what else is happening in the picture since there such classic fashion clothing even in late 20th century. the message behind the picture is that 1770 was when as the indigo trade was soaring and was so costly that it was seen as blue gold. The panting shows how enslaved people were traded and the mistreat of Indian farmers forced to grow indigo by the british.

The way in which the Sign Twins presented was perfect, the set up of the white walls while there works were mounted up with sliver frames with a light put the behind the canvas so tat the colours look even bolder. I liked the introduction room to the exabihition  where it had unfinished samples of there work which is cool cause you get to see first hand how they started and what their end outcome was.

Overall I enjoyed this exhibition the most like the Singh's work because its relevant and socially engaging. Its clear that the artist use the identify to focus further focus the relationship between Britain and Indian. The artist cover topic as colonical past and its uncovered legacies , debates around ethical trade and responsible consumerism within there work. Overall there work appeals to me not only thought its beautiful aesthetic but also what message is being said along side it.

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Moodbord for worn stories interviewee

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Worn stories - Adam Chesworth Ring 

Shrewsbury…it was a Saturday night around 9pm and we just sat down to watch big brother. You know the typical mum and son conversation was flowing while she was tipsy off her second glass of red wine. all of a sudden, she gets up from her chair and comes back with this old brown box…i was wondering what it was?

 She puts her glass of wine down and she just starts passing me some of her old jewellery, at this point I’m just happy I’m getting free jewerllery. Midway through giving me one of her old necklaces she stops and says to me “this has been passed down in our family for ages Adam so take good care of it”

 It was her engagement ring. Basically, it’s just a gold ring with 2 squiggly lines engraved on it. i wear it everyday now, I lowkey feel like my mum is with me when I do as cringe as that sounds ha-ha. But it only fits on my little finger. Thats why when my sister found out that mum gave me it she was kind of upset cause  it can only fit my little finger and she wanted it and some other bits of her old jewellery.

 If I lose it, I don’t even know what I do cause one day I want to do want my mum did and passed it down to my kids but I don’t know how that’s going to happen cause I really like it.

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Beak Book

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Ownership of Green

Green is seen as colour, which is a source of life and nature. Back in the day, refereeing to someone as green meant that they was naive but now it has positive connotations. That because the evidence around green and health and well being is becoming more apparent.

 The colour green has environmental and health messages are so strong that the colour is popular in branding and we start to see it everywhere, companies use this to boost their credentials. Business such as supermarkets, food producers, and energy provides and car manufactures.

 The world green is powerful itself from the green party to green movement.

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Guccio Gucci - Celebrated for his Craftsmanship and leather goods

Why Green and Red? The idea came from English horse riding. There is a special belt, which holds a saddle on a horse back under the belly of the animal, called a web. This British style green and red 'web' was the inspiration for Gucci's signature logo.

Gucci has used the colour green as an emblem device. It has a classic house style which is recognisable anywhere. The centred red stripe with the parallel green beside it. Its simplistic yet effective that is what works best for the Italian fashion house. In their 2016 Pree Fall collection. We see the use of green throughout the entire collection in one or two ways. It Is either directly placed next to red or somewhere on the same garment. This directly links it back to his logo and reminds the viewers of the brands unique identity. The secondary colour is also used by itself on a design to make it look more striking. e.g the green boots, green fur coat or the green collar.

Gucci method of working with green is smart and business motivated; they see it as a USP. The almost dark green forest colour adds that luxury finishing to the brand. It is bold and contrast against the red stripes.

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3  images sourced from Gucci.com to demonstrate the use of the colour green as a singular device to make bold striking pieces.