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Viktor&Rolf’s Action Dolls Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2017-18

fashion illustration

- doll-like model: stiff arms, arched brows, big lips, big eyes and eyelashes, long neck

- models as the idealisation of ‘the perfect woman’

- halo imagery of the dolls head behind the models head

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collection part 1

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When starting my project I knew I really wanted to focus on the idea of rebellion as something that has become mundane and just a part of everyday life. I wanted to play on two ideas

that maybe rebellion isn’t very shocking anymore

that you don’t have to be a ‘rebel’ to rebel

By this I mean that for a while when I started this project I kept on basing all my ideas on people who are widely regarded as rebellious people. Joan of Arc, Andy Warhol, Han Solo etc. If rebellion isn’t particularly shocking anymore, its because its become part of ‘the everyday’ and is engaged with by everyday people. I wanted to somehow highlight this and utilise it for the purpose of my artwork, which brought me to the idea of creating a sort of collaborative work in which non-artist/viewers were able to participate and actively engage.

Personally, I am a big fan of artwork that is somewhat collaborative and involves the audience. Roman Ondak is the perfect example of an artist who takes the audience and everyday elements to create beautiful and engaging pieces. The one that jumps to mind is ‘Measuring the Universe’ in which people in the gallery are encouraged to mark their height on the walls of the gallery. There is something really special about being able to feel as though you have contributed to an artwork (plus, the end result is really beautiful).

Sophie Calle’s Here lie the secrets of the visitors of Greenwood Cemetery (and many other of her works) rely on the participation of audiences to create the work itself. Her Greenwood Cemetery work was a big inspiration for me in terms of the way that each individual is prompted to come forward, admit a part of themselves to a perfect stranger and then submit a written version to a kind of post box (in this case, a large obelisk), which is then cremated.

Through studying this work, my idea started to take form into a kind of communal survey in which people describe when they felt most rebellious. By engaging a wide audience, some anecdotes might be really tame and others might be very out there. However, contrary to Sophie Calle’s work and more similar to Roman Ondak, I did not want the final result to be destroyed, hidden, cremated or otherwise. I love the idea of being able to walk around the room and read the other submissions, noticing how what one considers rebellious is subjective to the person.

I think there’s something really personal about putting pen to paper which made me think of creating some kind of survey that could then be scanned in and anonymously submitted to a public webpage of some sort. While online is more convenient for me to quickly compile and display, I really felt drawn to a physical work. My next thought was to then instead create a postcard; a prompt on the front and space to write on the back. Unfortunately this could not be done due to printing issues, but, the final work consisted of cards with the prompt “when did you feel most rebellious?” and space to write, draw or respond in any way. From there, the cards can be pinned up on the wall to publicly display the responses and view a diverse catalogue of rebellious activity.

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What it might look like in a gallery

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After participation

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... what they actually look like

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what it should’ve looked like...

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I’ve also decided to not go with my original display idea which was to mount a post-box on the wall in which people could insert their rebellious stories. I thought this best in that I thought people might not actually want to have their cards immediately displayed (less anonymity). However, it seems a shame to have cool stories tucked away for no one to see! So my solution was instead of a post box, people can pin them onto a board, creating some kind of huge collage (if that makes any sense)

I did a little sketch of how I imagine it would look in a gallery setting too (hopefully it will make more sense then)

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I went and got my photos printed yesterday after finally finding a place to print them off. Pretty pissed off if I’m completely honest, because despite tailoring the photoshop document to the exact size the photo would be printed PLUS I checked with the guy in store to make sure the edges wouldn’t cut off... you guessed it; the edges cut off. But what can you do right? I suppose it doesn’t look too bad, and it definitely could’ve been worse. The final image is really clear though which is good

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My original plan for my final artwork. I kind of had this idea that stemmed from the ‘post secret’ website in which people can send in their rebellious stories and I would compile them online in a format that is available to everyone to view at anytime.

While this could be an extension of the artwork if it were to be continued in the future, I’m keen to have some kind of physical compilation of the stories (especially considering I need to present this in a classroom setting).

I’m thinking of creating a sort of post-box (similar to Sophie Calle’s Here Lies the Secrets of Greenwood Cemetery), in which people can anonymously submit their rebellious confessions. 

Here are some sites I found that had a similar concept

https://postsecret.com/

http://whisper.sh/

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today i walked to officeworks and realised that a) I forgot my wallet and b) got told that they couldn’t do a postcard size back and front anyway, and that their machine that prints photo sized pictures was out of order

convenient!!!

so I have re-done the design (as seen above) so that you’re able to write on the front instead of the back. I’m going to try go find somewhere else that has a working photo machine tomorrow. 

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I made some drafts for the postcards. In Barbra Kruger style I went for relatively simple designs. I think I also want to include the yellow to tie back to my previous poster project on rebellion.

I don’t mind the first one -the font reminds me of Star Wars a bit which I guess ties in with rebellion- but I don’t love it. The second one (yellow on orange/red) is a definite no; the only thing I think when I look at it is McDonalds which is not the vibe I’m going for. I personally like the 3rd one, however, I asked for my brother’s opinion and he likes the last one, claiming “it seems more rebellious”. I definitely see where he’s coming from, but I’m not quite sure.

...and I just realised none of these have question marks. I’ll be back with some grammatically correct versions asap

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I did some brainstorming which amounted to very little.

I finally had a random waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night thought that actually didn’t seem like total rubbish so I’m going to roll with that.

The thought was to use the general public’s everyday sense of rebellion by getting people to individually submit a personal reference to the idea of rebellion. It could create a cool view on rebellion with each person reflecting on the time when they felt most rebellious; some anecdotes might be really tame and others might be very out there. Using Sophie Calle’s Greenwood Cemetery as inspiration, I like the idea of her getting people to write down and anonymously submit their deepest secrets (I really enjoyed reading this article about the piece). 

I think there’s something really personal about putting pen to paper which made me think of creating some kind of survey that could then be scanned in and anonymously submitted to a public webpage of some sort (kind of like the app ‘Whisper’ which I discovered while researching). While online is more convenient for me to quickly compile and display, I really felt drawn to a physical work (my drawing/painting nature coming through perhaps). My next thought was to then instead create a postcard; a prompt on the front and space to write on the back. If this work were to be displayed perhaps these postcards would be around at galleries and libraries and other public spaces with an address already printed on the back so all people had to do was pick one up, answer the prompt and put it in a post box.

Graphically, for the postcard, I think I’m going to go for a Barbra Kruger inspired look

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Assessment 2

In this assessment, you will develop a project based on your chosen research topic. During class you will engage with a number of experiments related to the weekly concepts. These experiments can be used to develop and shape your final project. The final project will be a work or body of works (in any form or media) plus a 700 word concept statement and bibliography. The final work will be assessed on Tumblr.

In response to the weekly concepts, you will explore a variety of approaches to your research project through ongoing experiments and material inquiries. These experiments must be documented on Tumblr. Remember to reflect on the experiments and consider how they contribute to the shape of your final project. The final project will reflect your engagement with the research question. Both the work and the 700- word concept statement will communicate your practice- led research. We define practice- led research as a mode of research that takes making (objects, works, projects, events, etc.) as a way of working through problems and generating new ideas. The concept statement is an important part of practice-led research—it outlines, analyses and reflects on process and discovery.

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I was pretty immediately drawn to the question on rebellion when I first saw the task and decided to follow my gut in this direction. When browsing through the poster examples I found a past students work on the same question: “Can creative acts be rebellious when rebellion has become canonised in art, design and media histories? What would a contemporary creative rebellion look like?” This poster featured a vintage photograph where the figure of Star Wars rebel, Han Solo, was repeated 3 times. I adore the simplicity of the poster with the pop culture reference, vintage graphic and allusion to rebellion. I really wanted to channel similar elements into my work for this project and stumbled upon the idea of using Dr Martens.

Dr Marten’s brand image is all about rebellion and going against the grain, which seems ironic now that they’ve gained such immense popularity (though as a religious Docs wearer myself, I’m more observing than criticising). Despite becoming relatively mainstream, there’s still an element of rebellion behind the shoe. I know on two separate occasions I have been told that I’m ‘a rebel’ in regards to the shoe, which frankly baffled me, yet goes to show the success of their marketing. In this way rebellion has definitely been ‘canonised in design”.

Historically, Dr Martens (according to trusted source wikipedia) became “popular among scooter riders, punks, some new wave musicians, and members of other youth subcultures”. Some other relevant DM information;

- The shoes' popularity among skinheads led to the brand gaining an association with violence

- The boots and shoes became popular in the 1990s as grunge fashion arose

-In the 2000s, Dr. Martens were sold exclusively under the Air Wair name, and came in dozens of different styles

Using the inspiration from the Han Solo poster, Andy Warhol, Ai Wei Wei and the concept about the popularity of the shoe brand, I knew repetition had to be at the forefront of my poster design. I wanted to use the iconic yellow and black colours and the recognisable ‘Air Wair’ logo, as opposed to just flat out using the boot as an image. I think I just wanted to make it slightly more subtle than using the actual boot in the poster, though I did consider it.

While I felt like I really enjoyed the project and felt like my ideas came quickly and arrived smoothly, printing proved to be frustrating. I’ve been sick for the past week and only got to Officeworks today to print my A2 poster when I found out that A2 posters take 24h to print. Was pretty disappointed as I’d really had a mental image of what it was going to look like and was really excited to see it finished. I got it printed in A3 as a compromise but I’m really disappointed. Other than the size, I am pleased with how it turned out; the simplicity of the aesthetics and the repetition concept was exactly what I wanted.

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The final up with my tests

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Choosing...