Sense-Making Aesthetics
The Individual in Modern Art through Clothes
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Basak Ozkendirci
With the commencement of use of unusual materials in modern artworks, issues like the aesthetic of material and material culture of materials is now being discussed. The relation of human to the material is sensual and mental. Apart from meeting the needs of users in social life, clothing products have become a communication object expressing one's social status, occupation, and personal taste. For artists who use clothing products in artworks; the material they use is quite enriched in terms of the meanings and symbols they bear in the direction of their qualities if they carry traces from those who wore it. Artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Christian Boltanski, Yinka Shonibare, and Guerra de la Paz use clothing and garment pieces in their works to express themselves,and their imaginary identities. The research includes that modern art pieces by clothes and clothes parts. Various social and individual meanings uploaded to the clothes were evaluated through the comments of critics, interviews with artists and the images of the work samples.
Discoveries in Harriett's Closet
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kristina Tollefson, Jodi Ozimek
As costume designers we contribute artistically to theatrical productions by making precise, truthful appearance choices for all types of characters. While some choices are thematic, most examine the characters as people within a society and how, as fashion consumers, their wardrobe choices reflect, and are impacted by society and life events. Clothing choice is an extremely public form of self-expression combining the fashion-designer artist with the consumer-curator. With contemporary examples such as First Lady Melania Trump’s jacket or Queen Elizabeth’s brooches, it is increasingly apparent that fashion choices can both help us make sense of modern society and reflect the effects of societal pressures and personal, lived experiences of people within that world. Examining how individuals choose to present themselves within their society and how society can impact individual self-expression helps further our understanding as costume designers. While most museum clothing collections preserve pieces from multiple donors and many fashion history sources are created without firsthand knowledge of the wearer, we had a unique opportunity to learn from a significant source, making sense of how personal history impacts personal aesthetics. Throughout her life, Harriett Lake (1922-2018) amassed an enormous personal wardrobe. Through hours of personal interviews and research into her thousands of garments, we were able to identify distinct connections between her experiences and her aesthetics. By studying these choices and influences we gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for how a person, real or imagined, makes sense of their world, connecting the art of fashion design to everyday life.
The Rise of Fashion Exhibitions in Art Museums: An Examination through Critical Pedagogies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ann Rowson Love, Tyler Law
Over the past decade since The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s blockbuster, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, there has been a tremendous rise in both large- and small-scale exhibitions focused on fashion around the globe. While this exhibitionary phenomenon opens opportunities to broaden audiences beyond elite fashion house runways and to raise questions about ethical and environmental practices in the fashion world past and present, there are many considerations during the curation and interpretation process. After reviewing current theory and research examining fashion exhibitions in art museums, we will present findings from an analysis of exhibitions from 2016-2019 in an effort to understand themes and goals through critical and feminist pedagogical lenses. Overarching exhibition themes include aesthetics and identities, fashion’s influence on art and artists, art and art history’s influence on fashion, fashion as art, global influences on high fashion and mass-produced fashion, and sustainable practices. In trying to understand what this means for future exhibition and interpretation practices in art museums of all sizes, we propose a framework for positioning interpretation goals during the curation process that lead to empowering visitors to critically reflect on how fashion represents intersections of identity, place, power, and sustainability that move beyond appreciation to action.
