FYI: Since WordPress changed the interface, my computer will not let me add pictures. it is really frustrating me. I have tried a few different times on a few different days, and it just wont let me. If this persists I am going to switch to a different blog host. I wont make a blog about art withought pictures.
So anyway, I am currently making my first pair of knit socks. My mom gave me some gorgeous alpaca yarn for Christmas (the same yarn in a different color that I gave her, actually) and it sat in my house for a while while I tried to decide what to do with it. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make socks, but I fought that desire for a while because hand knit alpaca socks just aren’t that practical. They’re reasonably fragile and you have to hand wash them… but ultimately I decided it would be worth it. The yarn is too nice to let it rot in my art supply trunk. (Its Blue Sky Alpaca in a nice pea green and also in a dark greeny blue).
At the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to make time in my life for keeping up with current events. Since sometime in January I have tried to read the news every day. Usually my circuit includes BBC and New York Times online and often Design Sponge but occasionally there are other sources (usually linked from one of the others). I have also been visiting the library more to take advantage of their extensive collection of contemporary art magazines.
One of the things I have found is that the New York Times does a pretty good job of covering fashion. I like their slide shows and I just read and article covering the most recent couture menswear. (http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/02/scorecard/?ref=fashion) Although I don’t generally gear my work towards fashion, I am usually interested to see what comes out on the runways. After seeing Li Edelkoort’s ‘Winter 2008′ trend forecasting show in Paris last year, it is facinating to see how trends are interpreted by the designers.
While reading/ viewing the menswear article I began to write down some of the trends that kept coming up. There is a shade of orangey brown that is pretty prevalant, which is too bad. It reminds me of an old couch from the 70s. Red and gray are still going strong (surprise, surprise). Geek chic and teenage rebellion are also still around, which seems a little surprising to me, for some reason. (Maybe because Weezer isnt as popular as they used to be). The 1930/40s are back too. Interestingly, I saw this not only in the photos of the menswear but also in the pictures of fashionable New Yorkers out during Easter. That aesthetic is coming through in hats and coats, especially. Designers are tailoring things very nicely to the natural waist. I think these years were also influencing the short pants, though. There were a lot of knits with color patterns. These seemed a little dated to me, but the 80s are coming back, whether I like it or not (for proof: americanapparel.net).
Some things which were interesting to see carried over into mens fashion were big scarves and lots of layers. Men in Europe seem to wear (interesting) scarves more than American men, so that isn’t exactly original, but I still thought it was nice. The layers were a bit different, though, because layers in womens clothing have been unavoidable for years now, but that trend hadn’t seemed to have hit men’s fashions yet.
Designers whose work I personally liked were Gucci, Obedient Sons and Robert Geller (below). (I wasnt quite sure what was going on with Emmanuel Ungaro’s Jesus and woman in drag…)
Anyway, take a look, if nothing else, its interesting.
Yinka Shonibare is coming to Savannah and I am really excited to hear him speak on tuesday. There is a great article about him in Surface Design Journal right now and I saw some of his work in the Seattle Art Museum. His work deals with issues of colonialism. This is shown through the appropriation of Dutch wax resist cloth in the creation of antique Western clothing on mannequins of ambiguous race. Very interesting - I cant wait to hear what he has to say. www.yinka-shonibare.co.uk
Julia Rothman’s blog -Book by its Cover- rocks my world. Not only is she an incredible artist, but she has fantastic taste in books. (Being the life-long bookworm I am, my fantasy would be to have a card to her personal library.)
Every day she posts at least one book. She covers fine art, sketchbooks, artist books, comics… and I constantly feel impressed and enlightened by it. The url is book-by-its-cover.com
(I will post about her art soon.)
It has been too long since I have posted. Finals have been going on and the blog has (unfortunately) fallen towards the bottom of my to-do list. This is some of what I have been up to:
I have not yet taken good photographs of the notebooks that this card is meant to advertise. I’m happy with them, though and critique today went well.
Headless, armless, legless and helpless; pieced together from separate parts; Michelangelesque in their unreal muscle definition; made of the most ordinary things.
Hairpiece one (Dreamcatcher)
Hairpiece two (Arachne)
Hairpiece three (I’m still trying to come up with an appropriate subtitle)
Hairpiece four (Nest)
These began as studies, but turned into something more as I realised that the combination of forms and materials reflect how the (traditional) feminine ideal is, in essesnce, wrapped up in hair. Long flowing feminine locks of hair are part of the symbol of woman as muse, hearth and home.
Adorable work by Kelly Huffstutler and Paige Smith.
Classroom set up as showroom for a number of people’s work
The finished quilt collaboration: it turned out really well and a lucky woman from Chicago won it in the raffle.
The Fibers Department Open Studio Night was on friday. It was great. Everyone had a lot of great work showing and we had an amazing turn out, even though it was thundering and raining outside. I will be posting some pictures soon. (My brother sent me his old camera - which is still newer than mine - and although I took pictures with it, it need to read the camera booklet to get them to my computer. I had figured it would be straight forward, but apparrantly not.)
I had the Femme Fatale fabric and Guidebook for Memory 3: The South in the exhibition as well as two repeat patterns that I will post with the pictures of the show.
Well, since ShopSCAD put the books on display, two of them have sold! This was an exciting affirmation after a long and arduous - but ultimately personally rewarding - process. I have not personally been back into the shop to see which ones are left, but I hope that the people who have the other ones are enjoying them with both their eyes and their stomachs.
