PLAYING TO THE GALLERY

The artist and designer Grayson Perry is giving a number of lectures that can be listened to on radio four. This series is called “Playing to the Gallery” and questions the “role and place of art in the global landscape of the 21^st century”. Grayson is asking about how we as a “society” “judge” the “ quality” of what now is “mainstream” “contemporary art” from his perception as a “practicing artist” himself, not simply, as he says, a “commentator” of “culture”.

The first lecture in this series was called “Democracy has bad taste”. Here he really divulges into the issue of “quality” of art and how and by who it is judged, is it through “financial”, “aesthetic” or “historical” values or now whether “popularity and quality” “interlinks too much”. He queries the meaning of art today and how it is seen as more of an “asset”, a “cash” symbol that represents wealth and “class”.

Grayson Perry pairs this “quality” with “beauty” of art, a “beauty” that he feels has to be “justified”, a “self conscious” beauty filled with “discomfort” and worry to meet the society’s “ideals”. This worry and doubt around artwork is due to there being a “consensus”, a “CV” of the perfect piece of art, created through a “validation” from “critics”, “curators”, “collectors”, the “media” and the “public”.  Grayson continues, saying that within this process of “validation” the “language” used gives art a “serious” tone that is described to only further difficult the relationship that we as a society have with art. The “international art English” used can make individuals feel “uneducated” around art and feel as though they are unable to fully “connect” and “engage” with the concepts and ideas within art.

The question is whether this then distorts all ideas of “quality” and “beauty” around art. If the full community within our society is unable to fully voice their opinions about art then surely this “consensus” is biased, false and unjustified? Art becomes largely “popular” when it enters galleries as here is it viewed by a large scale of visitors but “how” is this art being “chosen” and “who” by. If it is through this “validation” and because “enough of the right people think its good” then the art open to the public is bias that can only mean all opinions of the art are therefore also bias. The experience of art in galleries consequently is a pressured one.

“Taste has values”. It is important not to simply agree to a “consensus” yet question opinions and concepts, even our own. The lecture has made me really consider whether an art gallery like the Tate Modern is a real representation of contemporary art. What therefore is contemporary art and how can we find it in an unbiased environment?

I agree with the quote “history will judge quality”. Quality to me is produced through individual and personal connection. A piece of art should be chosen and brought due to an identified meaning not a price tag nor a name. Quality develops over time as a connection can grow. We need to open our eyes to what can be art and find ways that we can access the enormous world that is art.

Perry, G. (writer). (2013). Democracy has bad taste. [Radio series episode]. Playing to the Gallery. London: BBC Radio 4

DESIGN TO MINIMISE WASTE

Textile Toolbox looks at how “systemic change within the fashion industry” can allow for a more “sustainable” “design process”. Projects are based in “Sweden”, “Denmark” and “England” and research ways in which we can reduce how design “damages” the “environment” and “designing out waste”.

On their website, waste is explained to be broken down into two main “categories”; “pre-consumer waste” and “post-consumer waste”. Both are highly important to consider in order for concepts of change to be created.

“Pre-consumer waste” is produced in the “production of fibres”, the “manufacture of garments” and most of all in the “garment production” system. It is said that only “85 per cent” of the final “fabric produced” to make an item of clothing is used. This means that there is a “15 per cent” wastage for each design. When you think about how fast fashion turns around this is an extremely large quantity. Some designers however like “David Telfer”, are already designing at a “zero waste” level. His “2010” “duffel coat” design “integrates pattern cutting” within the design so that “no fabric is wasted”. Such designs give a positive vision for future garment design. Further developments in Computer Aided Design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) and an increased knowledge in these areas for all companies will hopefully mean that designs are automatically created and produced to allow for little or no waste to be created. In the image of the design, it is clear to see that each piece has been carefully shaped so that it is a section of the jigsaw for the garment. Spending time at this designing stage looks as though it would save cost later on in the production line as there appears to be a reduced amount of seams and extra components needed.

“Post-consumer waste” occurs when a designed item becomes “undesirable” and “unnecessary” for the consumer. “Ever escalating garments” and scale of production both contribute towards the quantity of waste produced. The “life cycle of a garment” needs to be considered at the “design stage” to prevent the item becoming waste very quickly after production. The company “Junky Styling” have a design concept where this “post consumer waste is their primary material”. Components of previous garments become new lines and structures for new silhouettes, giving history and narratives to each product; where have the materials been sourced from and who owned the previous garment? The idea is very successful as each piece is bespoke and original. They bring new life to waste and therefore bring a very inspiring message to their design. Another approach to limiting the amount of waste at the post-consumer stage is achieved by Alabama Chanin. Here they ensure that all “textiles developments are kept in a fabric library” which are shown to and “offered” to all “customers”. This means that designs are recycled not simply churned out at a large scale. I think that this too is an effective idea. Fashion trends occur and re-occur over time and therefore something that was desirable ten years ago may again be looked-for now. Keeping archives of all designs allows for fabrics and technologies to be recycled and renewed meaning that any left over fabrics from a certain design can be reused.

A lot of ideas involving waste are produced at “Textile Futures” such as the work by Emily Smith and Natsai Chieza, where they consider the “sustainability” of design. This research work shows that new designers are recognising the problem of waste and evolving new possibilities to prevent or reduce it. Their work, described in a previous post, brings positivity to textiles design and should be questioned by large-scale manufactures as to how similar ideas could develop their own processes. It is so important for us all to really consider the waste we produce. Although we might not be able to make substantial changes to textiles production we can question how we approach our own unwanted clothing. Recycle, donate, reuse and reinvent. If clothing is made to last then make it!

Textile Toolbox (n.d). Textile Toolbox. Retrieved from http://www.textiletoolbox.com.

TEXTILES FUTURES

Textiles futures is a number of “practice based” “designers” and “design-led researchers” from the “University of the Arts London” and “Central Saint Martins and Chelsea”. They consider the role of the designer in “how” “materials and textiles” can “enable a more sustainable future”. Through studying the “social, political and economic” factors of design they are able to visualise and “rethink the future” “beyond existing boundaries”, identifying the “future needs, desires and challenges” within “craft, science and technology”. Their research covers many different perspectives yet strongly uses “materiality as the starting point”. Findings have “shaped the thinking” of various “influential designers” when developing new concepts for “applications across fashion, architecture, product and industrial design”. Natsai Chieza, an MA Textiles Futures graduate, looks at the “potential” of “biofutures” in textiles design in “2075” in her “Design Fictions” project. Through much applied research into “synthetic biology and stem cell technology. Natsai explains that “we can now engineer additional, external organs to better” and sustain lives. The project therefore seems a natural technological progression of these concepts into the fashion and textiles industry, or does it… The resulting body adornment “surfaces” create “converging narratives” with the skin. Experiments with material processes like “flocking, laser cutting and moulding” with substances such as “silicone, glass, liquid plastics and wax” produce a range of exciting tactile facades that cover sections of the body. Each piece is individual in form and extends away from the body to produce original silhouettes that appear to have been naturally grown. Alongside these material visualisations, Natsai Chieza also took a “multidisciplinary approach” to her project concept. Work within the laboratory with “bacterial samples” allowed her to develop “three-dimensional living pieces”.

This combination of textile materiality and biology enables the project’s concept to be really thought provoking. The collection creates an introduction into what could be the future of textiles production. Ideas have the potential to move onto the creation of full garments and accessories that could fully grow from the skin through “tissue implants”.

This vision however comes with many ethical question and “implications”. Are we controlling too much of the world? Is genetic and biology modification a step too far? Our ever-changing desire for the new “IT” fabric or item of clothing, the highest quality, a bespoke, one-of-a-kind piece means that the role of the new designer is becoming an extremely challenging one. To reach these design desires exciting concepts like these need to be produced. It is hard not to be inspired by the amazing tactility and aesthetic of Chieza’s collection.

Even though the ethics of the project are questionable, environmental aspects of the textile pieces and their production could push the concept’s development. Much of textile production uses and depends on a great number of non-renewable resources, especially those used in the manufacture of synthetic fibres and fabrics which include coal and oil. Is the use of stem cells in textile production therefore a more sustainable and environmental conserving process that we may have no choice but to use in the future, by “2075”?

Emily Smith, a “2012” “BA Textiles design” graduate at “Chelsea College of Art and Design”, considers the “sustainability” and “durability” of design in her garment and jewellery collection. The work looks at personal “memories” and takes much inspiration from “old imagery”. “Colours” have been “extracted” to create “soft”, “subtle” palettes on the delicate “chiffon” fabrics. The collection is very conceptual and identifies different types of “memories” and how we store, collect and remember these experiences, “connecting” our “past to our present”. Emily looks at memories that “fade away” and seem quite “distant” as well as those that are presented at the “forefront” of our minds, the memories that we hold close and “preserve”. These differences are shown in the pieces through the contrasting textures of the “chiffon” and the “clear plastic resin jewellery”. Characteristics of both materials connect them to the type of memory they represent; the fluid “chiffon”, a “fading” memory and the robust “resin”, an “encapsulated” remembrance.

Emily Smith has questioned whether connecting clothing and accessories to personal experiences and therefore creating a “bond” and “attachment” with our “belongings” could be a solution to our materialistic “over consumption” in “fast fashion”. “Investing” “emotion” and “time” in designing and manufacture gives “meaning” to fabrics which would eliminate the want to “replace” and upgrade items so quickly. This therefore would give clothing a higher “durability”, reducing the scale of production and use of materials. I think that the narratives behind the work are really strong. The design concept would create really personal collections that would be individual and bespoke. Each designed piece would radiate personality yet I don’t think they would feel too revealing. Small connections with memories such as colour and texture would “attach” each piece to an experience for the wearer without fully communicating it to everyone. The idea of a hidden connection only makes the garments more personal. However, I think that it is difficult to see how such garments could be manufactured to compete with fast fashion today. The idea of more “durable” fashion is something that I think will take time to develop. A level of skill would be needed to produce garments and accessories to meet the concept and would consumers be willing to wait for personalised beauty of design? In the textile future, I hope so… 

 

Design Catwalk. (2011, June 20). Is Fashion ART? [Web log Post]. Retrieved from http://www.designcatwalk.com/design-fictions-posthumanity-in-the-age-of-synthetics/


Textile Futures (2011). NATSAI AUDREY CHIEZA. Retrieved from http://www.textilefutures.co.uk/graduates/2011-2/natsai-audrey-chieza/. 

Textiles Futures Research Centre (n.d). Textiles Futures Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.tfrc.org.uk. 

SokFok Studio (producer). (2012). Emily Smith - BA Textile Design 2012 [audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/49154538