Savage Beauty - V&A
Luckily as a V&A member, I had a pre-public viewing of the 'Savage Beauty' exhibition from McQueen. This was great because it meant I could easily sneak in a few pictures from each gallery giving me secondhand research and loads of images to refer to and work from when I choose. I think this exhibition was brilliant in terms of my project; his romanticised response to dark subject matter was extremely beautiful and so fitting within my concept. The way he used such ugly starting points (eg. The Highland Rapes) but turned them into this tailored impeccable designs.
The way he translated ugly to beautiful fits well within the 'designer baby' concept, the subject matter as the physical baby, the design aspect being the beautiful outcome. However, the idea of beauty is highly subjective. What defines whether something is beautiful or not? The use of extravagant textiles within McQueens collections help portray this, but what if they were unavailable.. If I were to explore very ugly, mundane textiles, would I be able to produce the same beauty.
Mcqueen's use of colour stood out to me, in each collection there was a 'focus' piece, normally more extravagant and crazy then the rest. These were usually in a different colour or textile. His connection with London, his home town, the way he portrayed each idea in reference to his own life made the work that bit better and more understandable. Within my project, I am using examples relevant to my life. My dark matter being horrific past events; the Holocaust, Chernobyl, Hiroshima etc. Being jewish, the holocaust obviously has a large meaning on my life, and although the atomic disasters do not directly affect me, the results are still seen today. Taking images and parts of each of these places forward to work onto the stand. Much like Mcqueen, I hope to test myself within tailoring, something I will practice over the next few weeks. Whether tailoring can be made conceptual. I aim to push this boundary within my own designs.McQueen used many natural items and concepts within his designs, although I do not wish to focus my project on anything nature based, my use of environmental factors will be taken in a similar route.
After these two exhibitions, I think I have a good start for my research. They have got me thinking about a few new ways of doing things, and also directions of where this project will go. Over the next few days I will be looking into artists, and also collecting my research and putting it into a sketchbook ready to start the new project.
The way he translated ugly to beautiful fits well within the 'designer baby' concept, the subject matter as the physical baby, the design aspect being the beautiful outcome. However, the idea of beauty is highly subjective. What defines whether something is beautiful or not? The use of extravagant textiles within McQueens collections help portray this, but what if they were unavailable.. If I were to explore very ugly, mundane textiles, would I be able to produce the same beauty.
Mcqueen's use of colour stood out to me, in each collection there was a 'focus' piece, normally more extravagant and crazy then the rest. These were usually in a different colour or textile. His connection with London, his home town, the way he portrayed each idea in reference to his own life made the work that bit better and more understandable. Within my project, I am using examples relevant to my life. My dark matter being horrific past events; the Holocaust, Chernobyl, Hiroshima etc. Being jewish, the holocaust obviously has a large meaning on my life, and although the atomic disasters do not directly affect me, the results are still seen today. Taking images and parts of each of these places forward to work onto the stand. Much like Mcqueen, I hope to test myself within tailoring, something I will practice over the next few weeks. Whether tailoring can be made conceptual. I aim to push this boundary within my own designs.McQueen used many natural items and concepts within his designs, although I do not wish to focus my project on anything nature based, my use of environmental factors will be taken in a similar route.
After these two exhibitions, I think I have a good start for my research. They have got me thinking about a few new ways of doing things, and also directions of where this project will go. Over the next few days I will be looking into artists, and also collecting my research and putting it into a sketchbook ready to start the new project.
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