My exploration of how memes could be likened to a postmodern method of deconstruction, (in that they are rebellious in nature), frequently questioning truths and challenging the status quo I was inspired to look at Fashion. I was interested in the way that memes have evolved from post modernism which lead me to study the way that fashion has evolved in our culture over time. I enjoyed my satiric and mechanical approach to my poster and decided to appropriate this form into my body of works, as a way of furthering my comedic irony and art practice.
Inspired by Joseph Kosuth's artworks most notably 'Art as Idea as Idea' and his disregard for conventional aesthetics that inform his practice I was compelled to de-construct the nature of art instead of producing it- a not so common approach in relation to 21st century contexts. I believe that my final body of work are more of a deconstruction of fashion itself inadvertently taking precedence over the communication of meaning and producing 'conventional' art forms.
To disassemble my understanding of fashion, stylistic forms and the evolution of the nature of this art, I placed heavy emphasis on experimentation. I questioned myself in the same way I did for the first assessment. What is non-design, what is non-art and what is non-fashion?
Taking Piet Mondrian's approach to the way he simplifies elements of his paintings by reducing his shapes to lines and rectangles and a basic colour palette I decided to use erasure to try and simplify how I perceived fashion. I first studied the differences in aesthetic and notions of fashion by comparing modernist with post-modernist fashion. Notable designers such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood pioneered the way in which Fashion fused with conceptual art by producing asymmetrical and unconventional notions of conservatism and traditionalism.
Evident in my first few experiments with clothing garments, I cut away the inherent qualities of garments that make them what they are, by cutting out large areas and then wearing it later. This solidified the fact that although I had done this I still produced art, it was still a wearable and had inherent design elements that made it unique. I pushed myself in my experimentation methods by obtaining images from runways and altering the fashion pieces worn. I removed the texture and kept the shape of the garments form. I found that disassembling them allowed me to understand the inherent qualities that make fashion conceptual. Through the process of re-iteration, I was able to come up with new ways of producing textures, colours and rhythm that informed the fashion art form similar in the way experimentation was used in postmodern ways.
Looking at more artists, I furthered my research and appropriation of art forms by looking at Barbara Kruger’s work and her socio-political commentary on the very essence of materialism itself. Using her language, I took to looking at modern forms of retail by altering the images of online shopping. By erasing attire and adding text “I need this in every colour” and making every piece of item on a website look the same I came across my own conclusion. Over my experimentation I realised that as fashion has evolved from modernist to post-modernist notions, it has arrived at a point where everything has been done before (thanks to fast fashion) and that we are all being sold the same thing. Through this work I am subverting the idea that Fashion can keep being ‘new’ and different but in reality, we are being sold the same thing. Buy re-enforcing the idea of monotony and the cyclical nature of consumerist methods I decided to create a simple board game that fused my satirical commentary and represented the idealistic nature of materialism. The final work resonates with my poster in the way that it represents something vastly conceptual yet through a minimal manner.
