Rock Style in the Eighties

Upcoming at Parsons on January 30th is a lecture by Paper editor Steven Blush on 1980s Rock Style. Part of the “Form Follows Fashion” series curated by Jessica Glasscock, the lecture seems to take an American perspective on 1980s rock style, focusing on hardcore and heavy metal as opposed to the more British Glam. The lecture is free and open to public and will take place at Parsons Midtown Auditorium, Parsons Fashion, on 560 Seventh Avenue, from 6 to 8pm. Following is the event’s press release

In the 1980s, the contemporary music genres of hardcore and heavy metal each exerted considerable influence over popular graphic design, product design, and fashion. The varying philosophies of each genre engendered wholly differing aesthetics. Hardcore music was characterized by a DIY style: roughly collaged, hand-lettered posters copied at the local Kinko’s, homemade record packaging glued together in basements, and ripped and distressed t-shirts markered with professions of allegiance to a favorite band. Heavy metal was an unapologetically corporate enterprise and the culmination of two decades of rock-and-roll fantasies transformed into mass-marketed signifiers of rebellion: slickly produced logos created by professional graphic designers, success-minded musicians willingly made over as glam gods by Hollywood make-up artists, and multicolored silk-screened t-shirt available for a considerable price at stadium concerts. Somehow in the early 2000s, both styles have beaten a path to the malls of America.

Guest speaker Steven Blush will examine the creation, distribution and overall influence of hardcore and heavy metal in the 1980s and in the present. Blush has been a participant and historian of punk and rock since the early 1980s, when he promoted hardcore shows in Washington, D,C. He is the author of American Hardcore: A Tribal History and American Hair Metal, a senior editor at Paper magazine, and a rock DJ in New York City.

Looking to the Past: Inspiration or Copying?

Photo from www.nytimes.com

Last night the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum held a panel discussion titled Groundbreaking: The Past as Inspiration, which was moderated by the Museum’s curator of contemporary design, Ellen Lupton. The panel consisted of fashion designer Anna Sui, textile designer Jessica Smith, and the architectural interior design team of Diamond + Baratta, each of whom, as Lupton described, used history to create their “imaginative, fantastic and irreverent” designs. All the designers acknowledged that their use of pattern was strongly influenced by historical examples, and that their appropriation consisted of contemporizing older patterns through distorting scale, changing colors, juxtaposing or collaging elements, or updating the subject matter. Most interestingly, the discussion rapidly turned to the question of design copying. Lupton noted that Sui was in the midst of a lawsuit against the chain Forever 21 for pirating her prints – in fact, last night Sui claimed that 26 of her patterns from her last season (which can be seen on the internet) had been copied by other designers or stores, including some copies which came out even before her designs were available for purchase! Diamond + Baratta, also victims of pirating, bemoaned the lack of legal protections available for design ideas. Jessica Smith openly admitted that she “borrowed from history” yet used patterns in a way that not only acknowledged their provenance, but stimulated conservation about the similarities to be found in historical cultures with society today. When pressed about the use of museums, archives and libraries for design inspiration, each of the designers agreed that there was a subtle difference between studying actual objects (usually for the perfection of craft, technique and construction) and blatantly ripping off photos of objects to create often-inferior copies. They noted that pencils were usually the only tools allowed when looking at historical objects, a restriction which creates an inherent gap between an original design and a drawing that is filtered through the designer’s talents and perception. Perhaps the most enlightening moment came when an audience participant asked whether the designers thought there was such a thing as completely original design at all. Diamond + Baratta mentioned Frank Gehry, but all agreed that there wasn’t a whole lot of design today that did not, in some aspect, reference historical works.

When I first started working in vintage fashion inspiration archives, I, perhaps naively, was shocked at the abundance of examples of blatant design copying. There were even instances when I found two garments, one the original and the other a copy, and it was only through noting the effects of age or examining the sewing and fabric that I was able to deduce which garment was, in fact, the “inspiration.” (Hint: the copy is inevitably the one poorly made from cheaper fabrics.) I understand the aforementioned designers’ frustrations with pirating, but I’ve come to the conclusion that all designers copy or reference to some extent. Even Anna Sui admitted last night that the pattern on the self-made dress she was wearing was derived from a swatch of vintage textile usually reserved for interior design purposes. In Sui’s mind, it was how she had manipulated the pattern for the human body (rather than a room) that made her design original. Isn’t claiming originality yet suing others for copying patterns that were very likely copies themselves a tad too contradictory? If everybody is doing it, is it really that bad? I think Lynn Yaeger put it best in her brilliantly funny article last year in the Village Voice when she claimed she would stop wearing cheap designer knock-offs just as soon as she had an extra few grand laying around to purchase the real thing.

Sarah Scaturro

Leigh Ledare at Rivington Arms

Leigh Ledare, Untitled, 2001

I had just finished reading a fascinating interview with the photographer and video artist Leigh Ledare in the most recent issue of ANP Quarterly, when I received a press release from Rivington Arms in regard to their upcoming group show Closer Now, which features Ledare’s work. Another portrayal of his mother—this time in video form—the piece, in line with his photographic series, seems to tackle issues of sexuality, age and representation—all of which are rendered more poignant as they are articulated through the artist's layered relationship with his mother.

Also in the show are video pieces from Uri Aran, Leigh Johnson, and Natsuki Uruma.

Francesca

Ettore Sottsass Exhibition

Ettore Sottsass Exhibition, Trieste.

An exhibition celebrating the multifaceted artistic production of the Austrian-born Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass--who recently passed away--is currently on view in Trieste. The exhibition, titled "Vorrei Sapere Perche?" ("I would like to know why"), covers the breadth of the work of Sotsass, who remains best known in the US as the founder of the Milan-based design collective Memphis. It is divided in seven spaces corresponding to seven different media/disciplines: design, architecture, photography, jewelery design, drawing, ceramics and glass-work.

Organized by Terredarte, the exhibition runs through March 2, 2008

garment/research

Recently we came upon the work of Kelly Cobb. At the crosswords of performance art, costume design and social sculpture, it coalesces around the creation of garments and textiles. Based in Philadelphia, Cobb describes her work as a way “to utilize the garment/textile as a tool of connection and communication for re-dreaming creative models of living.” Her work is documented under the heading of garment/research on her website.

Of particular interest is her recent project the 100-Mile Suit, a three month long collaborative project that culminated in the “costuming” of the curator of LURE project as part of the exhibition Localized Locational Gravity at the ICA in Philadelphia. Following the show’s moniker, the project addressed issues of sustainability and tried to provide a symbolic and literal answer to the often-uttered question: “Where does your outfit come from?” Involving 21 regional crafters “working with all locally raised and processed materials,” the project revived arcane processes which ranged from brain-tanning leather and wool to hand-manufacturing buttons and making shoes out of local hide in the process of creating an entirely locally-made outfit.

Ultimately, the 100-Mile Suit seemed to highlight the social interactions which took place throughout the process, particularly among the various crafters, as well as trying to reclaim from anonymity the relation between wearer and garment.

To find out more visit, www.100-milesuit.blogspot.com

Francesca