ModeMuseum Hasselt | The Future That Never Was | Alter Nature

Posted on 07/01/2011 by W&V

From the 29Th of January 2011 until the 5Th of June 2011 the Fashion Museum of Hasselt (MMH) shows visions of the future from the past, and the possible future of tomorrow. The Future That Never Was presents a ‘futuristic’ view on the magical year 2000 from fashion designers from the sixties and shows you a glance of new possibilities of tomorrow.

Throughout fashion history there has always been a strong connection between fashion and scientific, industrial innovations. Fashion designers have always used new technologies in their designs and the possible image of the future also springs from the new sciences and innovations. Modern discoveries and progress are often directly reflected in their designs and collections.

In the sixties a new generation of these ‘modern’ designers rises. Pierre Cardin, Andre Courrèges, Rudi Gernreich and Paco Rabanne amongst others experimented with new forms and (synthetic) materials. These designers often represent an era in which fashion does not find inspiration in the past, but eagerly looks at the future.

The Future That Never Was places these new possibilities next to the vision of the future of prominent designers from the Space Age period. A period that changed fashion forever.

In Alter Nature the focus is on changing nature. That humankind has an impact on nature is beyond question: we have been consciously changing nature since the beginning of time. This can range from the displacement and demarcation of nature to the setup of selective cultivation programmes; from animal species being bred into the perfect specimens and plant types that are grown to be more productive, to roses and carnations produced in all colours of the rainbow.

Over the last decade, developments in bio-science and technology have given this evolution new momentum. Conjuring genetic material out of nothing, or growing human skin in a laboratory; it may sound like futuristic science fiction, but this is reality.

What’s more, these developments have inspired not just scientists, but also artists, fashion and other designers. For this reason, Z33, the Fashion Museum Hasselt, CIAP, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology, the University of Hasselt and the MAD faculty have joined forces to present four different exhibitions and a symposium. 50 artists and designers explore how we can and do change nature, and how this changes our view of the world.

The Exhibitions will run from the 29th of January 2011 until the 5th of June 2011 at the ModeMuseum (Fashion Museum Hasselt) Hasselt, Belgium.

Curator & concept: Kenneth Ramaekers
Assistant Curator: Eve Demoen
Research: Lise Braekers & Romy Cockx
Scenography: Lien Wauters
Design: Brusatto

Photos and source: ModeMuseum Hasselt | ModeMuseum website

Claudia Rogge | individualism, reproducibility and mass

Posted on 03/01/2011 by W&V

In the contemporary art scene, German artist Claudia Rogge is an exceptional person. She continually photographs crowds of practically identical people , all dressed in the same way and holding the same pose to create a unique mass identity. Arranged either in repetition, tessellation or in choreographed groups, her figures represent the unique little tiles that form an intricate mosaic. Man himself turns into a pattern, into an ornament. At the same time there is the question of whether the conceptual classification is justified. Are they really patterns or ornaments? Might they not simply be masses or forms? It seems, however, that we can cope best with the conceptual term of pattern.

Although Claudia Rogge shows us patterns, her works no longer shows an indistinct and homogeneous element but one made up of minuscule differences that need to be sought out carefully in each single photograph. The disposition of the persons depicted reminds spectators of their own movements and postures, which are no mere coincidences but basic dimensions of the sense of social direction. Postures and emotions correspond with each other. Analysing the body language is helpful for a better understanding of other people. Claudio Rogge plays with perception, which she carries on. She shows her wish to bring things closer together in terms of space and time. “If you pause motionless”, says photographer Robert Doisneau, “people will look at you.”

This is one of the elements which makes Claudia Rogge´s pictures so attractive. A motionlessness that repeats itself and thus appears to be movement within stillness.They can be approached in the same way one would approach a still life. With Vermeer, says philosopher Paul Virilio, the living world corresponds with a still life. With Claudia Rogge it seems the same yet with a slight difference: she has raised the living world of mere illusion to the status of an art icon. Our age, in which the mass media are left to themselves, has accomplished the step from the necessary to the superfluous. Claudia Rogge turns our gaze back to the aesthetic glossy print with its mass of people returning to us the individual within us.

Photos by Claudia Rogge | Claudia Rogge website | Sources: Marianne Hoffmann

Climb | High heels in the snow

Posted on 20/12/2010 by W&V

The above video, which carries the title: ”Climb”, shows an interesting work by US artist Julie Lohnes.

Julie Lohnes statement:
She is interrogating the subjects of place, play, female power and sexuality. Lohnes strives to rupture cohesive understanding of play while reinterpreting the heroic, masculine landscape pictured by Homer and Eakins. By placing seemingly incongruous objects, women and actions together, meaning and content is altered. Each piece exists as both light-hearted and playful while pushing against social coherency towards more transgressive, social implications.

Video and Photos by Julie Lohnes | Julie Lohnes website

Phillip Schulze and Manuel Graf | Audi art award 2010

Posted on 15/12/2010 by W&V

Phillip Schulze won the Audi art award 2010 together with Manuel Graf.

Schulze got awarded for his project “Tiller girls” which he has realized together with Louis Philippe Demers and Armin Prukrabek. Phillip Schulte works in composition and media art. With his works, he would like to address the relationship between people, objects and environments.

Manuel Graf won with a narrative video work which carries the title “La Médieterranée”, a poetic film about the sea. Graf designs utopias which have become real(ity).He combines computer animated videos and quotes from music and film which result in fascinating works of art.

The below video by Ralph Goertz and Phillip Schulze gives a short impression of the award show and the winning works.

Video and photos by Ralph Goertz | Sounddesign by Phillip Schulze | Institut für Kunstdokumentation

Vangelis Paterakis | Shadow life

Posted on 01/12/2010 by W&V

Vangelis Paterakis is a Greek photographer and artist. For his commissioned work he collaborated often on editorials for magazines and with advertising companies.

Shadow life is a second series of art photos after his shadow series.
Vangelis Paterakis says himself about this work:
“It is a second creation of organisms that make up an unnoticed realm of life as we don’t know it”
With Shadow Life Vangelis Paterakis continues seeking bodies that give birth to new figures and shadows that rise new souls. His pictures remain familiar and their figures emit an instant mood for creation, annihilating the stillness of the picture offering to the spectator a side of life far from its daily perception. He gives shape to the human shadow that immaterial element of us all an indefinite subject that appears when light strikes a surface only to then melt away and blend in with the surrounding surfaces. The concept and images create a fascinating space for philosophical reflections and remind us of a line written by the Swiss thinker Carl Justav Jung:
“Contact with our shadows allows us to identify more closely with ourselves and touch a profound part of very being.”

Photos Vangelis Paterakis | Studio Paterakis | Shadow and Shadow life series

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Tag Archives: Idea

ModeMuseum Hasselt | The Future That Never Was | Alter Nature

Climb | High heels in the snow

Phillip Schulze and Manuel Graf | Audi art award 2010

Vangelis Paterakis | Shadow life