WEEK THREE: HussEIN Chalayan .

Hussein Chalayan

1. Chalayan’s works in clothing, like Afterwords (2000) and Burka (1996) are often challenging to both the viewer and the wearer. What are your personal responses to these works? Are Afterwords and Burka fashion, or are they art? What is the difference?

Not all clothing is fashion, so what makes fashion fashion?

According to the dictionary, fashion is described as style in clothes, cosmetics, behaviour, etc, especially the latest or most admired style. 

Hussein Chalayan's 'Burka' show in 1996 challenged a lot of ideas such as identity, modesty and femininity. All the models faces are concealed with mask and are dressed in different length Burkas with nothing underneath. Some wear nothing at all except for a pair of sandals and the mask.

This 'fashion show' is much more conceptual and thought provoking rather than fashion orientated. 

"Burka" 1996

 In my opinion, ''Burka'' is a piece which does not strongly associate with fashion, it is more art and conceptually based (while it still crosses a very thin line between fashion and art). Fashion is design and design is art, but the purpose of fashion is more so for aesthetic values and for acceptance inside society whereas art is set apart from its unique approaches and vivid statements made visually within. 

Are young girls in Islamic and Muslim cultures ever given a choice to wear or not wear the Burka? Or do they choose to wear it because of the society around them which have established it as normal and patriotic?

All the models wear basically the same thing, suggesting conformity and cultural oppression. 

"Afterwords" 2000

 I quite liked Chalayan's, 'Afterwords'. The combination of dense and soft materials result in an interesting ensemble, contrasting and harmonizing at the same time. He explains that he was inspired by the war period where residents yearned to take their homes with them when they evacuated yet could not. I think 'Afterwards' is more conceptual and experimental than fashionable. His works strongly associate with Post-Modernity - especially ''Burka'' where if asked why he did it, he would probably respond, 'Because I can.'

Overall, I think that fashion and art are more different than similar.
My logic -  If you can't wear it outside, it's not fashion.

 2. Chalayan has strong links to industry. Pieces like The Level Tunnel (2006) and Repose (2006) are made in collaboration with, and paid for by, commercial business; in these cases, a vodka company and a crystal manufacturer. How does this impact on the nature of Chalayan’s work? Does the meaning of art change when it is used to sell products? Is it still art?

When collaborated, art is still obviously art but becomes much more focused on the aesthetics than on the meaning. I think that when commissioned, there is less heart put into the final product because the artist will want to or be required by the company to create something that everyone will like, he/she cannot simply add their own quirky style to it (unless it is visually pleasing to all viewers alike) - the limits set in hinder the artist from giving the work more life.

"Level Tunnel" (2006)

Chalayan created "The Level Tunnel" for Level Vodka, manipulating certain areas of the 15x5m tunnel to excrete different scents, comprise of different  textures and sounds, all accessible to the blindfolded visitors. 

In collaboration with Swarovski, Chalayan was told to create a new form of chandelier which circulated around the main focus on light. 'Repose' is installed on wall and consists of a large wing lined in the middle with a band of blue LEDs which slowly moves up and down like that of a bird and a digital display clock which is fitted flat against the wall, indicating the speed of the movement of the flap. 

"Repose" (2006)

Although the collaborations were purely commercial (no matter how artsy the companies tried to sound), Chalayan did not lose his personal style in both commissions, both resulted in aesthetically pleasing works of art. It's just that compared to his other works, they were much easier to interpret.

3. Chalayan’s film Absent Presence screened at the 2005 Venice Biennale. It features the process of caring for worn clothes, and retrieving and analysing the traces of the wearer, in the form of DNA. This work has been influenced by many different art movements; can you think of some, and in what ways they might have inspired Chalayan’s approach? 

I think it has a strong connection to a very Post Modern perspective of the changing world - socially and scientifically. The film makes us question our identities and of our abilities to adapt into new environments, the world is constantly changing yet many of us are not. There may also be a bit of the enlightenment effect, through the more theological and scientific aspects in the film (DNA extraction and analysis to grow knowledge about an individual etc.)

4. Many of Chalayan’s pieces are physically designed and constructed by someone else; for example, sculptor Lone Sigurdsson made some works from Chalayan’s Echoform (1999) and Before Minus Now (2000) fashion ranges. In fashion design this is standard practice, but in art it remains unexpected. Work by artists such as Jackson Pollock hold their value in the fact that he personally made the painting. Contrastingly, Andy Warhol’s pop art was largely produced in a New York collective called The Factory, and many of his silk-screened works were produced by assistants. Contemporarily, Damien Hirst doesn’t personally build his vitrines or preserve the sharks himself. So when and why is it important that the artist personally made the piece?            why is this question so longgggg!?

One of the reasons I hate dislike Damien Hirst is because his "art" is sold for millions when 90% of them haven't been produced by himself.

With Chalayan's works, I think the most important thing is that his design is the result of the final product. I think nowadays a main reason as to why it is important that the artist personally creates a piece is name value.

Whether we like it or not, we have all been influenced at least once by high market items.              I remember asking five of my friends to select one of the two;

There are two perfume bottles in front of you, both have exactly the same ingredients, smell, texture, volume etc. The two of them are practically clones of each other, but one is from Chanel and the other from the Warehouse. The Warehouse is $150 cheaper than the Chanel. Which one do you pick? 

...and they all picked the luxury. Why?

>Would you wear a Burka?http://www.dontpaniconline.com/magazine/style/would-you-wear-a-burka
 

>Hussein Chalayan - Burka (1996)
http://ilikecatsmorethanpeople.blogspot.com/2010/11/hussein-chalayan-burka-1996.html
 

>Hussein Chalayan - Afterwords (2000)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE07_aFF4no
 

>Hussein Chalayan - Aftewords
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1964


 
>Maculinity and Femininity: Society's Different Divedend
http://web2.iadfw.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/mf.html


 
>The LEVEL tunnel
http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-LEVEL-Tunnel-%28Absolut-Vodka-Hussein-Chalayan%29/701114

 
>Level tunnel installation by Hussein Chalayanhttp://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/2858/level-tunnel-installation-by-hussein-chalayan.html


 
>Swarovski Elements: Hussein Chalayan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgHe8nEmGdw


 
>Design Boom: Hussein Chalayan
http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html