“Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton, talking in our beds for a week, the newspapers say,’ what’re you doing in bed? I said ‘we’re only trying to get us some peace.”
(The Ballad of John and Yoko,The Beatles, 1969)
Liverpool City Council is hosting a John Lennon tribute season to celebrate his seventieth birthday. Named 'Bed- In', after John and Yoko’s famous bed-held protests, the exhibition celebrates John Lennon’s seventieth birthday and will be holding different events ‘in bed’ throughout October.
One of these is …and sew to bed. Collaborating with the West Everton Community Council (WCC) and One World Week, Craftivist Collective (a group of craft-expressive activists), are hand- making a quilt to adorn bed and make their protest against inequality.
Craftivists began in 2008, with the manifesto, "To expose the scandal of global poverty, and human rights injustices though the power of craft and public art. This will be done through provocative, non-violent creative actions, with the aim to show people that raising awareness of the injustices and poverty in the world can be fun, fulfilling and can build friendships all over the world. It doesn’t have to be stressful or elitist. Anyone can be a Craftivist whatever their skill or
understanding."
Founded by Sarah Corbett, an activist burnt out on the frustration and sometimes aggressive approach of established activists organisations, she filtered her protests in to a new found love for craft. The accompanying blog took off and has gained a cult following as it works on raising awareness about inequality and injustice on an international scale. This exhibition is a chance for WCC to voice local concerns, whilst the Craftivist team will be voicing global issues through their creations. The patches created for the quilt will be cross-stitched, painted or sewn to expresses relevant quotes and statistics on international inequality.
To help the Craftivists and to have your patch hand sewn and exhibited at the Bluecoat Project, create your message - be it an inspirations quote (please credit the source), a statistic or a personal message on a 7” x 7” patch of fabric and send a photo to Sarah Corbett.
For more information join the Facebook event group for "…and sew to bed."
Bed-In
October 9th – December 9th 2010,
The ‘Hub’ at Blue Coat Gallery,
School Lane,
Liverpool.
For tickets and further information please visit: Bed in at the Blue Coat
The must-see exhibition this winter is certainly the Barbican’s - entitled ‘Future Beauty’. It is the first European exhibition to survey avant-garde Japanese fashion from the 1980’s to now, exploring the work of Japans most renowned fashion designers in relation to Japanese art, culture and costume history.
The eighties saw conceptual fashion emerge in the limelight, with the likes of Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, whose extraordinary work questioned conventional fashion, creating looks that were more than just clothes but works of Art. The exhibition explores the innovation of traditional Japanese garments, contrasting with a unique look at current Japanese street style and its interaction with high fashion.There is a specially commissioned series of photographs by artist and photographer Naoya Hatakeyama, and a chance to see pieces by Issey Miyake, Kenzo and Junya Watanabe, to name a few. A refreshingly angled exhibition and crash course in the fascinating and often overlooked, history, culture and fashion of Japan.
showing from 15th October 2010 -6th February 2011, barbican Art gallery, London
Situated in spacious walls of Shoreditch Town Hall, the East London Design Show is an annual event, gathering the best of fresh UK design talent and laying out their work in a creative frenzy of delightfully original art, craft and jewellery, all just in time for Christmas. A relievingly different shopping experience; you can dip in and out of the stalls (late night shopping on the Friday), stop for a coffee or attend the creative hat-making workshop. To personalise your gifts Fabrications Haberdashery have beautiful eco-friendly solutions and give you the chance to create personal bows and tags from vintage lace, scarves and ribbon.
The VIP reception and design awards take place Thursday 2nd December 2010, public shopping on the 3rd/4th/5th at Shoreditch Town Hall 380 Old Street, London. For further information visit http://www.eastlondondesignshow.co.uk
'Sleek. Chic. Notoriously guarded. Welcome to the secret world of Gabrielle Chanel.' We all have Chanel fever this year, and if two film releases and some breath taking collections from the iconic fashion house aren’t enough, then pop out and grab ‘Coco Chanel- The legend and the life; a fresh and engaging look at the personal life of fashion’s most recognisable figure. Justine Picardie writes of ‘Coco’s turbulent relationships and the startling reality of the struggle and perseverance it took to go from orphaned convent girl to smart, savvy business woman and all the loves and adventures in between. Sourced from exclusive interviews with friends, relatives and employees and a lot of rummaging in Chanel archives, Picardie gives a frank and heartfelt revelation of the woman behind the famous interlocking C’s. Released 16th September, just in time for fashion week! Published by HarperCollins, £25, hardback.Blow by Blow: The story of Isabella Blow Isabella Blow spent thirty years achieving things most of us dream of, she began as Anna Wintour’s assistant, worked as fashion director at Tatler and as Fashion Editor of The Sunday Times magazine. She nurtured talent from Alexander McQueen, whose entire first collection she brought at the drop of a hat and Phillip Treacy, whose hats she wore with unapologetic English eccentricity in the most recognised photographs of her. But beneath this she struggled quietly with depression and her abrupt and death in 2007 sent ripples of shock through her adoring admirers and friends. Journalist Tom Sykes and Detmar Blow, her husband of twenty two years, write an intimate and intriguing story of her life and work, revealing not only her personal unhappiness and unrelenting perseverance despite this, but an exciting look at the fashion world through the eyes of the talented Isabella Blow herself. An inspiring and riveting read for every fashionista. Detman Blow and Tom Sykes, Published HarperCollins, 2nd September 2010, £20 hardback
The most delightfully crass piece was contemporary artist’s Noble and Webster’s ‘Metal fucking rats’ (2006), in the Panic Space room I am more than partial to the tantalising fantasies of Salvador Dali and the baffling explanations of Freud so I took myself along to the Barbican’s Surreal House exhibition to savour the delights they had brought together.
The pieces were located in various ‘rooms’ of the house and you explore, stopping to examine various installations, paintings and film footage, constantly feeling excited and on edge. I was studying a remarkable sketch by Dali of a obscure face, propped up by poles and prodding a female breast, whose head looked not dissimilar from a light fixture, when a loud crash of distorted piano notes echoed from deeper inside and tore me away to investigate. A baby grand piano hangs upside, suspended from the ceiling and the keys horribly bent and stretched, emitting off key twangs before returning to its un-tampered form until another two minutes had passed and so it repeats itself. This was Rebecca horn’ Concert for anarchy,(1990).
It was beautifully curated in the way you were swept unexpectedly on to the next room by a flicker of light from a film, or a glimpse of a half finished staircase ahead. It felt rather like that nervous, enchanted tickle of apprehension you get at the start of a rollercoaster ride or at a poignant moment in a horror film. It made itself particularly known in the small dark space showing Jan Svankmajers’ ‘Down to the cellar’ (1982), where a small blue eyed girl explores an underground cellar. There is coal everywhere, one man scrapes it over himself to mimic a duvet, a woman breaks eggs and mixes the sooty concoction in to black cakes, and the little girl watches, entranced. This nightmarish quality where you can’t quite tear your eyes away encompassed the entire exhibit and brought some remarkable pieces to light – a must see this season! It certainly got me thinking about dreams and their distortions and rationalising of the obscure in the subconscious.
C.Pettman
The Surreal House, Barbican art gallery 10th June- 12th September 2010
7-8 Kensington Gardens
Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4AL
01273 602 558
At first I disregarded the crowded windows and unorganised chaotic displays as a wasted space filed with unwanted junk and a lingering musty smell. But something lured me in as I saw other onlookers stray from the bustling side streets of Brighton with an intent to satisfy a nagging insistence that a certain object was waiting to catch their eye and speak to them alone from amongst the disorderly stacks of forgotten things. It is literally insane, every gap is filled with piles of jewellery, records, photographs, slides, toys, lamps, clocks, clothing, ornaments, suitcases and guitars, an endless lists of ‘things’ that make up a visual evidence of a persons life. You can wander at ease around the different rooms, carefully organised despite the jumble of objects. It is a maze of space bulging with trinkets and ‘bits and bobs’ that could supply endless inspirations for fashion shoots, paintings and interior styling. Aptly named, you can snoop through another’s past, dipping in to a paradise pool of stories. Recommended for an inquisitive mind seeking inspiration or if you want to replace your old junk with someone else’s!
The gowns were silk, draping pools of black, with cutaway backs and intricate lace details and clustered feather earrings to finish the look. The models had their hair tightly gathered in to knot buns, dark, heavy eye make up, hidden behind ornate silver masks, and moody black veils. The finale, and highlight of the show was white, silk clad model carrying a baby, all dressed in white who stared back enquiringly at the entranced onlookers. Jacob produced a stunning, dramatic show of fierce, beautiful and wearable pieces, with intricate embellishments and edgy accessories.
Set to ‘Yippiyo ay’ by the Presets and Cheap and Cheerful, by the Killers, a mood of carefree, confidence introduced an upbeat collection that clearly exhibited Eudon Choi’s past experience and skill in menswear tailoring.
A series of stretchy dresses in various tones of grey and black formed a backdrop for the clean, sophisticated tailored coats and thigh high, peep-toe boots in army green, black and burnt brown leather patches, all clenched together with buckles and ribbon. The show held a consistent style of casual, wearable pieces broken only by the occasional flirty off the shoulder dresses, in panels of grey silks and bursts of fierce orange. Shoulders were prominent, with high hemlines and neat, clean silhouettes.
Texture played a key part in bringing the garments to life. Backless leather dresses, with sharp, obtruding shoulders and beading detail, teamed with the ‘Zoro- esq’ hats reinforced a firm, powerful personality. Electric blue mohair dresses and fine jumpers soften, teamed with dream catcher necklaces and gold pendants suggesting Native American traditions.
As the show began the audience were immediately swept away in to the upbeat panpipes, country and jazz music fusion that set the tone for a whimsical, cheerful collection. Beginning with a black palette, broken with spurts of pop green accessories. Caroline Charles's Autumn/winter 2010 collection was inspired by days spent in Istanbul and Venice. She fused between- war evening glamour in the form of diamonds, black lace and emerald velvets, puddles of saffron and chocolate silks with a socialite hunter prowling the catwalk in matching hounds-tooth, jackets and jodhpurs sprinkled with gold sequin details, furs and hunting hats. The detail of the garments was exquisite, and the vibrant cultures of the Istanbul and Venice emerged in pops of colour and delicate embellishments.The tone darken slightly as a 'bride' dressed in black announced herself at the head of the catwalk, with her 'gold-showered bridesmaids', marking the finale of the show.The resulting ‘woman’ that emerged from the collection was not dissimilar to ‘Larlita’, Stephen Elliot’s disruptive, unconventional, glamorous and feisty American character in his 2008 film ‘Easy Virtue.’
