Art Fashion Aware at the RA

On at the RA is the Third season of
the GSK contemporary aware: art fashion identity at 6 Burlington gardens. It takes note of the way artists and fashion designers use clothing to communicate there cultural amd visceral identity. The exhibition displays works from well known international practitioners such as Alexander McQueen, yoko Ono, Grayson perry and Marina abromavic (more below) as well as newly commissioned pieces by yank shonibare and Hussein chalayan.

The exhibition is split into four parts.

STORYTELLING which looks into the Personal and cultural roles of clothing.

BUILDING takes account of clothing as shelter or protection and goes into the concept of carrying ones own shelter.

BELONGING AND CONFRONTING  Examines ideas of nationality as well as political and social confrontation, understanding the tensions associated with the assimilation of new cultures and traditions. 

PERFORMANCE Highlights presentation of fashion and clothing in the role our daily lives. It features film footage of Yoko ono's performance of cut piece at carnage recital hall in new york, for which the artist invited the public to cut strips from her clothing.  Also in this section was a instillation from Hussein Chalayan which uses the form of traditional japanese puppet theatre to examine the manipulative elements within the fashion industry.  

MARINA ABROMAVIC 

One of the works by the self stated grandmother of performance art marina abromavic was a video entitled imponderabillia in which two performers stand completely naked in a doorway and the public must squeeze between them in order to pass. The crucial element in this performance was that the participants had to decide who to look at as they past through the small door frame. This performance looks at the audiences personal aesthetic with the protagonist's as the frame and the audience the performers it exposes the audience to the unfamiliar bodily Sensations between shame and awareness of their own bodies, and forces them into a situation of human contact not usually experienced between strangers.

I find abromavic's work intriguing and think this is because for me alot of her work is quite hard to watch yet displays emotions I can relate to in sex, anger and personal exploration and destruction.   I'm a fan of a lot of her performances but AAA AAA effects me the most. I found myself wincing at the sight of her and long time collaborator ulay screaming at each other as they get louder and louder, gradually drawing themselves closer together, I can't help but find a sexual element as well as one off anger and despair on display here.