SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 1 Fall 2016 EXP Fashion as Art: Contemporary Collaborations Investigating Connections and Collaborations Between Fine Artists and Fashion Designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, RODARTE in Collaboration with LACMA S Fra Angelico Collection, 2012. Tuesdays 6:30PM 9:00PM Olin Language Arts Center, Room 110 Instructor: Max Avi Kaplan Email: Max.Kaplan@tufts.edu Office hours by appointment
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 2 Course Description What do you think of when you think of Fashion becoming Art? Do you think of paintings and photographs morphed into garments? Perhaps you think of couture presentations set as conceptual performance art or photographers, like Bill Cunningham, capturing sartorial streetscapes? Alternatively, you may think of museum exhibitions curating interventions between fashion and art objects? Fashion as Art is often overlooked academically because it is difficult to define or separate from mere commodity. However fashion like Fine Art is a reflection of society and an integral part of its historical context and material culture. This course explores the nexus between Fashion and Art, while discovering its potential to construct, affirm, and even change cultural values and norms. Beginning with an overview of these collaborations through time, from Charles Frederick Worth s turn of the century innovations to Alexander Mcqueen and beyond, students will examine how fashion functioning as art is creating new avenues for expressing and emphasizing the changing values and visual culture trends in society. Course Objectives The main objective of this course is for students to gain an understanding of the field of Fashion as Art through an examination of its development from the turn of the century to the present. The subject will be analyzed by defining and identifying all of the salient characteristics in understanding the nexus of Fashion as Art. This field of study will be illuminated by pertinent contemporary visual culture scholarship and viewed from historical, material culture and aesthetic perspectives. Students will have opportunities, through readings, class discussions and research collaborations, to gain original insights into the field, make connections with movements in design and Art History, while learning about specific artists, designers and their respective bodies of work. Additionally, students will be challenged to express these insights, share them with the class and display a mastery of the material. Written Assignments Weekly Journal Students will be assigned to compose thoughtful weekly written responses to the reading and viewing material. Short creative writing prompts will be posted on Trunk, and they are intended to give students creative space to make sense of the material, pose questions, and tie in their own distinct, individual interests.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 3 Response Paper 3 4 page paper responding to our class visit to Rhode Island School of Design s Angelo Donghia Costume and Textiles Study Center and its companion gallery. The RISD Museum s study center is dedicated to the study and creative interpretation of a broad range of objects through the juxtaposition of different cultures, time periods, and media. These thoughtfully curated, dynamic comparisons illustrate the ebb and flow of ideas, aesthetics, and techniques. Furthermore, these comparisons reveal issues that are integral to the history of design, craftsmanship, trade, and 1 culture as well as current artistic practice. Our visit will encompass a discussion with Curator and Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles, Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer, during which the field of collecting and curating fashion as art will be explored. Research Paper 8 10 page research paper on a historical or contemporary fashion as art collaboration presented within the context of a museum exhibition or formal presentation. Diverse and experimental collaborations/presentations that range in a variety of media, locations and contexts are welcomed and encouraged. Students will be provided with an extensive list of potential collaborations at the beginning of the semester as a point of entry. Each student s research will be shared in the form of a 5 minute oral presentation. Students will explore components of their researched collaboration such as biographical history of the artist or designer, training, studio practices, conceptual and aesthetic influences and / or textual and filmic references, style of work, audience demographics, critical reception, and any other issues and themes addressed that may provide the class with a greater sense of context. Final Project Students will be asked to use the work we have done throughout the semester to identify a Contemporary Fashion as Art collaboration that consciously challenges the limitations of any one medium of creative expression. This Contemporary case study will be published as a fictional feature in a top Contemporary Art / Fine Art / Design magazine like Surface, The New Yorker, ArtForum or T Magazine (The New York Times). Students will be expected to complete in depth research on the collaboration of their choosing, research the field, source presentation and campaign imagery and most importantly link the collaboration to scholarship in the field. You will come up with a mission statement and argument for why the concept, process and final 1 http://risdmuseum.org/art_design/galleries/costume_and_textiles_gallery
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 4 work that you have chosen challenges conventional notions of where fashion and fine art should live. For this project, students will work in groups to select their designer artist collaborations and embark on amassing an archive of research to attain the various components needed to write the publication feature. Each student will submit an individually written component and grades for this project will be decided on an individual basis. Additionally, each student will present their final project to the class in a 5 10 minute presentation in which they will layout the impetus behind the selection of their collaboration and discuss the histories, ideas, themes and issues that their publication feature addresses. Each student may choose their design from a variety of publication feature formats including: zine, interview or editorial (each of which will be introduced in class). Grading All assignments will be letter graded and because this is a discussion based course, attendance is essential, while class participation will be a significant part of each student s grade. Participation: 10% Weekly Responses: 15% Response Paper: 15% Research Paper: 25% Final Project: 35% MANUS x MACHINA: Fashion in an Age of Technology, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016 Hussein Chalayan, "Kaikoku" 2011 2012 Issey Miyake, "Flying Saucer" 1994 Karl Lagerfeld, Wedding Ensemble 2014 2015
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 5 COURSE SYLLABUS Required Readings, Film Viewings, & Weekly Topics WEEK ONE: SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 Topic: Course Introduction / Syllabus Overview Contemporary Examples of Fashion as Art Opening Discussion: In today s image saturated culture, how can we begin to think about the influence that fashion has on art and vice versa? What do you think of when you think about fashion as art? What similarities and what differences do the two mediums share? How have you encountered the mediums converging and how can we begin to unpack and analyze some of the politics involved in their convergence? We will look at the material culture history and the trajectory of modern fashion as art, particularly as it pertains to the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, beginning with Parisian Couturier Charles Frederick Worth and culminating with provocateur Surrealist couturier Elsa Schiaparelli. Key foundational early collaborations between fine artists and designers will be explored, as will the mutability of mediums within each collaboration. Required Reading Assignment for September 13: Cutler, E.P., and Julien Tomasello. "Introduction." In Art Fashion: Collaborations and Connections Between Icons. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2015. Fashion and Art: Critical Crossovers by Adam Geezy and Vicki Karaminas in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas. Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012, 1 12. Optional Reading: Kim, Sung Bok. "Is Fashion Art?" Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, 1998, 51 71.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 6 WEEK TWO: SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 Tisch Library Study Room Topic: Examining Perspectives: Fashion as Art? Fashion as Art: Historical Overview Introduction to Library Research & The Fashion as Art Online Resource Page Chao Chen, Humanities Research & Instruction Librarian Orientation We will continue our examination of some of the key figures who have shaped the historical discourse within the Fashion as Art genre between 1920 to the present day. Looking at a series of images of each artist designer s body of work from historical archives, we will further analyze the nexus between Fashion and Fine Art. Facilitated by our University Library s digitized historical archives, students will be introduced to advanced research methods in the Costume Studies field in order to begin researching profiles and topics towards their research paper and final project. Rich textual sources and other local collections and archives will be introduced and online journals like Fashion Theory and Dress will be made accessible for student research. Required Reading Assignment for September 20: Explore Andrew Martinez s Raid the Icebox : http://risdmuseum.org/manual/115_raid_the_icebox Explore the recent RISD Costume and Textiles Department s exhibition All of Everything: Todd Oldham Fashion http://risdmuseum.org/art_design/exhibitions/109_all_of_everything_todd_oldham_fashion Optional Reading: Steele, Valerie. "A Museum of Fashion Is More Than a Clothes Bag." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 2, no. 4 (1998): 327 35. WEEK THREE: SEPTEMBER 23 Topic: Fashion & Textile Collections & Exhibitions Field Trip: RISD Museum: Angelo Donghia Costume and Textiles Study Center Date: Friday, September 23, 2016 Time: TBD. Location: 224 Benefit Street, Providence RI 02903
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 7 The RISD Museum s study center is dedicated to the study and creative interpretation of a broad range of objects through the juxtaposition of different cultures, time periods, and media. These thoughtfully curated, dynamic comparisons illustrate the ebb and flow of ideas, aesthetics, and techniques. Furthermore, these comparisons reveal issues that are integral to the history of 2 design, craftsmanship, trade, and culture as well as current artistic practice. Our visit will encompass a discussion with Curator and Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles, Kate Irvin and Laurie Brewer, during which the field of collecting and curating fashion as art will be explored. Required Reading Assignment for September 27: Gibson, Robyn. "Schiaparelli, Surrealism and the Desk Suit." Dress 30, no. 1 (2003): 48 58. Marked Selections from Nancy J. Troy s Couture Culture: A Study in Modern Art and Fashion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. Optional Reading: Fashion by Valerie Steele and / or Art by Nancy Troy in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas in Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012 MUSEUM VISIT RESPONSE PAPER DUE NEXT WEEK (SEPTEMBER 27) WEEK FOUR: SEPTEMBER 27 Topic: Expanding the Medium: Modes of Production and the Haute Couture In Class Viewing: Dior and I. Directed by Frédéric Tcheng and Guillaume De Roquemaurel. Documenting Raf Simons Premier Collection for DIOR. Paris: The Orchard, 2015. DVD. The Making Of A Dior Couture Dress, Visionaire & Refinery29 https://youtu.be/z8fkoqfbcr8 Maison Lesage Paris : Silence, on brode https://youtu.be/m5nshbtftog 2 http://risdmuseum.org/art_design/galleries/costume_and_textiles_gallery
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 8 We will explore how the history of the Haute Couture has evolved through time to become the foundational cornerstone of the Fashion as Art genre. Specifically, we will discuss how and why issues of design, materials and modes of production at the couture level might transition a garment into transcending the limitations of dress. An analysis of why this medium is best suited in making this transition, specifically as it relates to Fashion as Art collaborations, will be comprehensively explored. Required Reading Assignment for October 4: In preparation for our guest lecturer, New York menswear designer George McCracken, please review the following materials (TBD by guest lecturer reference materials to come). Optional Reading: TBD by Guest Lecturer. MUSEUM VISIT RESPONSE PAPER DUE TODAY (SEPTEMBER 27) WEEK FIVE: OCTOBER 4 Topic: Fashion as Art: Contemporary Collaborations Case Study Preliminary Discussion In class we will review and discuss the various sources that our Fashion as Art guest lecturers George McCracken and Karen Azoulay provide as a base for us to further investigate their respective studio practices. Reading Assignment for October 11 In preparation for our guest lecturers, please review the following materials (TBD). Optional Reading: TBD by Guest Lecturers. WEEK SIX: OCTOBER 11 Topic: Fashion as Art: Contemporary Collaborations Case Study Visit/Lecture Fashion as art contemporary collaboration George McCracken and Karen Azoulay visit Tufts University for a guest lecture, presentation and discussion of their respective studio practices and their most recent collaboration M 82 X Karen Azoulay.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 9 Required Reading Assignment for October 18: Sofia Coppola s Marie Antoinette: Costumes, Girl Power, and Feminism in Adrienne Munich s Fashion in Film. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011. Watch: MARIE ANTOINETTE. Directed by Sofia Coppola. Produced by Sofia Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. By Sofia Coppola. Performed by Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, and Rip Torn. United States: Columbia Pictures, 2006. Optional Reading: Wilson, Elizabeth, A Note on Glamour, Fashion Theory 11 (2007): 95 108. WEEK SEVEN: OCTOBER 18 Topic: Collaborations on Film: Fashion as Art & Costume Design We will conduct a close investigation of the evolution of Fashion as Art collaborations within the film medium. More specifically, discussions will introduce students to those particular contemporary collaborations that actively subvert norms promulgated by the commercial sector of the fashion system. As a class we will consider how film, television and fashion function symbiotically to communicate cultural values. Additionally, we will look critically at the Hollywood studio system, particularly at the way in which collaborations nurtured the star system to epitomize glamour in order to sell commodities. Required Reading Assignment for October 25: Performance by Herbert Blau in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas. Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012, 123 133. Wilson, Eric. "Putting a Soul Into Clothes Without a Body." The New York Times, September 30, 2012. http://nyti.ms/1ljnwhr. Skim Through: Selections from Swinton, Tilda, and Olivier Saillard. Impossible Wardrobes. Optional Reading: TBD RESEARCH PAPER DUE ON OCTOBER 25
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 10 WEEK EIGHT: OCTOBER 25 Topic: Fashion as Performance Art We will examine the way in which fashion designers, curators, choreographers, cinamatogers, painters, sculptors, architects and most prominently performance artists have collaborated to enhance and extend their expression. Additionally, we will observe how, through their collaborations, these artists have pushed dress past being mere props to being essential live elements in performance art. Léon Bakst and the Ballet Russe, Merce Cunningham and Rei Kawakuba, Rodarte and Wing Shya, Yeezy and Vanessa Beecroft and Marina Abramovic and Costume National are just a few of the collaborations that will be analyzed in the context of how their work functions as dynamic tool in performance as commentary. Required Reading Assignment for November 1: Martin, Richard. "A Note: Art & Fashion, Viktor & Rolf." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture Jour Dress Bod Cul 3, no. 1 (1999): 109 20. Forward and Introduction of Koda, Harold. Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. Optional Reading: Menkes, Suzy. "Madame Grès as Sculptor." The New York Times, April 18, 2011. http://nyti.ms/1yws7bj. RESEARCH PAPER DUE ON NOVEMBER 1 WEEK NINE: NOVEMBER 1 Topic: Architecting the Body: Fashion as Sculpture We will discuss how cultural practices, politics and aesthetics combine to generate the emergence of looks that have evolved to architect the body. Beginning with an exploration of the concept more broadly, we will will examine its underpinnings from the 20th century, progressing to an investigation of Contemporary collaborations that continuously question and challenge the boundaries of dress and body image politics.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 11 Required Reading Assignment for November 15: Krause Wahl, Antje. "Between Studio and Catwalk Artists in Fashion Magazines." The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 13, no. 1 (2009): 7 28. Optional Reading: TBD RESEARCH PAPER DUE TODAY WEEK TEN: NOVEMBER 15 Topic: Fashion as Art and the IMAGE We Will Watch: Bill Cunningham New York. Directed by Richard Press. New York: Zeitgeist Films and First Thought Films, 2011. (In Class) The way that we look at fashion today has shifted dramatically: fashion is now universal, a reflection of our time, fashion can also be a reflection of social trends that are taking place nationally, internationally and globally. Considering the popularity of the ubiquitous social media fashion is also instant, a now phenomena. All of this is communicated in the context of image. Image is both actual, as in a photograph and also the image becomes psychological when desire enters the picture. As an example, we will discuss the psychological aspects of images in fashion magazines. We will discuss photographer designer collaborations and critically examine the image, the perception and the conscious psychological aspects that factor into one s viewing of Fashion as Art. Required Reading Assignment for November 22: Selections from Townsend, Chris. Rapture: Art's Seduction by Fashion since 1970. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Watch: Iris. Directed by Albert Maysles. Performed by Iris Apfel. USA: Magnolia Pictures, 2014. DVD. Optional Reading: TBD
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 12 Topic: Artist s and Clothing WEEK ELEVEN: NOVEMBER 22 We Will Watch: Judith Shea and Her Own Style There is a history of Fine Artists who have not only utilized immediately recognizable components of fashion culture in their artwork, but have used self fashioning as an immediate extension of their art practice. Fine artists like Alex Israel, Terence Koh, Cindy Sherman, Yayoi Kusama and many others utilize this mode of cross fertilization to further reinforce the aesthetic influence of their studio practice. In class we will spend time investigating sculptor Judith Shea s exhibition of sculptural self portraits titled "Her Own Style" at the National Academy Museum. Required Reading Assignment for November 29: Ryan, Nicky. "Prada and the Art of Patronage." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 11, no. 1 (2007): 7 23. La Ferla, Ruth. "Together Again, That Colorful Couple, Art and Fashion." The New York Times, September 30, 2003. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/30/nyregion/together again that colorful couple art and fashio n.html Optional Reading: Taylor, Melissa. "Culture Transition: Fashion's Cultural Dialogue between Commerce and Art." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 9, no. 4 (2005): 445 60. WEEK TWELVE: NOVEMBER 29 Topic: Synergistic Branding Devices & Documenting the Process. We will focus on dissecting visual representations in work that illustrate the marketing power and commercial desirability of fashion as art collaborations. There will be further discussion about what it means to re appropriate and confuse visual significations of high and low with regard to generating desire by inserting the familiar into the unattainable. Additionally, we will
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 13 discuss the influence of fashion as art collaboration in the larger popular culture milieu (Kanye West s Yeezy Seasons 1, 2 and 3 presentation collaboration with Italian performance artist Vanessa Beecroft) is just one of many examples. FINAL PROJECTS DUE ON DECEMBER 6 WEEK THIRTEEN: DECEMBER 6 VISUAL AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS OF FINAL PROJECTS
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 14 Bibliography Alexander Calder performs his "Circus" Whitney Museum: https://youtu.be/t6jwnu8izy0 Bill Cunningham New York. Directed by Richard Press. New York: Zeitgeist Films and First Thought Films, 2011. Calder, Alexander, Maria Robledo, A. S. C. Rower, and Holton Rower. Calder Jewelry. New York: Calder Foundation, 2007. Cutler, E.P., and Julien Tomasello. "Introduction." In Art Fashion: Collaborations and Connections Between Icons. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2015. Dior and I. Directed by Frédéric Tcheng and Guillaume De Roquemaurel. Documenting Raf Simons Premier Collection for DIOR. Paris: The Orchard, 2015. DVD. (film access to be shared / provided). Fashion by Valerie Steele and / or Art by Nancy Troy in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas in Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012 Fashion and Art: Critical Crossovers by Adam Geezy and Vicki Karaminas in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas. Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012. Gibson, Robyn. "Schiaparelli, Surrealism and the Desk Suit." Dress 30, no. 1 (2003): 48 58. Kim, Sung Bok. "Is Fashion Art?" Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, 1998, 51 71. Krause Wahl, Antje. "Between Studio and Catwalk Artists in Fashion Magazines." The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 13, no. 1 (2009): 7 28. Koda, Harold. Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. La Ferla, Ruth. "Together Again, That Colorful Couple, Art and Fashion." The New York Times, September 30, 2003.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 15 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/30/nyregion/together again that colorful couple art and fashio n.html. L'Ecuyer, Kelly H., Michelle Tolini. Finamore, Yvonne J. Markowitz, and Gerald W. R. Ward. Jewelry by Artists in the Studio, 1940 2000: Selections from the Daphne Farago Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2010. MARIE ANTOINETTE. Directed by Sofia Coppola. Produced by Sofia Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. By Sofia Coppola. Performed by Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, and Rip Torn. United States: Columbia Pictures, 2006. Martin, Richard. "A Note: Art & Fashion, Viktor & Rolf." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture Jour Dress Bod Cul 3, no. 1 (1999): 109 20. Menkes, Suzy. "Madame Grès as Sculptor." The New York Times, April 18, 2011. http://nyti.ms/1yws7bj. Nancy J. Troy s Couture Culture: A Study in Modern Art and Fashion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. Performance by Herbert Blau in Geczy, Adam, and Vicki Karaminas. Fashion and Art. London: Berg, 2012. Prown, Jules David. "Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method." Winterthur Portfolio 17, no. 1 (1982): 1 19. Quicktake Rodarte: Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anrbtalnpd8 Ryan, Nicky. "Prada and the Art of Patronage." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 11, no. 1 (2007): 7 23. Selections from Swinton, Tilda, and Olivier Saillard. Impossible Wardrobes. Sofia Coppola s Marie Antoinette: Costumes, Girl Power, and Feminism in Adrienne Munich s Fashion in Film. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011. Steele, Valerie. "A Museum of Fashion Is More Than a Clothes Bag." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 2, no. 4 (1998): 327 35.
SYLLABUS FALL 2016: Page 16 Taylor, Melissa. "Culture Transition: Fashion's Cultural Dialogue between Commerce and Art." Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture 9, no. 4 (2005): 445 60. Townsend, Chris. Rapture: Art's Seduction by Fashion since 1970. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. When is Fashion Art? and When is Fashion Design? in Ingrid Loschek s When Clothes Become Fashion: Design and Innovation Systems. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Wilson, Elizabeth, A Note on Glamour, Fashion Theory 11 (2007): 95 108.