(series of photographs 2007 - 2010)
In Italy the verb esporre is used both for installing a display of a shop window and an exhibition in a gallery. Esporre literally means to display / to expose / to exhibit / to sell / to explain / to show.
The photographs are portraits of mannequins in shop windows. Mannequins from a wide range of clothing stores are registered (from high-end stores like Gucci to clothing chains like H&M). The photographs visualise the diverse meaning of ‘esporre’; they merge inside and outside and they simultaneously present the desired clothes and the everyday street view.
La Mode et les Modes
materials: 12 blank white circle skirts (145 cm x 145 cm), 12 black textile markers, 12 fashion designers
location: Stadhuis, Arnhem Fashion Biennial
date: 13/06/2009
The core of the La Mode et les Modes lecture consists of the questions: How and when is meaning constructed in a garment? To what extent do contextual elements (i.e. branding, text, location) define -and therefore shape- a garment? The information that is presented is a compilation of text taken from a variety of sources, like books, magazines and the Internet. None of the given information is particularly ‘new’. The main focus of the lecture is how the participants (young fashion designers) will interpret the given information and re-define it.
The classic model of the lecture (one person talking, participants listening & taking notes) becomes the site of production: the exchange of information as a Fashion moment. The participants are asked to wear identical blank white circle skirts during the lecture and make use of the skirts as notepads. After the lecture all skirts will have their own unique print. The given information is registered in a personal way: the spectator will give shape to his/her own garment. After June 13th the circle skirts will be exhibited collectively on the ground floor of Stadhuis Arnhem; a mapping of different interpretations, referring to the information presented in the lecture.
concept/lecturer/performer: Elisa Marchesini
with the help of: Ruby Hoette, Vincent Vulsma, Sander Marsman and Berber Soepboer
materials: Vogue (UK) October 2001, Vogue (Italia) September 2002, Amica (italia) December 2003, ID Magazine (UK) February 2004, ELLE (Germany) December 2005, Vogue (France) February 2006, Vogue (Italia) August 2007, Amica (Italia) February 2008, L'Officiel (NL) June 2009 + model location: Timmerfabriek, FashionClash Show, Maastricht
date: 28/06/2009
‘Denise Boulet’ is a performance during which a model in underwear is sitting on the catwalk going through a series of cut-up magazines before, during and after a Fashion show. The Fashion show features collections from several Dutch designers. The reading model refers to ‘Denise Boulet’. Early 1900 Denise was the muse, model and wife of fashion designer Paul Poiret. Poiret was one of the first to use the body in movement, through the use of mannequins and Fashion shows, to display his new collections. Now, June 28th 2009, Denise sits still and reflects.
materials: Unidee projection screen, 10 photographs
location: Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, Italy
date: 05/10/2008 - 22/12/2008
An installation which uses a projection screen as protagonist. The screen is a receiver that obtains all the ideas and information given during the Unidee 2008 residency. Always present during our meetings, it absorbed all our previous power point presentations, video's, and visiting lecturers and artists. It is a witness.
The different locations around Biella where I photographed the screen are the specific places where fellow residents wanted to make and made ‘social responsible artwork’. The white (displaced) square functions as a possibility, it becomes a new space within the existing environment: a white void.
materials: 5 handmade white outfits, black fabric paint
location: Arnhem Fashion Biennial
date: 14/06/2007
The Fashion Show as ultimate fashion moment: a completed flawless instant. At the Arnhem Fashion Biennial a white collection is shown upon which the Fashion Show, as passing moment, is recorded. Stereotypical poses of the models on the catwalk are documented. This distinctive body language, their postures and their way of standing in relation to each other become the black imprint on the clothing. The imprint collection performance forecasts what actually occurs during a Fashion Show; the models define the clothing allowing the pieces to remain forever linked with each other in time and space. The garments hereafter carry the memory data of that particular moment.
(imprint collection is made in collaboration with Ruby Hoette <graphic design>, Anne Stooker <choice of textile> and Onur Deveci <clothing design>)
materials: 5 handmade white outfits, black fabric paint
location:Offschedule, Hotel Krasnapolsky, Amsterdam International Fashion Week
date: 20/07/2007
The perception of the presentation of a collection, like a Fashion Show, is strongly dependent upon the moment. By presenting two identical collections (imprint part 1 & part 2) on two different platforms, it appears that not only the body language of the models define the clothing, external factors also have a strong influence on how the collection can be viewed. The once identical collections differ from each other after the two Fashion Shows. The black imprint is different: the models were wearing the clothes differently, also the surroundings, lighting and music were different. These factors have left their mark on the final collection.
(imprint collection is made in collaboration with Ruby Hoette <graphic design>, Anne Stooker <choice of textile> and Onur Deveci <clothing design>)
materials: 7 handmade white leather dresses, black fabric paint
location: Amsterdam International Fashion Week
date: 21/01/2007 - 28/01/2007
A Dress The Show are subtle interventions during fashion shows. Without demanding attention I shift the focus from the models to the audience.
Whilst seated in the audience I draw the viewers on my white dress with a black marker. I direct myself towards the specific audience, which attends fashion shows. They become the subject of my drawings, which completes the collection of dresses. The position in which I sit during the fashion show is also recorded, captured within the drawing by the folds and wrinkles of the dress.
The Dress the Show performances are subtly revealing the structure of the fashion show. The spectacle surrounding the show; the seen and be seen element among the fashion editors, stylists, photographers etc is of just as much importance for the representation of fashion as the collections which are shown.
The installation of seven A Dress The Show dresses functions as the visual program for the Fashion week. By looking at the dresses one can determine which day it is and if there is a show in progress, one dress is missing from the row.
(A Dress The Show dresses were made with the help of Onur Deveci)