X-travagant X-pansionism
The art and fashion worlds collided in Baton Rouge’s own Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show. 1,500 of Louisiana’s finest attended this landmark event on October 18th at the Louisiana State Museum. Although originally intended as a conceptual competition targeting artists across all genres, it was undoubtedly the fashion event of the year for Baton Rouge. With 41 original pieces from 38 designers around Baton Rouge and the nation, Uncommon Thread showcased the best in wearable art and fashion.
The brainchild of Culture Candy’s Erin Rolfs, the event was a multi-faceted, multi-media event. Strains of the ethereal Louisiana State Museum Gospel Choir were heard alongside the modern electronic set performed by DJ Otto. Sinewy dancers moved across the museum’s makeshift runway under the direction of Micaela Marchand Conor, as models paraded the intrepid creations of local and national artists. The audience pressed tightly against the limits of the walkway, with just enough room for the models to pass, tickling the noses of spectators with a peacock feather or stray bit of silk.
Dress for a Homeless Woman
The show kicked off with the work of Sarah Wheelcock, an electric blue evening gown with a box-shaped skirt. The piece, entitled, “Dress for a Homeless Woman”, was inspired by the misplaced priorities that the artist witnessed after Hurricane Katrina. The vibrancy of the dress suggested decadence, while the shape reminded the viewer of the experience of displacement that so many faced after the storm. The dress was at once a delightful ball gown and a pointedly meaningful take-along home.
The theme of the show, “force”, was defined as having the means to push and pull, the ability to act on others and incite movement. Rolfs said, “the theme was vague on purpose, so there were many manifestations that I did not anticipate.” Rolfs is determined that Uncommon Thread be considered an art performance, rather than a “fashion show”. “This is not,” she said, “about making pretty things or being vogue. It is absolutely a conceptual exercise. In saying that, though, it is not exclusive of either studio artists or designers. They meet here, hopefully, and the result is a sculptural manifestation of an idea that incorporates the body, rather than an effort to decorate the body.”
Balloon Dress
That being said, many of the pieces decorated the body beautifully. “Balloon Dress” made by Samanth Grenier, was a soft, pink frock of balloons. The tulip skirt and the soft, petal-like nature of the balloons themselves gave the distinct impression of a body decorated with flowers. Also by Grenier, was a lovely dress woven of wicker into the hourglass shape of the model’s figure, with an exaggerated skirt that featured a crinoline of silk flowers. While these two pieces were meant to use household items in such a way that drew attention to stereotypes of women, the loveliness of each drew the audience into the elegance of the pieces themselves.
Despite ambiguity about whether the pieces showcased are art or fashion, most entries took the form of traditional articles of clothing, like winner Grace Duval Johnston’s “Curtsy: Exoskeleton”, a dress with a corset-tight top and short skirt made of wooden hoops. The highlight of the dress is a “curtsying mechanism” that the model used to lift her wooden skirt with a bow. So, despite the dress’s participation in traditional categories of fashion (the corset, the dress), the artist utilized innovative materials, like wood and metal, that gave the dress a sculptural charm.
Curtsy: Exoskeleton
Other designs, such as third-place winner, Emma Chammah’s “Gravity” bore little resemblance to anything one might expect on the runway. As a work in two pieces, one model wore a globular white felt enclosure that obscured the model’s face and body, while the other wore a tight-fitting black bodysuit zipped vertically on the face, and dragged weights in the shape of vaguely oversized appendages. The effect of the duo was eerie, and brought the theme of force into stark relief.
Not every entry expressed its relationship to conceptual art so explicitly. Sarah Kracke, a model who wore Samantha Grenier’s “Mop Dress”, literally a backless cocktail dress made of deconstructed mopheads, asked if the show wanted to stay strictly within the confines of the art world, “why have a runway?” They could just “have models in a gallery posing for hours on end. Or have everyone ‘model’ the pieces solely within the context of the theme. Perhaps I would have gotten down on the floor and had a man drag me along ‘mopping up’ a mess.”
Kracke’s comment exposes how impossible it is to separate art from fashion, particularly within the context of a “wearable art” show. She went on to say, “I don’t think it has to be one or the other. It’s part art. Part fashion. Meaning, each discipline informs the other. It’s art in the context of fashion. Or, fashion in the context of art.” Danielle Honeycutt, Co-Coordinator of the show adds, “that’s the beauty of the idea: It is so unique it neither falls under “art show” nor “fashion show”, it is truly a synergy of the two.”
Sweater for Two
The show, then, is not meant to mark off distinctions between the categories of art and fashion, but tomeld them in a way that surpasses what the audience might expect of either. According to Cecelia Kane, juror and last year’s first place winner, “The actual performance night brings the community-at-large together with the artists in an exciting display of creativity, fabric work, skill and fun.”
The show is on exhibition at the Louisiana State Museum until November 14. Video of the show can be seen at www.culturecandy.org.
This article is intended for print publication in Marquis Magazine. Photos by Todd Denson and Finn Kelley via Culture Candy.
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