Hussein Chalayan

To be honest, when I saw the piece ‘Burka’ (1996) my personal response was just shock that those models didn’t mind being so naked. And I know he’s making a point about how everyone dresses, but… so naked. Exhibitionism aside, I find Chalayan’s work very interesting. I really liked ‘Afterwards’ (2000) especially after I read the context:

"The project had nothing to do with furniture," he says. "It was all about the moment of trying to leave your home at a time of war. The living room was supposed to be like somebody's wardrobe. How you could hide your possessions and carry them with you? Partly it's from my background - I'm from Cyprus, which is a divided place - and partly because of Kosovo." -(Quote from We make money not art)

I think these pieces are fashion, because Chalayan describes himself as a fashion designer, rather than an artist. I think what makes something art or fashion is how the designer sees it, because a lot of the time the two overlap.

To me, the key difference between fashion and clothing is style [daarrling] Fashion is always expressive and contextual.

Commercial businesses commissioning artists to work reminds me of the Renaissance. Sure it’s made by the artist, but the original creative vision is compromised. The reasons behind making a work are pretty key to how the work turns out, which in turn changes the meaning of art. Unless money was always the motivator, I think this a watered down version of art.

The film ‘Absent Presence’ would have been influenced by many art movements, but the one that came to mind for me was Massusrrealism. I think this movement may have inspired Chalayan’s approach in the way that it shares his style of mixing technology and surrealism in a modern (pop art) way. It carries a style that is quirky and sophisticated at the same time.

The question of when and why is it important that the artist personally make the piece is an interesting one to me, particularly in the context of a post-modern society (… yeah not gonna back up that statement). Being someone who has pretty much no technical skill in art, I can see how the idea behind a work is, subjectively, the most important thing behind an artwork.

In saying that though, I think a lot of conceptual artists can drop the extra syllables and just call themselves con artists. They are cheating really. If someone thought up a super amazing snowboard trick, but couldn’t do it themselves, would that make them a super amazing snowboarder?

But with people like Damien Hirst it would be silly to expect them to gain the skills it would take to make pieces like ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ eg kill a shark. But I also think it’s silly that he gets the credit and profit when he didn’t put in the hard work.

Although there’s merit in a good idea, limiting art to the idea itself is an insult to those artists who bother to become skilled.

REFERENCES:

Marzec, K ‘Take It Off: Designers Exalt the Controversial Burka’ retrieved September 29, 2008 from: http://fashionindie.com/take-it-off-designers-exalt-the-controversial-burka/

(n.d, n.a.) ‘hussein chalayan’ http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html

Regine, ‘Hussein Chalayan’ retrieved October 12, 2005 from: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2005/10/his-autumnwinte.php

francojean23 ‘Hussein Chalayan "Afterwords" 2000’ retrieved April 08, 2009 from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE07_aFF4no

(n.a, n.d) ‘Art Movements’ http://www.artmovements.co.uk/home.htm

IMAGES:

(n.a,) ‘Hussein Chalayan’ retrieved 02/08/10 from: http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/past_collections.2000.2000_a_w_after_words.0/