Event 3: Fowler Musuem

For my next event I went to the Fowler Museum. The exhibition that I thought connected best to this class was called Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram. Gagawaka consisted of mannequins wearing fashions made from items that might normally be discarded after use. It included bras, medical materials, cups, tampons, etc. In a short film shown at the museum, the artist says this project “uses trash as a starting point to creativity”. The second project, Postmortem, is comprised of interesting sculptures that use mannequins and human anatomy models together.

This work is called Diva R-E-D and is made from red bras.

I personally preferred the Gagawaka project. I really liked how the artist was so resourceful in reusing items that are common, but not meant for long-time use and creatively made them into elaborate clothing pieces. One of the Gagawaka pieces that I enjoyed the most was called Silver Foil Suit. The artist used empty foil wrappers from pills to create a men's jacket and pants. I thought this was a really impressive way to combine art and medicine. People normally take pills when they are sick, and yet, the artist transformed the item into something beautiful.

Silverfoil Suit

Another garment that intrigued me was in a work called YSL. The mannequin was wearing Lycra orthopedic supports, which are normally worn when a person has an injury or is aging and needs extra support. However, the mannequin clearly did not have arms or legs that needed support. It was one of the more simple Gagaworks pieces, but I found the royal blue color visually appealing. It was definitely attire I could picture Lady Gaga wearing.

YSL

One of the Postmortem works that I found interesting was called Acrobat. An anatomy model was placed inside a mannequin to make it more comparable to a postmortem human body that's been opened. To give the body a decaying effect, the paint of the mannequin's leg was chipped off and discolored. The other leg was green, as if a person was wearing tights, and the mannequin had a skirt that appeared to be made out of cotton. Although I didn't think it was as appealing as the other works, I appreciated the attention to detail. Also, I usually only see mannequins in clothing stores, so this project presented them in a different way. It made me think more about the human body after death. 

Acrobat

Overall, I was surprised how well the exhibition featured work that was associated with our class. The projects featured both art and science intertwined together in a thought-provoking way. 

 

                                              Me at Fowler

""Making Strange" by Vivan Sundaram at The Fowler Museum." Theartminion. N.p., 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 May 2015. <http://theartminion.com/2015/04/30/making-strange/>.

"Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram | Fowler Museum at UCLA." Making Strange: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram | Fowler Museum at UCLA. The Regents of University of California, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. <http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/making-strange-gagawaka-postmortem-vivan-sundaram>.