pattern language @ tufts

so last thursday, we all went our merry ways to davis square, to witness the latest art exhibitions at tufts university. the one in particular to inspect was the clothing exhibit: pattern language: clothing as communicator.

the website has an interesting flash interface to scope out all the works, which has an amusing feature where you can move around the dress forms at one's whimsy. the spectrum of works was appealing, from historical iconic works on clothes (the felt suit; the yoko ono video) to the futuristic vision of humanity and clothing (the zipper dress; the firefly dress). the first thing that i thought was rather odd was the format of the printed descriptions of each object. there was this weird "need:_____, want:_____, source:_____" assignment on each placard, which either constrained or trivialised what the artist meant to say about each piece. also, a lot of the garments seemed dead on the wall. it was as if butterflies and moths were pinned to a surface, perhaps easier to inspect, but completely robbed of their livelihood and ethereal beauty. the meaning of clothing is so intrisically connected to its relationship to the human body and to others in a social realm. putting certain garments on the wall gave it a look-dont-touch atmosphere that is natural in a museum with paintings, but is unbearable with things you instictively want to touch and feel, or at least see in context on a real body. the projects with accompanying videos were much better to interpret, in my opinion, since you could see how they work in a human context. otherwise, the exhibit seemed quite deadened.

my favorite pieces would have to be the objet un dress (aka zipper dress) by galya rosenfeld and yoko ono's cut piece. the zipper dress focued more on the action of interacting with the clothing--putting on, taking off, reshaping, reforming--than with a particular style or material. the zipper, i can imagine, is very addictive to connect and disconnect, and the wearer's activity is completely enveloping, completely self-constructing. too bad the video was not at the exhibit, though it is viewable online.

and the yoko video is unreal. just the look on her face while some dork cuts off her shoulder seams. reminds me of the cibo matto lyrics...

my heart is like an artichoke
i eat petals myself one by one
though i can't stop plucking off
i can't see my core
i keep asking for you more and more
can you peel my petals one by one?
your hands are like a rusty knife
are you gonna keep on peeling me?

i mean, the other projects weren't necessarily poor. but i feel as though the exhibit could have been presented in a much more engaging way.

downstairs, we came across a spectacular surprise of mei-ling hom's silkworm grind. you could experience it even before finishing the last step on the stairs as the warm, sweet spices hit your nose. these enormous translucent coccoons spun lazily around a huge pile of ground spice, and was mesmerizing on many sensorial fronts.