Hussien Chalayan-Week 3

Looking towards Chalayan's work 'Burka’my immediate thought considered how provocative this portrayal of the Burka fashion would lie within society. The reasonable response to this image would be that he is making an interesting yet risky point. Challenging the oppressed value that Muslims follow from their sacred bible the Qu ran’ to ‘dress modestly’. He is presenting three females with different portrayals of a referenced Burka fashion. This work challenges how one item of clothing can in fact hide someone's identity. The Burka is one of the items of clothing that have arisen from different interpretations as to how Muslim women should dress. And in each interpretation he is covering the face of each female. This challenges the religious aspects of Muslims wearing the Burka for a specific purpose. Fashion can be defined from other sources as conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., especially of polite society, or conformity to it: the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion (dictionary.com).

Hussien Chayalan, Burka, 1996

Hussein Chalayan, Afterwords, 2000

Fashion is something that can be designed to become a form of clothing and can be a way to compliment a person’s figure in creative different ways. Imagine if we all had the same clothing? That would dull the world, and showing part of your visual identity wouldn’t be creative. I believe that afterwards and Burka are both artworks rather than than a fashion statement. Afterwards is a conceptual almost spatial idea, and Burka is the provocation of what is fashion and looks towards how much clothing one should have.
  

Hussien Chayalan,The Level Tunnel, 2006

It would seem less exclusive as art, and recognised as advertising more, however only some of his art is used for advertising purposes and would still be recognised mainly as art for fashion. Both interactions of presenting art offer ideas to the viewer. It does not change the meaning of his art, it just presents it in a different manner.



’The Level Tunnel’ advertising for Absolute Vodka, poses a strong connection to the viewer sending a message.The audience for Chayalan in this case may be less interested in him, but more in the product he promotes. Neverless, he still is getting a form of retrospect and recognition to his audience. It would be obsurd to say that advertising is not art, it is simply another expression of something visual that will relate to consumers.


Advertising can be defined as 'the activity or profession of producing advertisements for commercial products or services' (Google.com).

Art can be defined as 'the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power'(Google.com).

Despite these definitions, both titles cannot be explained so easily, especially art in any form. But in this case Chayalan is simply making advertising a part of his art. Even though he is allowing other people to physically make the piece, it still represents that he designed the idea. I think art holds it's individual value when a person is painting or directly applying their style to a work. This accounts for hands on practicality, where an artist is being commissioned by someone to paint, craft, design etc.. with there individual manner of style.  A case such as 'The Level Tunnel' is more likely to be constructed out of engineers and people that specialise in Architecture, opposed to just one man (Chayalan) making it himself. I think that Absent Precence features Post-Modern influence as well as Modern influence. judging from the photograph there is the presence of machinary and utencils, enclosed in a hospitalised space. however, unlike Modernism this may not represent the aesthetics of those materials, although perhaps there purposes (given the theme to the video). The Post-modernist value seems to relate the work to ideas such as identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology.

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Hussein Chalayan, still from Absent Presence, 2005 (motion picture)

I think in a way by not making producing your art by itself it indicates that the artist is too interested in mass production. It could indicate someone is money hungry not forcing enough time and effort into each artwork themselves, or something completely different. For someone like Chalayan his interest lies within the mass consumption of his product his work often concentrates on cultural or socio-political themes, reflecting chalayan’s personal history as someone whose identity is shaped by different cultures. It seems his approach is not so money hungry but more so he just wants to make as many works as possible with his talent. And using other people to be directed by him shows that he is talented enough to do so. Rather than getting an impression that he doesn’t make his own work but that he doesn’t need to for the type of work that he makes. 

REFERENCES:

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/05/level-vodka-tun.php


http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/

ttp://www.behance.net/gallery/The-LEVEL-Tunnel-(Absolut-Vodka-Hussein-Chalayan)/701114

Issa,R. Shadi Ghadirian: Iranian photographer (2009)


http://www.dezeen.com/2009/01/27/dezeen-podcast-hussein-chalayan-at-the-design-museum/


http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/home/