Manifesto in a Matchbox

1. Always (everyday) (at some point!) apply with a pen or with make -up A STAR beside the outer corner of my right eye and A SPOT (The "beauty" kind) above the left corner of my top lip.
2. On special occasion add GLITTER.
3. This may be further elaborated on.

Headism

"An exhibition by Phil Levine - the 'life performance artist' who uses his head for a canvas for creativity."

The work shown is not appealing to me (especially in the photographic print format). Aesthetically I don't really like it and the exhibition was well... a bit bland. Conceptually it is easy. There is nothing deep and meaningful and nothing I really connect with apart from the fact that it is about image and aesthetic.
Even so, Philip Levine himself is an interesting subject. As an artist he has decided on his soul practise and focuses on that. I understand that many people are scared of baldness and his head art is a way of overcoming this. Whereas being a spokesperson for the bald doesn't really appeal to me his statement does. As a fashion piece and personality his ideas work well. Artistically I think the "gold" has to lie in Levine as a subject. The marketing of his work and himself is really quite remarkable. In placing himself at the centre of his art he is giving himself a celebrity status and achieving it. Placing adverts on the tube and live performances where he reveals himself as a sculpture at the V and A are amongst his marketing ploys. As an artist he also focuses on collaboration highlighting the importance of networking and innovation. As Levine gets more well known connections with Artists such as Warhol are made in my mind. Levine is now even advertising for Gillette and they are sponsoring his show. Yet again the public invest in the artist and the artist is what interests people. Kitsch is still in. Pop art rules? Good for him... and it is pretty cool...

http://www.headism.co.uk/

Aware/ Art Fashion Identity ...

Fashion or "clothing" whatever that might be is a major buiding block in revealing so called identity. The current exhibiton (part of the innovative GSK contemporary season) explores how artists and designers use
the medium of clothing to reveal personal, generic or universal identity.

Storytelling

• representing the role of clothing in personal ot cultural history

We can create clothing to share our past, our dreams, things we know and to teach or represent.
Storytelling can also be about the life of "clothing" itself.

Helen Storey's Say Goodbye 2010 is a comment on clothing and its constant need for relacement and the cultural fast shift in clothing. Thid work is biodegradible and made from enzymes which desolve when in contact with water. Incredibly innovative if not slightly spooky... does this mean clothing could be almost living?

Building

• Clothing can be about protection or shelter.  This can be grand as in a house or small... do we all use clothing to hide parts of ourselves and protevct us from what might be perceived?

Belonging and confronting

• This section examined the idea of nationality but also what it is to not belong. On a more personal scale cloting can help you make friends or feel pat of something. Uniforms are created  representation of what we do.

Above Chic Point by Sharif Waked 2003 was particularly interesting to me because of the questions it raised on belonging. It faces the complexities of politics in the middle east. Cloting can be used to juxtapose harsh realities with what  we percieve to be glamour creating a mockery of  politics and regime.

Performance

• Clothing is key to us as humans and artists have shown it plays a role in our society through perfomance. It provides a barrier and suggests convention. We are not used to the lack of clothing

Yoko Ono's work shows how the stripping away of clothes is a powerful and uneasy gesture.
Are we meant to be clothed?

Yoko Ono Cut Piece 1965


I think the exhibition was generally good however there is far more to indentity and fashion than these generic outlines. Youth, music, sex and religion were just a few areas not touched on... let alone the fashion industry itself. Good works but sparse.

Here is to building our own identity.