The short film is the first collaboration between Melbourne based brother-sister design duo Bats of Leisure and director Lewis Vivian Eyers-Stott, with a haunting soundtrack supplied by Dary Karimi. Filmed in conjunction with the label’s co-designer, Aoife Billings, it is made apparent that the youthful spiritualism of Wilderness is critical in exhibiting the Bats of Leisure aesthetic in both design and symbolism.

Eyers-stott’s narrative is founded upon a consideration of the mystical and the spiritual in an interesting play of ritual and alternative spirituality, captivating the viewer in a ritualistic world of mysticism that collectively mirrors the inner turbulence and suburban boredom that drives the three lithe sorceress’ to the wild.

Wildness serves as a critical form of introspection wherein a divergent scope of encounters are connected to rituals of experiencing, reflecting, and healing are cinematically captured within the frame of the screen space. Though throughout the film the idea of ritual and reflection, whether be in a literal, or autonomous sense is inescapable. Wilderness offers a space for the consideration of semantic reflection, as the viewer engages in the act of introspection, using the screen as a critical tool for its own unique activity to reflect. In this narrative, a triad of ritual, healing and are all linked through with escapist thematic dealt with through mystical, almost existential, pagan rituals that speaks directly to a youthful audience.

The director recognises intuitively and psychologically that the screen space is an emotive framework that is simultaneously mystical and mediative. Eyers-stott’s use of fractured jagged editing and symbolic motifs set against desaturated colour palettes painted delicately against melancholy seashores act to bring to life his mystical story.

Wilderness screened as part of the VAMFF 2015 Cultural Program.  For more information on the Fashion Film Series screenings, click here.

Curator Jessica Bugg talks us through fashion, hybridity and the exhibition that is bringing together some of the most seminal artists in practice both locally and internationally at RMIT Design Hub for the 2015 VAMFF Cultural Program Project Series.

The proposal to exhibit fashion garments in a gallery setting seems to be decidedly sculptural yet also quite consciously considered. Can you talk us through how you navigated the design concept of the exhibition and the choice of Design Hub as a gallery venue?

JB: The exhibition Fashion & Performance: Materiality, Meaning, Media was first developed for the Arnhem Mode Biennale in 2013, and at that stage we talked about how we could capture the performative through exhibition and realised that actually in the space that we had at that time, it would have taken a lot more engagement, and a lot more time and work with material objects to produce something that we were really happy with that still retained a true sense of the performance. At that stage we worked just with film and that worked for that context, but what we really wanted to do was to take this concept forward and to work with both the objects and the films to create much more of a sense of animation within space, and to leave space for audiences to perceive, view and experience through their own embodied experience of materials and dress. 

We talked to the Design Hub, as they have such wonderful galleries, and the prospect of using such an almost intimidating space was quite challenge but it added this very performative sense to the space. So we’ve worked in a slightly site specific way with the environment and our main issue has mostly been working with how you cam make films not just look like a room of screens. We’ve been trying to perceive this idea of how you animate and how you activate the actual screens within the space, and how the films and the different types of media in the show speak to the material objects and how that conversation can be engaged with. 

The genre-defying praxis of these artists is being seen to reimagine the boundaries of fashion with experimental and often unmarketable work that prioritises creation over consumption. Can you tell us a little about the discourse that surrounds it?

JB: Since the early 2000’s there has been a rapid shift within the subject of fashion and a much more inter-disciplinary and increasingly collaborative approach to producing fashion. I think the internet and media has a lot to do with that because it’s enabled the processes of designers to become uncovered. What I think has happened is that people are now looking at the potential of process and thinking about how process itself can become consumed in different ways. So as much as all of the artists in this show, we’re looking at them from a non commercial perspective. I think there is still a strong sense of consumption through the engagement with the performative and also the fact that people can have an experience. The experience of fashion in itself a form of consumption.

Does the over arching concept of fashion prioritise retail or aesthetic experience? Does this concern change the nature of what defines this work as fashion?

JB: There are different types of works within fashion, and the systems of fashion have developed considerably. However, in this exhibition, the artists are varied and have many different backgrounds. Some have trained in fashion design, some in fine art and are very interdisciplinary, but what we’re focusing on is people who use materials and the body and contemporary aesthetic.  Aesthetic itself has been very important in our selection of the work, as it’s about an aesthetic communication but it’s also about embodied communication. So we’ve been very careful to select some of the most seminal people to exhibit. 

Although the cross-fertilisation of art and fashion is in no way a new phenomenon, does this hybridity transform the way that fashion and art is both appreciated and consumed? How is it that we discern the purpose and cultural function of the two respectively?

JB: I think the debates of fashion and art probably underpin this, but I suppose what this exhibition speaks to rather is the question of what is performance art, as opposed to art. The objects themselves are not art objects to be viewed in their own right, but they’re viewed in the interchange and the intersection of the other works, viewed as lived objects so they have the marks of being worn and being performed. I don’t see these pieces as art objects or artefacts, but rather as the relationship with the different aspects that communicate being the overall performance and the work concept.

Currently we’re seeing a lot of hybrid commercial retail spaces, designed by architects to have the semblance of a gallery exhibition. Do you believe that fashion being designed by artists, uniting the sensibilities of fashion is translatable within dominant retail culture? 

JB: Gallery spaces are becoming more commercial and are increasingly branded and sell products, whereas fashion spaces are becoming increasingly more conceptually led and are unpacking narratives and telling stories because audiences of all sorts demand an experience and they want more than just the garment.  So I think yes, there is potential, but performance itself hasn’t been explored so much within the fashion space.

But I think in terms of the store space, or the fashion space, I think has more potential to engage with performance because it is the scenographic experience, from the moment you enter the store you’re immersed in the space where you are engaging with fantasy, stories and dreams. You’re drawing connections between visual, experiential and your own lived experience of what that garment might mean in your life. So I think there is a lot of potential for that to be extended.

Is it that fashion is an all encompassing umbrella term but within this state of contemporary hybridity is there a developing need to move towards more definitive sub classifications?

JB: I think now that we are in such a time of cross-fertilisation, collaboration and an openness of creative practice, that if we focus on process and practice, I question if we really need to coin these practices? I struggle myself with the terms fashion, clothing and dress, battling with how we navigate those words because they are so loaded. I think it is time to start to understand that fashion designers, artists and performance artists are working in different spaces at different times. Maybe through this we need to start thinking about a more transient practice that works across different spatial contexts, but is grounded in our various trainings and experiences.

Fashion & Performance: Materiality, Meaning, Media at RMIT Design Hub opens on March 5th and will run until April 2nd as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program’s Project Series 2015. 

For more information about the exhibition, click here.

Image Credit: Perceiving Dress: Optical Laces 2014, Designer/ art director: Jessica Bugg, Photographer: Rene Lindel

Featuring the exotically alluring enigma of the desert landscape, the transcendental narrative is conveyed through the hypnotic force of movement, which is simultaneously abstract, yet storytelling. This otherworldly mysticism is driven by a strong curation of garments provided by the eight featured independent Western Australian designers, of which each unique ensemble is a visual masterpiece in its own right. 

The materiality of these textiles and the way they transform into abstract sculptures when activated by the rhythmic motion hypnotises and enchants the viewer. As the materials sensually spiral the slender frames of the syphlike models, the diaphanous textiles dance as expressively fluid as the divine desert deities themselves, who were both classically trained in ballet.

The ethereal stirring of the garments moving through space and the way in which the materiality is affected and reactive to motion, or that of the dancers body, models the connective tissue of these embodied disciplines.

A stand out feature of the film, the sublime soundtrack of “Heat Rumble” by Mei Sarawati, is the rhythmically drumming electro-heartbeat of the film. In this feature it feels that the musical expression is intrinsic to the film, acting as an abstract sonic material element that reverberates the aesthetic of motion. It communicates an exotic, bohemian narrative that accompanied by the endless desert expanse feels quite foreign, yet still distantly familiar.

The strength of Wild West exists in the way that it does not haphazardly look for a striking aesthetic by thoughtlessly uniting the arts of dance and fashion. Instead, the film rather captures the transient artistry of motion by conveying the complexities of movement, and in that, understands the subtleties of how to translate motion, into emotion.

Wild West is screened as part of the VAMFF 2015 Cultural Program.  For more information on the Fashion Film Series screenings, click here.

Photo Credit: Wild West on Vimeo

Designer and artist Jenny Kee is not only an Australian fashion icon but an enduring figure for almost 40 years. Known for her vivid and electric style, her kaleidoscopic collections are full of crafty couture that blend art and fashion. Recreating a preview of iconic works from her vintage archive, Kee is bringing back an Australiana twist to designer fashion and throwing a signature patterned spanner in the works with her limited edition capsule collection of knitwear this year at VAMFF.

We talked to Jenny about fashion, art, and her latest collaboration with Woolmark for A New Beginning currently exhibited at Pieces of Eight Gallery for the 2015 Cultural Program.

Youʼre known for your one of a kind iconic designs and a markedly Australian approach to craft, which through your marriage of lively hand painted collages with your love of Australian flora and fauna prints has established you as a quintessential pillar within the Australian fashion industry. Can you talk us through A New Beginning as a limited edition capsule collection at Pieces of Eight Gallery and the fashion influences that inform your work?

JK: In A New Beginning I wanted to create 8 iconic pieces from my archive of knits and rework them.  In this collaboration with The Woolmark Company I had a wonderful opportunity to work with the best wool in the world – Zegna Baruffa – and use new digital knitting technology. Whilst some of the designs may seem familiar, the collection also includes designs which would not have been seen before – for example The Jenny Kee Knit.

I love creating timeless classic shapes – that aren’t fashion and don’t date. As I said in 1980 -  “I don’t want to be restricted by fashion whims – it’s too temporary – I think my work is about lasting.” These new works will stand the test of time and will become collectors items as I have only released 50 pieces in each design – never to be repeated.

Can you tell us a little about the Australiana thematic within your work. Why is the native Waratah such a significant symbol for you?

JK: The 45 million year old Waratah is the flower that grows where I live in this very special part of the Blue Mountains and it is symbolic of destruction and re-birth – The Kali flower in nature rising from the ashes. My Buddhist practice is Red Tara – the waratah is Red Tara in the bush.  My instincts and emotions respond to this flower.  It is my totem.  I am surrounded by 2,000 waratahs when they blossom in Spring.

What are your plans for the future? Will your work continue further in this direction or are you planning for any major changes or collaborations? 

JK: I love working on limited edition pieces, such as this collection and my range of scarves – I love collaging my chaotic colourful art onto silk. At this stage of my life, It is important that any projects or collaborations are true to my philosophy and beliefs.

In your experience, how does the fashion world down under differ from the ones that stem from what some would call the fashion and cultural epicentres of London, Milan, New York, and Paris?

JK: The fashion world down under is very fresh and vibrant and designers, like Romance was Born, are incredibly original, always with a focus on art, as it was with Linda Jackson and me back in Flamingo Park days.

Weʼre at a very interesting juncture in the relationship between art and fashion in contemporary culture–as both an acclaimed artist and designer exhibiting work in a contemporary gallery space, can you comment on the relationship between the two mediums?

JK: Fashion and art come together in clothing and this has always been the principle philosophy informing my design – there is a big difference between art on the wall and art on the body.  For me a piece of silk or knit infused with my art is fluid and should be worn.

Increasingly, fashion has been given a platform in spaces where art is traditionally exhibited. Museums and galleries now showcase fashion design with as much consideration as they do fine art. Does it automatically follow that fashion be considered an art form?

JK: Yes of course fashion can be considered an art form – the recent Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the NGV is a great example of the bringing together of fashion and art. But it is always to be worn.

Both Fashion and art posses the special ability to challenge tradition, push aesthetic boundaries and reflect and inspire cultural movements. But where does one end and the other begin? To what extent do you believe that artists and designers can blur the lines by borrowing from one another and still be distinctly what they are?

JK: In the world of art and fashion – anything goes – and lines should be blurred if creativity is going to emerge.  Personally, again this is why I love creating timeless shapes which are my canvasses to be worn.  I work off the aesthetic of Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) who used the integration of a wide range of artistic mediums to express her art. She has always been a huge inspiration for me from when I first started designing back in the early 70s and continues to be today.  She is an example of someone who has blended fashion and design with art, creating timeless pieces.

Art and Fashion enthusiasts have been invited to ‘secure a little piece of Australian fashion historyʼ through the purchase of your transformative garments throughout the duration of the exhibition. Does this opportunity challenge concepts of shopping and collecting? Is fashion moving more towards becoming a collectors game?

JK: This is exactly the rationale for my work but remember its coming from a standpoint of being in the industry for 50 years. My vintages pieces are collectors items and I hope that this new range will become so in the future. This collection represents a blend of Italian Baruffa wool, Chinese knitting technology with Australian design – my heritage in one!

A New Beginning is at Pieces of Eight Gallery for the duration of the 2015 Cultural Program.

For more information about Jenny Kee, click here.

Photo credit: Fashion Initiative