Beast Cult

Tinning Street Presents

Review by Alexia Brehas

“A collection of garments to wear while conjuring beasts.” Already, the description for fashion exhibition Beast Cult has a strong sense of thematic undertones. Showcasing at Tinning Street Presents, this exhibition is a unique blend of handcrafted fashion and nostalgic art and design. This is the third collaboration between Eileen Braybrook and John Brooks, and their first major gallery showcase.

Audiences enter the space and pick up an exhibition catalogue, with a noticeable visual of the gallery floor plan on the front. Immediately, the arrangement of garments becomes clear – there are two sections organized in half moon semicircles. This is a deliberate decision, and is only one of the many references to rituals and cults that are displayed throughout the work. The garments are hung individually from the ceiling on altered clothes hangers. Immediately noticeable are the mounds of pastel coloured gradients meticulously arranged under each garment. They are created out of colourful gemstones, precious minerals, and rock salt, reminiscent of aquarium sand. This is an evident reference to the ritualistic aspects of positioning crystals in a circle to call upon a deity. Instantly, the mood of the exhibition is set.

Five garments hang in the furthest corner of the gallery, and are clearly the ‘darker’ pieces, as they are mainly black garments. However, keeping true to the Beast Cult style, they are interspersed with pastel scarves, cardigans, dungarees, and extremely cute renditions of monster faces. John commented that this was a deliberate artistic decision, in order to “lighten” the dark nature of demons and rituals, in a similar way that “Goosebumps made horror accessible for children.” This is an interesting aspect of the Beast Cult style – although the surface context may be reflective of darkness, myth and ritual, and the ‘monstrous unknown’, the aesthetic representation of these themes is distinctly light. There is a pastel, ‘bubblegum’ nineties flavour that underpins the exhibition, and truly makes this a unique collection.

In the centre of each garment semicircle there is a textural floor piece designed by John. Even these small touches are reflective of the supernatural, with one floor piece crafted in the shape of a Ouija board pointer, and the other in the shape of a crescent moon. Furthermore, an entire wall is dedicated to the process of ideation, boldly displaying a series of offcuts and preliminary sketches from both artists. This inclusion adds another layer of depth to the exhibition, allowing audiences an insight into the crafting procedure.

The gallery is soon packed with audiences who weave throughout the garments. Perhaps the most exciting feature of the garments is the fact that much of the detail is on the back, with audiences having to be proactive and walk behind each garment to observe more of the detail. This is a welcome surprise from a standard retail space. Clearly, these are not regular garments. The cut of the clothing is relatively modest, as the general style across the collection is androgynous, and shapeless with long hemlines. Certainly, this is a deliberate and considered decision, as the focus then shifts entirely to the textural work. The range of materials and techniques for the garments is explorative, ranging from jacquard knits, hand woven wool and cotton, shag pile yarn, printmaking, and hand knitting. Never ones to step away from a challenge, Eileen and John have also incorporated some exceptionally bold and refreshing additions to their array of textiles, such as faux fur, rope necklaces, bold lettering, pastel tie dyes, lurex thread, and foam and latex objects.

In terms of artistic partnership, I can imagine no collaboration stronger than that of Eileen and John. Their styles blend seamlessly together through this collection of garments, while somehow still succeeding in allowing their individual traits shine through. Eileen’s jacquard knits are particularly popular with the audience, and John’s monster jackets are captivating, especially given that they are the only items in the collection crafted in Iceland. There is a uniform sense of style across the collection, which indicates a level of sophistication and professionalism to Eileen and John’s work. Pastels mixed with grunge are displayed on layered, shaggy garments. I personally get the sense that these could be clothes for a nomad or hitchhiker travelling between universes.

Running from 10 March 2016 until 20 March 2016, Beast Cult packs an explosive punch by reimagining the boundaries of traditional fashion design. The collaboration between Eileen and John is carefully considered and aesthetically harmonious. Most of all, the garments are evocative, conjuring a strong sense of nostalgia and wonderment. Beast Cult toes the line between a retail space and an art exhibition, and seems to linger on the border between the human world, and a mythical, magical other.

White Goods explores the materiality and hierarchy of white through the methods of eight interdisciplinary makers, ranging from ceramics, glass to illumination and phosphorescence. The majority of the work on show has been created by Victorians interpreting Curator Debbie Pryor’s brief of the colour white, showcasing the transparency and processes of each maker. There is deep thought and research put into each work, that each maker communicates in an accessible way through mastery of their craft.

We sat down with the Curator of White Goods, Debbie Pryor, to discuss the show and the thought put behind it.

Why is Craft Victoria a part of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival this year?

Debbie: Craft has an ongoing relationship with VAMFF and we make sure to have content that relates to the festival every year, whether abstract or literal. In 2014, we had Matthew Linde’s A Vouge Idea in the gallery, however with changes to the exhibition process, we chose to have a group exhibition.

White Goods as a whole relates to the world of fashion by way of tactility and wearability. We showcase Eddy Carroll who has used textile techniques to create her eye catching artwork, which demonstrates the malleable ideas of fashion and textile. Katie Jane Britchford, Linda Hughes and Manon van Kouswijk are our three jewellers, who have all produced wearable objects for the show.

Craft also finds it important to be a part of VAMFF to broaden the conversation of the hierarchy and currency of materials. With Manon’s work, the audience is lured into the normality of the display, however what first looks like a precious object is actually a completely different material. This leads to the question “why do people want to wear the objects”? Perhaps, it is the glamour of these pieces, which can offset a simple outfit and can mix expectations of what is fashion.

 What factors have you considered when curating White Goods?

The show has a Victorian focus and consist of makers who all live in Victoria, except Honor Freeman who is from South Australia. Because of the changes in how exhibitions are organised at Craft Victoria, we wanted to show artists who would never be shown together unless they were Craft Victoria members. For example, we wanted to bring together established and emerging artists, so we asked the very established Owen Rye to be a part of the show, along with Honor Freeman, one of Australia’s foremost emerging ceramicists. We also wanted to change the expectations of those visiting us because of VAMFF. From Ebony Addinsall’s glasswork to Kris Coad’s illuminated bone china work, we hoped to expand the breath and width of the types of artwork on show for the audience that would be coming. In the end, I gave them a broad brief solely about the colour white and it was up to the artist to demonstrate their artistry when juxtaposed in a cross discipline showcase.

For more information about the show, click here.

Images provided by Craft Victoria.

Using a series of linking non-sequiturs, Director Tim White has been able to both express a clear aesthetic and show off the AW15 range of Kuwaii. White has created a dream like reality through use of a vividly nonsensical colour palette and an eclectic soundtrack to match. Through the whole disjoined collection of scenes, White has been able to explore his “representation of how the human mind assembles memory”. Part Lynchian and part déjà vu, he has accentuated the beauty in Kuwaii’s collection as well as play with the audience’s expectations of a fashion film.

From wooden floorboards creaking to the actress’ sighs and the flapping of a fish’s fin, the soundscape of Palladian adds to its experience, allowing it to flourish and grow, albeit for two minutes and fifty seconds. Meanwhile, Liam Barton’s soundtrack is whimsical on the surface, but along with the narrative, it has a streak of mischievousness which populates the entire film.

Its narrative is cryptic but has a touch-and-go theme of eating experiences, from the recognisable scene of placing silverwear down for dining to when it is demonstrated best when Beth wears the Glazed Sweater and recollects her friend’s experience of eating an oyster. Kuwaii’s collection shown in the film is gorgeous, elegant, and has a vein of youth and innocence throughout. Shades of slate grey, ocean blue, and berry red are oft used as juxapostion and parallels to the clothes, which are dominated by the colours as well.

It would be an insult to say that White and Kuwaii have just created an eclectic fashion film. Through the thoughtful use of colour, sound, and non-sequiturs, Palladian has been able to put forth a new perspective for the genre. By doing so they have been able to achieve a top three win at VAMFF 2015 and a permanent place in this writer’s mind.

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

Photo Credit: Palladian on RUSSH TV

Who needs a runway when you can have a garden party? Penelope Efthimiadis invited the audience into a picture of perfection – a staged garden party inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite painting Apple Blossoms by John Everett Millais. While runways can be impersonal and distant, Exhibit by P.E managed to find a steady balance between welcoming and professional.

We walk in to see the space set up with AstroTurf, wooden outdoor chairs, fruits, drinks and snacks. Drinks are served. Music bounces off the walls. The atmosphere is buzzing, anticipatory.

When the models walk into the space, the first thing we notice is how beautifully the collection melds with the set. Collection III is the third of a series of installments of a trans-seasonal nature. Textures, colours and patterns are matched and mismatched in a playful display of the work. With the use of predominantly paler colours, Penelope Efthimiadis has managed to capture the essence of springtime lightness – closely mirroring the painting Apple Blossoms. Conversely, the more striking pieces in the collection allowed for a sense of strength and structure. As we observe the photoshoot, we are invited to go behind the scenes without feeling like intruders.

Overall, it was a beautifully constructed world that left us itching for more. By the end, the audience was still buzzing – this time with delighted discussion and pleasant satisfaction.

Exhibit by P.E was presented as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program’s Project Series 2015.

Photo Credit: Penelope Efthimiadis

The film’s haunting cinematography mimics the clothing it displays with sharp lines and dramatic contrasts of colour, texture and shape. Jo’s dramatic designs juxtapose fabrics of contrasting nature to create a sense of harmony, which is certainly what also occurs in the editing and cinematic style of the film. Made up of fast cuts between lingering close up shots and broad establishing shots made up of diagonal lines and contrasting colour, each shot from the film is harsh and dramatic but beautifully edited. These striking shots are frozen on screen for seconds at a time, creating a calming sense of harmony, causing the film to appear almost as if it were a moving magazine editorial.

The film’s artistic quality is its most impressive feature. Many of the films that made up Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Fashion Film Series unintentionally come across as being quite commercial, especially when viewed one after the other (as they were screened as a part of the festival). AAIZEL is a pleasant break away from that sense of commerciality. Rather than blatantly modelling the clothes, they are weaved beautifully into the film with a mixture of extreme, frozen close ups and broad establishing shots. The film makers have excelled at eliminating any sense of commerciality within the film, meaning that those who are not particularly interested in fashion will view the film and appreciate its artistic quality. Instead of using three minutes attempting to begin and complete a storyline, AAIZEL pleasantly leaves itself up to interpretation, focusing on creating striking imagery rather than a memorable plot.

AAIZEL’s simplicity is its most redeeming feature. Its stillness in colour, line and contrast in its cinematography perfectly matches the clothing within the film, showcasing the perfect aesthetic match between designer and film maker. Many fashion films, with their blatant modelling and selling of clothes can seem quite pretentious, but AAIZEL’s artistic quality overtakes any sense of commerciality, making it tense, capturing and hypnotising. A sure standout within the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Fashion Film Series.

AAIZEL played as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program 2015

Image source: The Weekly Review

Bringing together fashion and music, the event was a beautiful display of what the art world both can be and should be: Unapologetically brilliant. Each performance was of an immensely different genre, and different designers dressed each performer and designed each room in line with their own visions. The result is a delight for the eyes and ears alike.

Featuring the likes of Preston Zly, Cass Partington, Will and Garrett Huxley, Julia Deville, Brustman + Boyd, and many more, Dress Loud brings together designers from all over and gives them free reign to design a room each. The result is magical. There is a strong sense of intimacy present in each room, thanks to the performers’ presence in the room – almost an extension of the works of art that are the rooms themselves. In some rooms, the audience’s initial awe was so palpable that no one moved or clapped at first, lest they break the atmosphere.

The sprawling mansion proved itself the perfect venue to display these amazing works. While some rooms proved a little too small for the crowds that tried to squeeze themselves in, the event was one that was immersive and open. Overall, it was a fun, lively afternoon showcasing impressive work by designers and performers in an old sprawling mansion heaving with new life.

Dress Loud was presented as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program’s Project Series 2015. More information about the designers and performers can be found here.

Photo credit: VAMFF

Laundry Bar hosted the event and what a great venue to tie together the 90s theme, especially with the best of the best in 90s hip hop anthems.

Shio Designs is a Melbourne based label which fuses together trendy urban-street vibes with a bit of Japanese flair. It was very evident in their A/W collection that the notion of Japanese pop art culture played a part in their designs, especially in regards to the digital format in which it was presented.

Fashion shows don’t always necessarily have to be live with a runway and models, and I believe this newfound digital performance was a winner for Shio Designs. Albeit the video was a mere 30 seconds, it was engaging, quirky and fun.

This season’s collection was a collaboration with The Social Studio and explored the idea of Critter vs. Candy, which well and truly got our imaginations and appetites going. The unique digital print they created for their clothing was on trend and had similarities to that of Gorman. The print looked incredibly edible so it was lucky they had Allen’s snakes on tap for us all!

Shio Designs showcased clothing for both men and women and it became evident that the Shio guy and girl is very eclectic, outgoing and love colour. This range will appeal to those wanting to make a fashion statement and add a newfound confidence to their wardrobe.

Shio Designs launched in late 2013 and have a very bright future ahead of them. Their style and attention to detail is noteworthy and will very much be on the fashion radar of Melbourne fashionistas.

Shio A/W15 Basement Launch played as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program 2015.

Despite the exhibition being confined to one square room, the artists have utilized the space to display the diligent craftsmanship encompassed within each design. The boisterous hollowware is flaunted on white plinths that vary in height, allowing us to explore all facets and angles of the artwork.  Layers of aluminum are woven together to create an abstract cohesion of smooth shapes and contrasting colours. The use of aluminum is explored in a sleek and glossy manner. The harsh and urban characteristics usually associated with the material have been weakened and replaced with smooth edges and an elusive curved texture.

Exhibited in the heart of Melbourne at the Karen Woodbury Gallery, Hagerty and Foster’s aluminium designs portray unique and influential characteristics of each artist’s various practices and techniques. Hagerty’s wonderment in symbolism is liberated through Fosters utilitarian manufacturing. The exhibition encompasses lighting, standing mirrors, hollowware and mobiles – which dangle from the ceiling and whirl effortlessly creating tenuous shadows on the walls. The eccentricity of each design re-invents the urban domestic object and captures aesthetic innovation.

Foster deviates from his previous hollowware designs in this collaboration to explore a more abstract and fluid means of design and production. As the founder of the manufacturing company F!NK & Co., Foster has distributed products nationally and internationally. F!NK & Co. designs have showcased in some of the world’s major art institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Hagerty also has a range of public and private collections held across Australia. Her artwork has exhibited at institutions such as the Ian Potter Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria and at GOMA Queensland Art Gallery. Her acrylic and oil paintings are celebrated from their optical abstraction and contrast between reality and fiction.

Through this collaboration Hagerty and Foster demonstrate the influence of individual style and preferred discipline within the production of art. The exhibition is small and concise, yet does not lack awe or innovation. Hagerty and Foster’s designs embody the glimpses of visual magnificence hidden amongst the industrialized metropolitan city.

Marie Hagerty and Robert Foster exhibit at the Karen Woodbury Gallery until March 28.

For more information about the exhibition click here. 

Collingwood is one of Melbourne’s biggest art hubs and at the centre of this community based initiative is The Social Studio. The Social Studio is an organisation that was established in 2009 aiming to provide a place of creativity and purpose to many refugees.

Director of The Social Studio Susan Yengi says that by orchestrating a Block Party allows people from all walks of life to come together and witness the efforts of the incredible designers and artists.

“We want everyone to have a good time and really, the idea is to bring everyone together and make friends but also so they can see all the amazing clothes and emerging locals artists and love it,” she said.

The Party was filled with fashion stalls, art, food and musicians who created the soundtrack to what really marked a special day.

The music on the main stage was a combination of live rappers spitting rhymes as well as DJ sets from the ever talented DJ MzRizk. The vibe of the day was funky, chill and feel-good.

One of the great things about the Block Party was the sense of camaraderie between all cultures and how the experiences of one individual expressed through rap or rhyme resonated with every single person present. An honourable mention must go to one of the most profounds poets I have recently heard. His honesty and vulnerability were a true testament to his character and even though it was a hot sunny day, I still got goosebumps.

This sense of one cultural identity is at the core of The Social Studio’s ethos because through fashion and music they believe change and growth can be made.

“It’s all about community, bringing people together and creating opportunities for people. We use art and fashion as a vehicle to create opportunities for people through employment and education,” Yengi said.

As for the fashion show, well it was entertaining and full of colourful fresh fashion. Five emerging fashion designers displayed their works and as the crowd got hyped, so too did the models as they danced down the catwalk. It was all about prints, ease of wear and street styling for both men and women as well as versatility between day and evening wear.

Any net profits gained from the Block Party go straight to The Social Studio in order to fund education and training costs for their students. The Block Party was a fashionistas hub and a family-friendly, pet-friendly environment which I hope other communities around Melbourne adopt.

The Block Party played as part of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Program 2015.

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.