Let me start by prefacing that I do not hate references, my judgment comes down to whether it is done right. I am aware that not every designer operates in bad faith (you will understand what I mean in a second). If you think this is my slam on anyone referencing anything then you’d be wildly wrong. This article is in no way blindly hating on referential fashion, it is my thoughts on the relationship between us, social media and the discussions of references in fashion, and where has that led us to.
Also, this has nothing to do with how we look at clothes, but it has everything to do with how we talk about how we look at clothes on the internet.
I recently started reading “Curating Capitalism: How Art Impacts Business, Management, and Economy,” only a couple of chapters in but my perception on how art affect us has been redefined, and got me obsessing over the act of curation.
For me, curation has always been about museum and exhibitions, and it is indeed what the book focused on as the main premise, exploring the work of famous curators and philosophers such as Hans Ulrich Obrist, Bruno Latour and Jacque Ranciere, as well as their relationship and thoughts on the impact of curation and how carefully designed curation can effectively alter our view on society. In this book’s context, how art curation can affect future generation’s impact on capitalism, or simply, how we can curate capitalism by putting students through carefully planned exhibitions.
One immediate thing I learnt from reading the first 20 pages of this book is that the act of curation should not be a niche. The introductory knowledge and philosophy behind curation should not be a field studied separately, it should be a skill that every art student, every designer in training should attain over the duration of their course. The reason is simple: in a non-exhibition setting, there should not be an extra person between creator and audience to streamline or highlight a specific thought process that the art is trying to convey. That being, if you as a designer are reasonably good at curation, it is likely that your art can communicate more efficiently. With an intention to curate a message or experience for the audience when showing your work, the message of your work should logically be amplified. It is this consciousness that every self-proclaimed artist or creator should learn to attain.
Now, I want to bring the concept of curation to the context of curating a fashion narrative around collections, to highlight a different form of curation, one I would call ominous. What if the curation of designs can lead to the ultimate curation of audience’s reaction and reception of your work, to the point of almost controlling conversations and criticisms?
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