Yesterday we stumbled upon this installation at the wonderful The Wapping Project..you can just go in for a cuppa. There is a real fancy restaurant, a bookshop in a greenhouse, and really wonderful projects there. I stumbled in there on a walk along the Thames a couple of years ago, completely drawn by the outside of the building and the house at the front. I saw nothing that would have lead me to believe it was open to the public, and just barged in to find this haven inside. It is the old Wapping Hydraulic Power Station which has been turned into big space… with lots of the original fittings left in. It would be an amazing place for a party if you had the funds. So yesterday we wandered in. Yes the waitress said, the exhibition is still, even though it was supposed to close a few days ago, she pointed to a door at the back of the building.
Walked through the door into almost complete blackness. We were standing on a small verandah looking up and down onto a cavernous area. Only about 6 people at a time can fit on this viewing space. The vast area is filled below with what seems to be a shallow lake and hanging from the tall ceiling is the lighted dress that then is reflected in the water below. A minimal soundtrack and the occasional dripping of the water. When the exhibition was open you could pay a fiver and be rowed round the dress thus ‘making waves’ which would have an effect on the reflection of the image in the water from the verandah above. The atmosphere was magical…I was transported. It was magnificent.
I do not take much notice of fashion design apart from as a historical art form, nothing to do with wearing the stuff though. I was really touched and my breath was taken away from this piece and am going to have a look at Yoji Yamamoto again.
SONG OF THE DAY – Madame Butterfly -Malcolm Mclaren
I am glad I found a version of this that did not use the official video which I find a bit too wierd for me…is it supposed to be cool or fashionable or a bit erotic…bit blinking neurotic to me, don’t get it… and what it has to do with the song at all having a load of clone women stolen from Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love, put on rations for a couple of months, massaging each other in a sauna or just sitting around looking very hungry and a bit blinking hot…..
