|
|
 |
 |
concept | | | |
Défilé
AES+F group, 2000-2007
In «Défilé» we explore the way individuals deal with the concept of mortality by
juxtaposing images of death with images of beauty, in this case high fashion. In
pairing fashion with death, we have found a modern-day counterpart to the
traditional juxtapositions of love and death and beauty and death. It appears a
fundamental aspect of human nature to only conceive of death in conjunction with
something else, as if to take the burden off thinking of death exclusively. An
obsession with fashion, symbolizing temporality, can be seen as a way to deal
with the fear of death. It is an ancient preoccupation, as can be seen in the
elaborate rituals in Western and non-Western cultures associated with death.
Humans have always attempted to «decorate» death, based in part with a desire to
ward off death. It is this idea we intend on exploring in our project.
With the help of modern digital technology we intend on creating virtual
events that evoke the spirit of medieval carnivals, in particular Dances of
Death. The corpse/models will float over an invisible podium, the edges of their
clothes fluttering as if they were gliding over a catwalk. This bizarre recorded
fashion ritual will form the basis of a larger multimedia performance, the Dead
Line Ball.
In developing our project «Défilé», we were motivated by the idea of
pairing fashion, with its extreme temporality, with death, with its constancy
and inevitability. At the same time, we intend to leave participant/spectators
with a sense of the circularity of life, and, in part, make death easier to
contemplate. In granting these morbid forms a sense of dignity and beauty in
death, in a sense an afterlife, we hope our audience will find something of
value in this project.
The project includes a series of 7 images on lightboxes and also it
would be a multimedia (digital animation – work in progress).
|
|
