Comments Please

On opening night this dress was a blank canvas like all the others, we are again encouraging visitor interaction by allowing the dress to be written upon, making this dress different to the others. My favorite quote that has been written (so far) is "I feel I have desecrated the innocence of this dress".

Be Creative!

Our clipboard wall encourages visitors to draw what they see in the exhibition or what ever it inspires them to write or draw and then peg it up on the pillar so that visitors work becomes part of the exhibition, in this sense the exhibition will evolve over time.

The left hand side of the exhibition

The three exhibits here are the upside down dress, the silhouette dress and the repetition rail.

The view as you walk into the exhibition

From here you can see the dress on the mat which you can choose to walk over, the glass case directly in front and the mirror dress in the right hand corner.

The space from the outside

PRESS!

We have had some press, we were covered in thelondonpaper last week and online we are on:

Dazed Digital http://dazeddigital.com/view/default.aspx?Category=19&ArticleID=2785&PageNum=1

Running in Heels http://runninginheels.co.uk/articles/the-white-dress-project/

Style Canteen http://www.stylecanteen.net/2009/03/white-dress-project.html

And if anyone sees any other reviews/ listings please send them our way.

Footnotes to an exhibition

Occupying Spaces: the White Dress Project dwells in the intersection between looking and interpreting. Even before underlining this endless intertwining, the exhibition suggests that the
initial choice of the object is a problematic yet crucial step. By displaying identical dresses in diverse contexts it has been possible to suggest the multiple meanings and narratives one garment can embody. This has provoked questions surrounding concepts of identity and difference, replica and repetition and the curatorial implications these can generate. Does the value of a multiple enhance or hinder the value of difference?

If a form is repeated, is the idea reinforced or weakened? What is the creative process behind the
making of a copy? The different ways of manipulating the originally identical items are a form of
de-identification, and thus of critical and curatorial praxis. They may also be perceived as a multiplication or extension of self- identity. In the same way that the stitch visibly holds together the pieces of the dress, the identification of unseen narratives are critical to constructing its meaning.

The Colour of the Dress
Colour – and its absence – evokes many meanings. Within western culture white is imbued with meanings associated with innocence, ghostliness and clinical purity. Over the centuries, the symbology of whiteness has dramatically changed, or rather, what shifted is the emphasis on the various nuances that articulate the imagery of whiteness. Beyond the wide variety of its meanings, white more than any other colour is subject to the passage of time. It could be employed as a patina meant to conceal the imperfections and the signs of time. Nevertheless, this ‘patina’ finally surrenders to the variations of time flowing, and thus it becomes like a canvas.

About the dress

The white dress was made using an historical pattern housed within the London College of Fashion Archive, which dates from 1969 and was produced by the American company Simplicity. The dresses were made by MA Fashion Curation students. The making process revealed insights into the level of craft and detail that goes into creating even a seemingly simple dress. This particular design was selected as, to our eyes, it resonated with 1960s Carnaby Street fashion, whilst its very neutrality could simultaneously be situated within international contexts. Whilst archival records document the pattern as being in poor condition, some 40 years later it still served its original function. The pattern envelope features five illustrations indicating how this one design can achieve five – of possibly endless – distinctive ‘looks’ and could serve as a metaphor for the curatorial dilemma. How can and should one garment be situated? This exhibition explores these possibilities by exhibiting one garment type in multiple contexts.

Introduction

Occupying Spaces: The White Dress Project explores how we interpret and display dress in the context of the gallery. It is customary for exhibits in one show to be exhibited similarly: in this exhibition the identical objects are displayed in different ways. The intention is to reveal how context and meaning are inextricably entwined. Notions of singularity, reproduction and multiplicity in display have been addressed by using one pattern and type of fabric which multiple
garments have been made (much like the multiple facsimiles that can be
made from a photographic negative).