New York - this Saturday night
Not *ties* for once...
I feel like a tool for just posting event crap and such here anymore, but I know there are a few of you not in facebook/twitterland - this is what I've been sleeplessly up to for the past few months - my first installation/fashion show in New York - as well as Dethlab musics (and some f'ing AMAZING others) playing later in the evening.
AIRE: THE SECOND FOURFOLD ROOT
An immersive art installation and live exhibition of dark and upcycled fashion works.
10:00 p.m., Saturday, November 14, 2009
319 Scholes Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11206 (L to Grand)
WEBSITE: http://events.AreYouDevoted.com
CONTACT: Marie at Press@AreYouDevoted.com
NEW YORK -- Devotion Gallery is pleased to present "Aire: The Second Fourfold
Root", an immersive art installation and live exhibition of dark and upcycled
fashion works, taking place on November 14 as part of the "Fourfold Roots of
Everything".
Since 800 B.C., philosophers sought to identify a single arche, from which all
substances are formed. Empedocles was the first to propose a set of archai, which
he referred to as "the fourfold roots of everything". These four roots became the
four classical elements of Greek philosophy and the reigning dogma until recent
centuries. Empedocles argued that these four elements drove the cycle of life and
the changing seasons -- water initiates spring and becomes air, air initiates summer
and becomes fire, fire initiates Autumn and becomes earth, earth initiates winter
and becomes water -- and, thereby, united birth and death into one continuous
process.
This second "Fourfold Roots of Everything" event will focus on the second fourfold
root, air. Plato regarded air as an intermediate element marked by its mobility,
lightness, and ability to penetrate. "Aire: The Second Fourfold Root" explores this
penetration/protection dichotomy in full detail, most notably with Cyberoptix Spring
Collection "Atmospheric/Pressures". This collection is constructed from surplus
military balloons and tatted lace doilies, seemingly disparate materials that stem
from the same Victorian-to-Cold-War time period (when they had a shared utilitarian
purpose of protection) and have, since then, been fetishized.
Rubber has traditionally been used as protective clothing: From rain boots to gas
masks, hazmat suits to condoms, it is meant to repel fluids and prove impermeable to
corrosives and viral agents. Rubber latex gas balloons have been used throughout
military history -- for scientific observation, meteorology, espionage, distribution
of propaganda, and transportation of munitions -- all with the purpose of protecting
territory while at war. During the height of World War II, the use of military
balloons was extended beyond simple reconnaissance missions to a form of tactical
offensive: The Japanese sent over nine thousand Fu-Go balloon-bombs into the
eastbound polar jetstream, one of the few attacks to ever penetrate the mainland
United States.
Fetishists currently use rubber latex in a prophylactic manner, not only to protect
and repel, but to transform the wearer into another persona through formation of a
second skin. Despite its extensive use as a fetishized fashion object, it has yet
to be used in couture in any manner other than echoing the hyper-sexualized second
skin aesthetic. Cyberoptix's Bethany Shorb departs from recreating a caricature of
this second skin and, instead, isolates the body from the viewer through voluminous
gather, ruffles, and masses of goffered rubber fabric repurposed from vintage
military balloons. Color, weight, and texture of the latex also play an important
role in distancing "Atmospheric/Pressures" from fetish-wear: Mottled shades of
ebony and coffee couple with its natural amber color to belie its BDSM heritage.
Shorb complements the hand-fabricated and -repurposed rubber fabrics, both visually
and conceptually, with several forms of modified lace and tatted doilies. In
addition to their decorative purpose, lace items were used in a protective manner:
A Victorian and Mid-Century home staple, doilies and lace runners isolated fine
furniture surfaces from hot cookware, and fabric upholstery from hair- and
skin-borne emollients. In Elizabethan times, interchangeable ruffled collars
protected garments from food spills and human sweat. "Atmospheric/Pressures"
references this penetration/protection dichotomy of lace through restrictive pilot
caps, exaggerated dunce caps, veils and other traditional religious head coverings,
thereby allowing the underlying untouchable surface to show through.
Shorb's exclusive use and repurposing of these vintage and deadstock materials (and
subsequent hand-dying, painting, and screen-printing), combine to envelope the
conceptual exploration of penetration and protection in a unified romantic
aesthetic. Echoing the dark and Victorian elements of "Atmospheric/Pressures", will
be fashion installations by local celebrities Bird Ov Prey (Karbine), B.S.
Mercantile (Kill Devil Hill), Sinner/Saint (Anthony Malat), and the very elusive
VDK.
"Aire: The Second Fourfold Root" will take place at 319 Scholes Street in Brooklyn
at 10:00 p.m. on November 14, 2009. This event will include dramatic live
performances -- by Brooklyn-based Black Swan, Baltimore-based Death Domain,
Detroit-based DethLab, and local hero Violec (Ryan Brogan, Subtrak) -- and
interstitial deejay sets by Cowboy Mark and Ghostly's Mike Servito. Admission will
be free for members. For non-members, admission will be FREE until 11:00 p.m., $5
until midnight, and $10 after midnight. (Visit http://AreYouDevoted.com for
membership information.)
I feel like a tool for just posting event crap and such here anymore, but I know there are a few of you not in facebook/twitterland - this is what I've been sleeplessly up to for the past few months - my first installation/fashion show in New York - as well as Dethlab musics (and some f'ing AMAZING others) playing later in the evening.
AIRE: THE SECOND FOURFOLD ROOT
An immersive art installation and live exhibition of dark and upcycled fashion works.
10:00 p.m., Saturday, November 14, 2009
319 Scholes Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11206 (L to Grand)
WEBSITE: http://events.AreYouDevoted.com
CONTACT: Marie at Press@AreYouDevoted.com
NEW YORK -- Devotion Gallery is pleased to present "Aire: The Second Fourfold
Root", an immersive art installation and live exhibition of dark and upcycled
fashion works, taking place on November 14 as part of the "Fourfold Roots of
Everything".
Since 800 B.C., philosophers sought to identify a single arche, from which all
substances are formed. Empedocles was the first to propose a set of archai, which
he referred to as "the fourfold roots of everything". These four roots became the
four classical elements of Greek philosophy and the reigning dogma until recent
centuries. Empedocles argued that these four elements drove the cycle of life and
the changing seasons -- water initiates spring and becomes air, air initiates summer
and becomes fire, fire initiates Autumn and becomes earth, earth initiates winter
and becomes water -- and, thereby, united birth and death into one continuous
process.
This second "Fourfold Roots of Everything" event will focus on the second fourfold
root, air. Plato regarded air as an intermediate element marked by its mobility,
lightness, and ability to penetrate. "Aire: The Second Fourfold Root" explores this
penetration/protection dichotomy in full detail, most notably with Cyberoptix Spring
Collection "Atmospheric/Pressures". This collection is constructed from surplus
military balloons and tatted lace doilies, seemingly disparate materials that stem
from the same Victorian-to-Cold-War time period (when they had a shared utilitarian
purpose of protection) and have, since then, been fetishized.
Rubber has traditionally been used as protective clothing: From rain boots to gas
masks, hazmat suits to condoms, it is meant to repel fluids and prove impermeable to
corrosives and viral agents. Rubber latex gas balloons have been used throughout
military history -- for scientific observation, meteorology, espionage, distribution
of propaganda, and transportation of munitions -- all with the purpose of protecting
territory while at war. During the height of World War II, the use of military
balloons was extended beyond simple reconnaissance missions to a form of tactical
offensive: The Japanese sent over nine thousand Fu-Go balloon-bombs into the
eastbound polar jetstream, one of the few attacks to ever penetrate the mainland
United States.
Fetishists currently use rubber latex in a prophylactic manner, not only to protect
and repel, but to transform the wearer into another persona through formation of a
second skin. Despite its extensive use as a fetishized fashion object, it has yet
to be used in couture in any manner other than echoing the hyper-sexualized second
skin aesthetic. Cyberoptix's Bethany Shorb departs from recreating a caricature of
this second skin and, instead, isolates the body from the viewer through voluminous
gather, ruffles, and masses of goffered rubber fabric repurposed from vintage
military balloons. Color, weight, and texture of the latex also play an important
role in distancing "Atmospheric/Pressures" from fetish-wear: Mottled shades of
ebony and coffee couple with its natural amber color to belie its BDSM heritage.
Shorb complements the hand-fabricated and -repurposed rubber fabrics, both visually
and conceptually, with several forms of modified lace and tatted doilies. In
addition to their decorative purpose, lace items were used in a protective manner:
A Victorian and Mid-Century home staple, doilies and lace runners isolated fine
furniture surfaces from hot cookware, and fabric upholstery from hair- and
skin-borne emollients. In Elizabethan times, interchangeable ruffled collars
protected garments from food spills and human sweat. "Atmospheric/Pressures"
references this penetration/protection dichotomy of lace through restrictive pilot
caps, exaggerated dunce caps, veils and other traditional religious head coverings,
thereby allowing the underlying untouchable surface to show through.
Shorb's exclusive use and repurposing of these vintage and deadstock materials (and
subsequent hand-dying, painting, and screen-printing), combine to envelope the
conceptual exploration of penetration and protection in a unified romantic
aesthetic. Echoing the dark and Victorian elements of "Atmospheric/Pressures", will
be fashion installations by local celebrities Bird Ov Prey (Karbine), B.S.
Mercantile (Kill Devil Hill), Sinner/Saint (Anthony Malat), and the very elusive
VDK.
"Aire: The Second Fourfold Root" will take place at 319 Scholes Street in Brooklyn
at 10:00 p.m. on November 14, 2009. This event will include dramatic live
performances -- by Brooklyn-based Black Swan, Baltimore-based Death Domain,
Detroit-based DethLab, and local hero Violec (Ryan Brogan, Subtrak) -- and
interstitial deejay sets by Cowboy Mark and Ghostly's Mike Servito. Admission will
be free for members. For non-members, admission will be FREE until 11:00 p.m., $5
until midnight, and $10 after midnight. (Visit http://AreYouDevoted.com for
membership information.)