NYC tonight
The Change You Want To See has undergone some changes this summer...we went under the knife, or the sledgehammer in this case, for an extreme makeover and we're finally ready to launch the new season with a fresh coat of paint and an expanded events space.
You're invited to our curtain raiser - a special two-night season premiere this week. Join us for Hacking Couture, an artist talk and interactive fashion workshop with Giana Pilar Gonzales. Come to either or both nights and learn how to execute your own fashion hack.
Thursday, August 23, 7:30-9:30pm, Armani Hack Workshop
or Friday, August 24, 7:30-9:30pm, D&G Hack Workshop
The Change You Want To See Gallery
http://www.thechangeyouwanttosee.org
84 Havemeyer St, at Metropolitan Ave
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11211
About Hacking Couture
Hacking Couture explores the merging of interactivity and fashion by applying the concept of open source to the process currently executed to forecast fashion. The design elements or DNA of an established brand, like Chanel, are revealed to be part of a system that invites participation. Preconceived understandings of “open” modes of participation are broken down to reveal unforeseen limitations, and with them, new possibilities.
To execute a hack, the digital (or visual) aspects of a brand are first determined - for example, Chanel’s main color scheme is white on black. The next step is documenting the analog aspects of the code, which is done by examining the representations of a designer’s works in advertising and editorials. A successful hack is when a designer/contributor includes the core elements of the design code as part of their design. To a certain extent, the new creations are "part" of the same species, but not exactly of the same kind. The designer/contributor visually connects the elements of the design and imbues them with meaning.
In applying the language of new media and technology to textiles - a media that could arguably be called “older” or “traditional”, Hacking Couture plays with contemporary cultural discourse. This juxtaposition leads us to question what defines a “new” technology versus one that is not new. The shift in understanding that follows creates an opening whereby the social fabric of culture can begin to unravel. In Hacking Couture, designer/brand clothing serves as a specific example that points to a more general cultural condition.
About the Workshops
#1. Armani Hack, Thursday
In this workshop we will explore Giorgio Armani's Fashion Code and history. Our creations will use as primary material recycled suits for the creation of a new generation of Armanis, brainstormed by us, and shared online.
#2. D&G Hack, Friday
D&G is known to be one of the naturalists in Italian Fashion. Their use of animal prints, leathers, underwear as a structure for their creations brings their costumers to a natural/savage state. We bring our animalistic self into this workshop and brainstorm a whole new way of sexiness. We will be using underwear to build our designs upon it.
About the Collection
Each year HACKING Couture releases a collectively brainstormed collection. The collection is assembled throughout a series of workshops and remote contributions to the website. So far the collections brainstormed have been Gucci and Versace at NYU, Maker Fair, and DIY Chicago.
After a period of time, all the creations are curated into a collective collection and documented using mainstream fashion language in order to inject these ideas back into the fashion system. This year's collection will be presented at the 2007 Istanbul Biennial
in Turkey and all workshop participants will be acknowledged as designers for the site.
Video of Workshops http://hacking-couture.com/workshops.html
Info about the Italian Hack http://hacking-couture.com/italianhack
About the Artist
Giana Pilar González is a multimedia designer with a background in Architecture. She received her masters on Interactive Telecommunications from Tisch School of the Arts, at New York University. She received her undergraduate degree in architecture from Catholic University in Washington DC. Her work explores the different ways in which fashion and space can be altered, fused and/or enhanced with technology and alternative ways of construction - from concept to production. Giana has worked in architecture and design, media related projects including the New York Fashion week, and taught at Eyebeam. She is currently working on the Italian Hack, the second brainstorming session from Hacking-Couture.com. She is based in New York City.