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September 28, 2006
Stanislavsky Reading Reactions
Saturday 9/23
Visited the Issey Miyake Store with my wife Kelly. Indeed, the prices were high -- which I attempted to explain as the difference between buying clothing and buying art. Unfortunately, except for www.isseymiyake.com, I didn't have an opportunity to see the clothes in motion so could get a sense of Miyake's appreciation for a body in motion. In speaking with employees at the store, I sensed an emphasis on the technology involved in creating the clothes. Apparently the pleating process is quite involved.
Kelly saw a skirt she liked -- a long skirt in a variety of green hues that must shimmer as the pleats swish with the body's walking motion, The mens clothing did not seen to have the same focus on motion as it did on comfort -- this was the selling point the salesman returned to numerous times - how soft the garments felt after washing and how their texture continued to improve with time and washing.
Downstairs we saw two main varieties of women's tops . Those that had been crafted by carefully shrinking fabric impregnated with polyurethane and those that had been micropleated. I can't imagine that this plating (some of it 1/8" to 1/4" wide) had been done by hand.
Tuesday 9/26
The first group that presented in Red Burns class (Jack Aboutboul, Liz Gallo, James Kolstad, Amanda O'Brien, Jung Eun Shin) exemplified what I believe Stanislavsky related in the sections we read on plasticity of motion. The group presented a dramatic response to Marianne Petit's presentation on Assistive Technology. Clothed in silence and dressed in black, each group member acted out a human disability and the remainder of the group acted out a healing ("assistive") response. I wanted to "label" the performance as "mime" but to do so I think might disconnect with type of motions the group members performed. I didn't feel they were creating a dimensional volume with with motions; rather they conveyed emotion, connection, and interaction. Does anyone have video of the performance?
The motions reminded me of Madame Sonova and the movement of the imaginary mercury. Each arm motion they created originated at the shoulder and radiated outward. I find it difficult to put this into words, but I felt the motions grew in intensity and meaning as they continued down the arms.
Posted by Michael Chladil at September 28, 2006 01:05 AM