a movable feast

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

animated week

with help from kaleider

source: my design generated in colourlovers

from a hockney wannabe :)
more on that later

neki desu

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

re-viewing the master

even christian dior bowed to him by saying something in the likes of we do what we can, balenciaga does what he wants.

seeing some of his clothes, albeit none of the most well known ones, in person along with the mesmerizing videos accompanying some of the more dramatic pieces is quite the experience.
first the vids; they begin with a fashion sketch of the piece, then the pattern pieces are shown and finally those pattern pieces are animated in 3D to form the piece. the experience is akin to a mini course in cutting and haute couture. you can really appreciate his mastery with cloth and the craftsmanship involved.

then having the opportunity to photograph the pieces, no flash of course, is another perk. with a tripod you can photograph the whole exhibit with the 50 lux lighting provided.

balenciaga's clothes go beyond couture, they are full of historical references and art history references. it is a well known fact he created many a piece inspired by goya,velasquez and zurbaran and traditional spanish dresses- sad to see that the metropolitan museum of art still quotes him as being french!! you can see zurbaran in his long capes with volumes in the back and the goya majas in some black lace dresess.

he was not only a visionary, but also the total designer dominating the whole creative process from conception to the final stages of the execution, sometimes even designing the fabrics himself.
it is interesting to note how his influence is still present in the avant garde designers in the cuts, the origami way of constructing pieces, the volumes and the decontextualised use of fabrics.

the building itself is beautiful restrained architecture full of construction winks to couture

the walls in the atrium are are a rendition of a silk brocade cut out in metal sheeting. the background is blue and the shadows it creates give depth imitating velvet pile. one has to see it!

i found some hilarious details at the museum shop like these two:

clothes for barbie and threads for seamstresses.

any show ends up with the bride, so here it goes:

a gorgeous,yet understated bridal gown in cotton eyelet.not your regular merengue tart bridal gown at all.

more of my photos here
and the v&a collection here

neki desu

Friday, September 07, 2012

images for a week

see you soon!

neki desu

Thursday, September 06, 2012

el mundo por montera

the photo is of a montera or a bullfighter's headdress. it was introduced in the 1800 as part of the costume. as with most vocabulary pertaining to bullfights it has trickled down into everyday language

becoming an active part of it. so ingrained it is that the most anti bullfight people from the anti bullfighs league use such vocabulary and phrases without seeing the irony of it.

if you are still reading i'm getting there, but not yet.

two weekends ago my pal rubi was visiting and while sipping a great white at the seaside and talking she used the expression. we had to explain it to her english speaking friend who was with us thus prompting a discussion about bullfighting vocabulary in general and the phrase in particular. we came to the conclusion that the phrase ponerse el mundo por montera was a rough equivalent to the world is your oyster.

after all the recently discarded weaving plans this is exactly how i feel after tuning plan c and the grungy solutions i found.

apparently my weaving gurus are flex and nothing for them is written in stone; weaving talibans do not reside in their homes :)

weaving has taught me many things about life(finally, the point!!!)

to correct mistakes as soon as one sees them or they'll keep glaring back at you.
to develop systems for solving each problem.
patience.
to stop as soon as one feels tired or bored. tiredness and boredom will only multiply mistakes.
to solve problems at once. problems do not go away by themselves, they only grow worse.
to set achievable goals and once achieved move on.
to divide long or difficult tasks in manageable blocks.they will stop looking infinite.
to recognize one's limitations. it is humbling and will keep one's feet on the ground.
not to think one's a master. that thought kills growth.
perfection is a self inflicting punishment and an illusory thought.
to believe it is a journey, not a destination. and if one can, have fun during the journey.

ps. monteras are handmade. there is a lot of handmade craft around bullfighter's garb.

neki desu

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

another adventure of the kamikaze weaver

weaving along planC. the border was-note the tense- silk and was more of a p.i.t.a. that what i wanted to deal with, especially with my time constrictions. so i was time to call the kamikaze weaver!!
the border threads were not on the warp beam, but on live tensioning so the whole move was not very complicated.

i treadled a plain weave shed, inserted the sticks to keep the order, pulled the border threads forward and began tying on a new border of 30/2 ecru cotton. after that i wove a couple of plain weave shots,
pinned the new border to the body of the weaving to close the gap and went on weaving. not too elegant, but efficient as an executive secretary.

the grungy border of the photos are full of double intentions!

on another note a fellow weaver, maryse levenson lost all her belongings in the recent colorado fires.needless to say her weaving library, tools and supplies were all destroyed.please consider donating books, yarns or any weaving related item to help her build up her stash. she is interested in kumihimo and complex weaves at 24 epi or finer( silk, tencel, bamboo, merino etc). you can contact her at maryse-dl at comcast dot net

neki desu