Through the module of research and communication of this semester, I have learned how to use different research methods and open resources for me to use, which give me more chances to see more interesting works of art and improve my understanding of other artists. Also, it improve my ability of research and analysis skills.

While doing task 1&2, I found a book that was very enlightening to me.It is called <ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM> which edited by David Anfam. It helped me realize that abstract is relative to the concept of concrete. It is a common concept extracted from a variety of things, and then integrated into a new concept that forming the concept of abstract. With the development of the research of task, I realized that the existence of various artistic ideas in abstract painting is an important role in promoting the development of fashion design, which promotes the innovation of design concept, design inspiration and design direction in modern fashion design.

We are told that it is very important to write down your reference. So I learned how to referencing a book in the Harvard Style. In the task 5&6, I used this method and changed the previous annotation. Because of the research I did for task 5&6, I found a very interesting woman who called Bianca Jagger. She is the queen of fashion in 70s and Mousika of Yves Saint Laurent who comes from South America, also the rolling stones frontman Mick Jagger’s ex-wife. She is also a strong feminist and anti war activists. Her faith is ‘First influence, then change the world.’ that made me deeply moved.

I need to say that I really don’t like Task 9&10 for the pictures that I can choose are both make me feel uncomfortable. I think they are unaesthetic, and even think they are ugly. But it is because of them, when I try to understand the meaning behind them and think from another point of view, I realized that sometimes the intention of the photographer does not determine the meanings of photographs, because the photo has its own destiny and the fate will be decided by the owned thoughts and all sorts of strange ideas of various groups who use it. This is something that we can’t control.

Overall, I enjoyed the Research and Communication module very much. It inspired me to try out different methods of working and experimenting with different mediums and I have learned a lot about the past artistic movements, and also exposed to many interesting works that I had never seen before. The most important thing is that I have knew the method that how to improve my own work and I improved my analytical ability while looking at the artworks of other contemporary practitioners.

To tell the truth, when I saw this picture at the first time, I will think it is just a random picture in a pornographic website if I didn’t saw the trademark of American Apparel. In fact, I really can’t feel any sense of beauty from this picture. I just think it’s very vulgar and meaningless and I can’t imagine what such a picture is propagating.

I try to understand the meaning behind this picture that American Apparel used it as an advertisement. I think it probably means that the girls who wear their clothes are very sexy, proactive and confident, and they will send out a very woman’s breath that maybe will make them more welcomed by more men? The surrounding of the photographing environment is a common room that we can see in ordinary family. Does it mean that the girls who wear their clothes can be more easier and convenient to be sexy and beautiful at home? I think, if the picture wants to express these information, it is a very good starting point. But the problem is that the form of this picture is terrible, which can not be accepted by most of the people. Also, It is very easy to cause misunderstanding and bring people a sense of discomfort.

Tom Ford for Men fragrance shot by Terry Richardson,2007

There are a lot of sexy advertisements and also there are variety of forms to express sexy. I think the 2007 advertisement campaign from Tom Ford shot by the ‘artful deviant’Terry Richardson is a good example. Although it is very explicit, but because the photographer made a smart choice to enlarge the part of the body, combined with the senior post-processing, the picture is revealed a senior sexy breath. It reached the ultimate sexy theme and also successfully obtained people’s attention. It focuses on women’s crazy pursuit and love to men’s perfume, and a component containing some sexual hints. But the advertisement is to make the woman crazy, but the true audience of the advertisement is the male. So it was actually used the woman’s crazy attitude to stimulate the men’s desire to buy and make them crazy.

A France photographer who called Marc Riboud had said that ‘After all we are no machines, even though we work from behind a machine. We think before taking a photo, we think while taking it, and we have to think about it afterwards. ‘ I think this sentence is well worth remembering. And I think that everytime when we take photos, it’s very important to think deeply according to the audience of the photos. Because after the commercialization of the photos, we must be responsible for the photos that we take. But sometimes the intention of the photographer does not determine the meanings of photographs, because the photo has its own destiny and the fate will be decided by the owned thoughts and all sorts of strange ideas of various groups who use it. This is something we can’t control. In a word, this may be a difficult problem for us, but it still is our responsibility.

After reading the <TASTE, FASHION AND THE FRENCH FASHION MAGAZINE> edited by Sanda Miller, I was surprised to know that the inception for the emergence of the fashion magazine is early in the 1672. In the middle ages, fashion is often associated with nobility. Their noble dignity brought them the best treatment and they were the future of fashion industry at that time. They always wore the clothes with gorgeous taste. The clothing of some fashionable aristocrats, the was the dream of other nobility for the reason that fashion is people’s advocacy of something in society in a period of time and fashion is always an expression of individuality.

On the views of art criticism， I am agree with the David Hume’s proposed system which express his thought that the general principles of taste are uniform in human nature, but there still is room for a good deal of explainable variability since different works of art will appear to different temperaments or at different stages of life.

Critics face the conflict between new art works and traditional art norms and show that traditional norms do not have the self-evident correctness through their own explanation, so that to make people are intolerable to traditional norms and strangeness. I think Contemporary artists are the witness of life and the witnesses of personal experience. They reorganize and structure the people and things that have happened and exist in the name of art, and give them meaning freely. In the face of contemporary art, critics pay attention to the process of creation and analyze the psychology of creation and the thinking mode of the artist. The effect of criticism is not to point out that the art do not have the right direction of development, but try to understand what direction the artist is.

There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. It is the same to fashion. Fashion is not concrete and it is changing over time and vary from culture to culture. Large numbers of magazines appeared during the major social changes. Fashion magazines constantly adjust their content according to its target audience in different periods and the historical changes. It also carried the important functions of free speech, knowledge dissemination and ideological enlightenment, reflecting and accelerating the process of social transformation. Like the Women’s magazines reflect radical social changes. In different historical periods, fashion magazine form different female images which affects the women of that time.

With the development and change of history, magazines became an important role in our life. It shapes our lives, telling us what to wear, what to eat, what to think about ourselves and the world around us. As far as I am concerned, any magazine which want to be resonant with its target audience needs to represent the social norms and cultural values of the given society.

Reference and bibliography

[1] Margaret.Makepeace(2017) ‘Vogue’ and virtuous virgins: a reflection on the history of the fashion magazine. Available from: http://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2017/03/vogue-virtuous-virgins-a-reflection-on-the-history-of-the-fashion-magazine-.html [Accessed 30 March 2017]

[2]Nikola(2013)History of the Magazine. Available from: http://www.magazinedesigning.com/history-of-the-magazines/ [Accessed 26 March 2013]

[3]ukessays.com(2015) Vogue: Across Cultures | Analysis. Available from: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/fashion/fashion-magazines.php [Accessed 23 March 2015]

Sally Singer, Spring 2018 ready-to-wear Rodarte, Available from: https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2018-ready-to-wear/rodarte [Accessed 2 July 2017]

I got inspiration while looking at Rodarte’s ready-to-wear spring/summer 2018. Their Spring 2018 collection was staged in the 16th-century cloister of a hospital. You can see Tulle dresses and separates, manipulated and embellished in every possible way: studded with pearls, caviar beads, ostrich feathers, polka dots. Leather motocross jackets, cut cropped but full, pierced with yet more pearls. Delicate floral-print chiffon dresses and jumpsuits. Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy claimed that they used Robert Altman’s 3 Women as the starting point for the collection, and nowhere was this more apparent than in their color choices.

The woman’s outfit in one of the pictures I chose is similar to the outfits in the Rodarte’s collection. The image was not pre-planned as it doesn’t have a backdrop. So I think it is more like a natural photograph in a party. We can see the woman sat at the table and talked to the woman next to her, and the ourfit she wore are still seem very atmospheric and elegant now. So I am curious to googled and found that the woman in the picture is Bianca Jagger. She is the queen of fashion in 70s and Mousika of Yves Saint Laurent who comes from South America, also the rolling stones frontman Mick Jagger’s ex-wife. She is also a strong feminist and anti war activists. Her faith is ‘First influence, then change the world.’that made me deeply moved.

As Robert Altman’s 3 Women is a 70s movie, Bianca Jagger is the queen of fashion in 70s, She can be said to represent the epitome of fashion at that time. To sum up, I love Rodarte’s Spring 2018 collection and think it is an interpretation of alienation and odd neurotic temperament.

Abstract is relative to the concept of concrete. It is a common concept extracted from a variety of things, and then integrated into a new concept that forming the concept of abstract. In order to learn more about abstract art, I found a book call Abstract Expressionism in the WSA Library. This book introduces many paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photography of different artists.

David Anfam, Susan Davidson (2016) Abstract Expressionism, London: Royal Academy of Arts

One of the painting called Jackson Pollock by William S. Lieberman which makes me think of Tim Coppens Fall/Winter 2013, inspired by a painting of Anne-Lise Coste called Spray-painted acrylics. Abstract painting is a way for artists to express emotions with their brushes which has strong subjectivity and perceptual color, and this is the costume designers need.

Jackson Pollock, Number 7, 1952, 1952, enamel and oil on canvas, 53 x 40 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Emilio Azcarraga Gift, in honor of William S. Lieberman, 1987.

Ayyy, Which fashion design works are inspired by classic paintings, Available from: https://www.zhihu.com/question/29697750 [Accessed 15 June 2015]

And then I found an article about Abstract Art in The Form of Costumes which wrote by Anomalyville. He explained the ways to express through art, dressing for expression and also showed the ways to show true colors. I agree one sentence of this article ‘Each day when you wake up and put on your clothes, you are expressing a part of your personality.’

Anomalyville, Abstract Art in The Form of Costumes, Available from: http://www.anomalyville.com/abstract-art-in-the-form-of-costumes/ [Accessed 24 August]

As we can see, the existence of various artistic ideas in abstract painting is an important role in promoting the development of fashion design, which promotes the innovation of design concept, design inspiration and design direction in modern fashion design.

Photograph by J. R .Eyerman. The LIFE Picture Collection

I chose an image of an audience in 3D glasses at the premiere screening of Bwana Devil from the book ‘ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM’ which edited by David Anfam, the first full-length 3D film in colour, at the Paramount Theater, Hollywood, 26 November 1952. Everybody looks so happy, but what attracts me most is the laughing woman who is the highlight of this picture.

Then I found a show of Rebecca Minkoff that you need 3D glasses to fully experience these clothes. Models and audience members wore 3D glasses as dim lighting was used at the end of the Rebecca Minkoff Spring 2015 collection show during Fashion Week, Friday, September 5, 2014, in New York.

Image: AP Photo/Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

To further my research, I googled ‘the application of 3D technology in clothing’ and found that The Hong Kong University of science and technology successfully developed the “3D garment design computer simulation system”, through the scanning type data, computer programs to the human body more than thousand parameter data for accurate adjustment, and preview the simulation fitting, to achieve “tailor-made” fitting effect.

Reference and bibliography

[1] David Anfam, Susan Davidson (2016) Abstract Expressionism, London: Royal Academy of Arts

[2]Stephanie Buck, You Need 3D Glasses to Fully Experience These Clothes, Available from: http://mashable.com/2014/09/05/rebecca-minkoff-3d-fashion/#YLFRxdsMMsqX [Accessed 05 September 2014]

[3]Jiayi Long, HKUST 3D simulation test online to buy Shirts more satisfactory, Available from: http://paper.wenweipo.com/2013/05/27/ED1305270002.htm [Accessed 27 May 2013]