Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture

This afternoon BG and I visited the Skin + Bones exhibit at MOCA. I have wanted to see this since it first opened in November of last year. Living in LA has one giant disadvantage (everybody knows about the traffic so that doesn't count anymore): There Are Too Darn Many Things To Do! Yesterday I remembered this exhibit was closing imminently (next weekend to be exact). I don't mind doing things like this on my own, but it's always nicer to have company. So I emailed BG who works in the fashion industry, and as I have a background in architecture, what better combination to view this exhibit together.

I am a MOCA member and as I am not a big fan of much of their art, every year I threaten to cancel my membership. But just as I decide to do that, something like this comes along and I realize why they need my support. So, okay MOCA, you suckered me for another year, just in the nick of time, as usual.

From beginning to end this exhibit is well-designed, thoughtful and fun. I was hooked at the entrance with several mannequins (or is that womannequins, maybe not...) in a circle dressed in ever-increasingly covered-up outfits, the final mannequin looking like her head was popping up out of a sofa. In fact, many of the styles looked like people wearing sofas. Hey, this would be fine with me and I could probably get a discount as I already have the padding.... One video display showed models removing chair covers and turning them into dresses as they put them on. Very clever.

I was particularly impressed with the idea of showing floorplans of buildings alongside patterns for clothing. As BG noted, it's all about engineering. One theme in the exhibit is how much modern architecture (in particular) is akin to fashioning a dress with all the tucking, pleating and pinning of the architectural materials. Of course, Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall (across the street from MOCA) is front and center with that comparison.

This exhibit is large, visually overwhelming and not for the faint of heart. Two-thirds of the way through I felt dizzy and wondered if my vision had suddenly changed. I took off my glasses in the hope that not seeing everything so clearly might help, and strangely, it did. (Note to self: remember I am not in my twenties anymore and weird things happen!) So I made it through to the end and happy I did, although I did not see one dress made out of ceramic tiles which I thought was clearly a missed opportunity.

So now my question is, which came first? Did the early humans start making shelters first (and I don't mean diving into a cave when it rained or standing under a tree to get out of the sun)? Or was a piece of clothing the first item of industry? I feel as though it must have been the latter, and once they got the hang of making clothing, extended it to housing. Perhaps starting with a patio right outside the cave for a summer barby???

So much art makes one hungry so we drove back to Culver City and stopped at the Cafe Brasil on Venice Blvd. just west of Overland across from Culver Center (and officially in Los Angeles, I believe, although Culver City and Los Angeles do the tango for several miles along that stretch, so it hardly matters). There is a nice blog here about Cafe Brasil which says it all as well as I can. BG ordered the flank steak and I had the Picante Catfish. Whenever catfish is on the menu there is no other choice for me. Catfish is really good or really bad, there is no in between. Fortunately, this restaurant happens to do catfish excellently. Along with everything else, including a good cup of Brazilian coffee with a crystallized sugar swizel stick that I can't resist.

So, another day, another adventure, comes to an end.

My First Light Switch Plate.

I just picked this light switch plate up from the kiln. Of course now I see all my mistakes but that's good as next time I won't make them. I'm happy with it anyway. I'm experimenting with tag-alongs which are small ceramic (unpainted bisque) pieces glued to the base tile with glaze.

(All photos and designs on this blog copyright roslyn m wilkins and not to be used without permission.)

How I got interested in Roman mosaics.

I have a very vivid memory of a field trip to a Roman Villa somewhere in the south of England when I was a child. I remember the remains of some walls perhaps a foot high surrounding some mosaics. One mosaic in particular of stylized plants in blues and greens stands out in my mind. I remember nothing about the rest of the trip, just that flash. I didn't ever actually think actively about that scene, but it must have remained tucked away in some corner of my brain, because when it came to the forefront again a couple of years ago, it was not a surprise to me that it had been lurking there all my life.

Even before I became interested in painting ceramic tiles or collecting them, I was fond of a book in my library on Islamic architecture which of course incorporated photos of tiles and mosaics. I bought it at least thirty years ago and looked at it often over the years, but it did not bring forth that childhood memory. Even when I traveled to Andalucia, Spain because I wanted to see the tiles and mosaics at the Alhambra in Granada and the Great Mosque at Sevilla, I did not think of that mosaic.

But in my first year of classes in the Archaeology Program at UCLA, the students were asked by one of the professors to talk about our specific area of interest. The memory of that mosaic popped into my head and I knew that was why I had signed up for the program. Since then I have developed a true passion for ancient mosaics, particularly from the Roman Empire. This ties in nicely, of course, with my love of tiles. And now, after a lifetime, I know for sure what my mission in life is: to find out anything and everything I can about mosaics and tiles, to immerse myself in that subject. But I don't have a specific goal. Perhaps I will find that as I walk along the path... or maybe there is no goal. It doesn't really matter. I am enjoying my passion, and that is exactly what it is all about.

Postscript:
I lived in Worthing, Sussex when I visited the Villa, so the excavation must have been close by. If anybody has any information about where this might have been I would appreciate hearing from you.

Hand-Painted Tiles
The information for my class at West LA College Extension has now been posted on their website. The class runs March 3 and 10, 2007. You may click here for more information and to sign up for the class. (My class is at the bottom of the page.)