Surface Design Journal Spring 2005

Editorial: The Body: Subject and Object

It's a gray morning in early February, and I'm taking a break from the struggle to write this editorial. The mail has come, and I'm happy to find a hand-addressed envelope among the catalogs and bills. Ripping the envelope open, I pull out a photocopied image of a wedding dress arranged in a seductive position-there's no message but a title, Memory and Desire.* It's a Valentine made by an artist, and just the inspiration I need. Suggesting the evocative power of clothing as an independent entity, the image affirms an aspect of what this issue is about.

Since the Journal regularly features artists using surface design for clothing, we decided to focus the issue not only on wearable objects but also on the prevalent trend of using clothing as a subject for sculpture and installation art. So, what follows traces a continuum ranging from clothing as fashion to clothing as conceptual content for art. Reaching across the spectrum is concern for the body, whether as a living armature for cloth constructions or a virtual presence inhabiting self-sufficient garment-like forms.

At its best, straightforward clothing design balances functionality and expression. Regardless of how their silhouettes may depart from the actual lines of the body, successful garments are attuned to bodily proportions and movement. As for expression, there is no doubt that luxurious clothes like those designed by Marian Clayden (see pages 18-23) would bring drama into any room they might enter. However, quietly elegant apparel such as one of Jane Sisco's dresses (pages 12-17) also makes a strong statement. Even the simplest, most unassuming clothes reflect the personalities of designers and wearers, the lifestyles they are meant to support, the cultural climates and seasons in which they emerge.

But the garment's relation to the actual body is just the beginning. Clothing has a voice that extends beyond the life of its wearer. Think of vintage clothes in attics and thrift shops that speak movingly of past times and purposes. Or the haunting enigma of a fugitive glove in the middle of a highway. At some point, a garment's role as outward manifestation of a person becomes that of witness to corporeal existence.

Many artists who are neither fashion designers nor specialists in fiber have become aware of the eloquence of clothing in its own right. Through researching what covers the body, they have uncovered meanings implicit in dress. Numerous artists, for example, have found that traditional wedding gowns and the rituals surrounding them provide rich resources for creative exploration. Examining what is normally private, other artists have realized that undergarments can be potent symbols of public attitudes. The gender-specific Victorian corset, for example, is laden with cultural information and associations. Artists' deconstructions/reconstructions of corsets have brought forth significant social commentary.

As always, the artists and works represented here are only a sampling of a critical mass. The rest is all out there for you to discover.

* Martha Posner, an artist whose work was the subject of an article in SDJ (Spring 1998) by Hildreth York, made the Valentine.