Showing posts with label Textile Arts Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Textile Arts Council. Show all posts
June 8, 2021
February 1, 2018
Obiko ~ Craft of the Costume art-to-wear fashion show
This is the second part of an entry I wrote about a vinyl LP, the soundtrack to the film, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, with a score by Philip Glass (link to part one below). I used the intro to the film for this fashion show I produced for Sandra Sakata (link below) of the San Francisco art-to-wear boutique, Obiko.
Craft of the Costume - 1992
program cover
photo by Styrous®
The event was held on August 5, 1992, as a benefit for The San Francisco Craft & Folk Art Museum at Fort Mason also in San Francisco. It featured Obiko designers and was held in the
Cowell Theater also at Fort Mason.
The show had been in production for several months. Usually I was only in charge of the production, choreogrphy, music, lighting and coordination of it all for the show but this time I was chosen to design the set for the production as well. My design was simple; sparse, etherial and airy with only spots of white fabric stratigically placed on the stage to be lit with various colors at various times during the show.
A week before the show, we were told a play was to be staged the day AFTER our show, however, the set was in the process of being built as it was a large set that would take time to construct. I figured, OK, I can work with whatever they had; so, I went to see the construction only to discover the play was set in the Midwest and took place in a farmhouse. Totally, unetherial, unsparse and unairy. I thought to myself, "𝕱µ©∑!"
But I solved the problem by having Obiko designer, Arial Bloom, open the show as a mid-west housewife sweeping her porch, falling asleep then dancer, Agusta Moore, visiting her in a dream. The costume Moore is wearing was designed by Kayla Kennington.
The video below is the opening of the fashion show. The complete video of the show is in the archives of the Textile Arts Council of the M. H. de Young Museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
photo by Geoffrey Moore
The video below is the opening of the fashion show. The complete video of the show is in the archives of the Textile Arts Council of the M. H. de Young Museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
Craft of the Costume opening video
music by Philip Glass
costume by Kayla Kennington
music by Philip Glass
costume by Kayla Kennington
The lighting was designed by Phillip Hofstetter (link below) and the video was shot by Don Bright.
Viewfinder links:
Viewfinder links:
Part One: Philip Glass ~ Mishima
Obiko
Yukio Mishima
Philip Glass
Phillip Hofstetter
Styrous® & Fashion
Obiko
Yukio Mishima
Philip Glass
Phillip Hofstetter
Styrous® & Fashion
Styrous® ~ Thursday, February 1, 2018
August 29, 2017
September 13, 2016
Beemer Memory 13: Betty Davis, Kaisik Wong & Sandra Sakata ~ They were different
costume by Kaisik Wong
cover photo by Mel Dixon
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
Around
the middle of July in 1979, fantasy clothing designer, Kaisik Wong, was
preparing for a fashion show he was producing on the 25th of that
month. It was to be presented at the Hilton Hotel in Caracas, Venezuela.
In addition to the fashsions he was creating and sewing together, he
was trying to put together the actual show itself; and he was not having
a very good time with that. In a panic he contacted Gene Weber, a
photographer, for any kind of help he could recommend.
I had done some underwater photography for Weber as well as some modeling. I was recovering from a back injury while dancing two years earlier (Beemer 5 link below). In the recovery time I was making a living with stage productions which was supported by my music knowledge.
Weber told Kaisik he knew just the fellow that could help him out and introduced me to him. I began working with a man who would change my life forever.
I had done some underwater photography for Weber as well as some modeling. I was recovering from a back injury while dancing two years earlier (Beemer 5 link below). In the recovery time I was making a living with stage productions which was supported by my music knowledge.
Weber told Kaisik he knew just the fellow that could help him out and introduced me to him. I began working with a man who would change my life forever.
1950-1990
photographer unknown
I
had never seen a fashion show before; all my experience was in
performance, acting, dancing, theater, etc. I looked at his designs and
in my head heard the sound I wanted to hear when I viewed them.
I spent the next week or so working with Kaisik on his show, looking at his designs knowing I'd seen something like what he was doing somewhere. It took me a while, then suddenly it clicked one day! I didn't say anything but that night I went back to my studio then to the record shelves to look for . . . what? In what I can only describe as a semi-conscious state, I reached out and pulled this album from a shelf. I looked at it with amazement and took it with me the next day when I went back to work with Kaisik.
When I showed the album to him he was astonished! Yes, it was his design. That was the day he began telling me about all the adventures he had while designing costumes for some of the biggest singers in the business as well as others.
I spent the next week or so working with Kaisik on his show, looking at his designs knowing I'd seen something like what he was doing somewhere. It took me a while, then suddenly it clicked one day! I didn't say anything but that night I went back to my studio then to the record shelves to look for . . . what? In what I can only describe as a semi-conscious state, I reached out and pulled this album from a shelf. I looked at it with amazement and took it with me the next day when I went back to work with Kaisik.
When I showed the album to him he was astonished! Yes, it was his design. That was the day he began telling me about all the adventures he had while designing costumes for some of the biggest singers in the business as well as others.
He told me about taking dresses to Tina Turner in her dressing room during shows when she was still with Ike; seems that other than Tina, it wasn't a whole lot of fun.
He recounted his adventures in Spain when he met the great Catalon artist, Salvador Dalí in 1969 and when he and Steven Arnold (more below), a protégé of Dalí, assisted the master in the embellishment and inauguration of his Teatro-Museo Dalí in the mid 70's. Dali commissioned Wong to create his signature work, Red Ray, one of The Seven Rays series.
When we were working on his show, sometimes I took Kaisik around to pick up items he needed for his designs. Neither of us had a car so we went on my bike; he loved riding around on it with me, holding onto the back of my jacket. I loved it when I heard him hoot and holler the first time. He rode excellent pillion!
Well, he went off to Caracas with the music I'd put together for his fashion show; unfortunately, I couldn't go with it. When Kaisik returned he said the people went crazy over his designs and the music I'd used. It was nothing like any they'd seen or heard before in a fashion show. I thought, "Great!" then didn't think of it any further.
Kaisik worked for an art-to-wear salon in San Francisco called, Obiko, owned and operated by Sandra Sakata. In March of 1980, Sakata was preparing for her very first fashion show (Beemer Memory 14 link below). The clothing for the show was furiously being designed and created but production for the actual show was not going well. In desperation she asked Kaisik if he knew of any one who could help with the music. He told her about me; I met Sandra and we proceeded to produce our very first fashion show together. Obiko, Sandra and I were on the way to an almost 20 year history of stellar, theatrical fashion shows that have never been equaled. I produced the Obiko shows until Sandra died in 1997.
He recounted his adventures in Spain when he met the great Catalon artist, Salvador Dalí in 1969 and when he and Steven Arnold (more below), a protégé of Dalí, assisted the master in the embellishment and inauguration of his Teatro-Museo Dalí in the mid 70's. Dali commissioned Wong to create his signature work, Red Ray, one of The Seven Rays series.
photo by Allan Warren
When we were working on his show, sometimes I took Kaisik around to pick up items he needed for his designs. Neither of us had a car so we went on my bike; he loved riding around on it with me, holding onto the back of my jacket. I loved it when I heard him hoot and holler the first time. He rode excellent pillion!
Well, he went off to Caracas with the music I'd put together for his fashion show; unfortunately, I couldn't go with it. When Kaisik returned he said the people went crazy over his designs and the music I'd used. It was nothing like any they'd seen or heard before in a fashion show. I thought, "Great!" then didn't think of it any further.
Kaisik worked for an art-to-wear salon in San Francisco called, Obiko, owned and operated by Sandra Sakata. In March of 1980, Sakata was preparing for her very first fashion show (Beemer Memory 14 link below). The clothing for the show was furiously being designed and created but production for the actual show was not going well. In desperation she asked Kaisik if he knew of any one who could help with the music. He told her about me; I met Sandra and we proceeded to produce our very first fashion show together. Obiko, Sandra and I were on the way to an almost 20 year history of stellar, theatrical fashion shows that have never been equaled. I produced the Obiko shows until Sandra died in 1997.
The last piece in the first Obiko fashion show, Red Ray, was commissioned by Salvadore Dalí. It was one of many designs by Kaisik Wong that have found their way into the collection of the Textile Arts Council of the M. H. de Young Museum.
Kaisik Wong ~ Red Ray (1974)
Kaisik Wong ~ Orchid Dress, ca. 1976
shown in the first Obiko fashion show
Textile Arts Council
M. H. de Young Museum
shown in the first Obiko fashion show
Textile Arts Council
M. H. de Young Museum
Kaisik Wong ~ photographer
Wong designed the costumes for the 1981 film, Fruits of Passion, directed by Shūji Terayama and starring Klaus Kinski. The film is loosely based on the novel Retour à Roissy by Pauline Réage, written as a sequel to the Story of O. The story takes place in southern China where Sir Stephen (Kinski) owns a casino. Sir Stephen
places O (sabelle Illiers) in a Chinese brothel for "training" and O is then subjected to a
variety of humiliating experiences to prove her unconditional
obedience. A sub-plot concerns a coolie rebellion due to the resentment
towards Europeans by the local population and a young man desperate to
afford O's favors at the brothel (links to more info).
Steven Arnold was an artist of various media. There is a video of one of his works, Luminous Procuress on YouTube (link below). The Procuress leads two young men through a surreal peepshow of fantastic, bizarre, androgynous, mystical, spiritual, and sexual vignettes. Arnold’s surrealistic fantasy, was lauded by Dali and Andy Warhol, among others. The Village Voice called the film ‘a tour de force of the imagination – a journey through peekboxes of naked tableaux, theatres of mechanical dreams, feasts of monsters and piles of humanity.’
Kaisik Wong died in 1990. In 2002, the star of the house of Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquiere, copied the work of Wong. Although this happens all the time, when someone is caught at it, this is a sin in the fashion industry. It created an international incident in the fashion world (link below). Ghesquiere created a patchwork vest in his spring collection that resembled one that Wong had designed in 1973. He admitted in an interview in Paris that he had copied the garment.
Fruits of Passion - 1981
Steven Arnold was an artist of various media. There is a video of one of his works, Luminous Procuress on YouTube (link below). The Procuress leads two young men through a surreal peepshow of fantastic, bizarre, androgynous, mystical, spiritual, and sexual vignettes. Arnold’s surrealistic fantasy, was lauded by Dali and Andy Warhol, among others. The Village Voice called the film ‘a tour de force of the imagination – a journey through peekboxes of naked tableaux, theatres of mechanical dreams, feasts of monsters and piles of humanity.’
Luminous Procuress - poster
Kaisik Wong died in 1990. In 2002, the star of the house of Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquiere, copied the work of Wong. Although this happens all the time, when someone is caught at it, this is a sin in the fashion industry. It created an international incident in the fashion world (link below). Ghesquiere created a patchwork vest in his spring collection that resembled one that Wong had designed in 1973. He admitted in an interview in Paris that he had copied the garment.
Kaisik Wong vest (1973)
Net links:
Golden Haze ~ The Wearable art of Kaisik Wong
LA Times ~ Kaisik Wong: Still Dazzling
New York Times ~ Is Copying Really a Part of the Creative Process?
Kaisik Wong ~ TumblrNew York Times ~ Is Copying Really a Part of the Creative Process?
Kaisik Wong ~ Wearable Art For Gods and Goddesses
Fruits of Passion (complete) on YouTube
Fruits of Passion credits on imdb
Steven Arnold ~ Luminous Procuress on thethird-eye.co.uk
Betty Davis, They Say I'm Different
costume by Kaisik Wong
vinyl LP
cover photo by Mel Dixon
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
costume by Kaisik Wong
vinyl LP
cover photo by Mel Dixon
detail photo of cover by Styrous®
"I think the whole body should be a jeweled, radiating beauty."
~ Kaisik Wong: 1950-1990
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, September 13, 2016
September 13, 2015
Body as Agent: Changing Fashion Art
Last night I caught the opening of a new exhibition that features wearable-art at the Richmond Art Center. The exhibition runs from September 12 to November 15, 2015.
Work was shown by many of the original designers from the iconic Art-to-Wear store from the early 70's to the mid 80's, Obiko, Sandra Sakata was the inspiration for the store and encouraged the designer/artists who showed in her store. The Textile Arts Council at the San Francisco De Young Museum is in the process of documenting and conserving work from that period (link to more info on the TAC below).
The exhibition shows wearable art but has added the vibrations of upcycling which enhances the visual vocabulary of artists. In addition, this exhibition of California artists further expands notions of clothing to include works of art with garment forms serving as metaphors for social, political and social issues as found in painting, photography, print making and sculpture.
announcements & acknowledgements
Richard (Ric) Ambrose Inez Brooks-Myers
Executive Director Vice President
Executive Director Vice President
modeling of the new art-to-wear
and of course, the public
Proffessor - Video, CCA textile sculptor .
the show
shoe sculptures
Carmen Lang
Carmen Lang
"Russian Doll"
Janet Lipkin
Janet Lipkin
Kristine Mays wire sculptures; with her mom, left
The Textile Arts Council
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco CA 94118
Tue thru Sun, 9:30am — 5:15pm
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco CA 94118
Tue thru Sun, 9:30am — 5:15pm
Ya gotta catch THIS show!
Styrous® ~ Sunday, September 13, 2015
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