Last year, V Magazine sent over clothes to Ai Weiwei from 14 young designers carried by Dover Street Market, Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo’s concept store. The Chinese artist was given carte blanche to shoot the garments in any way he saw so he took the opportunity to reference his 2006/2008 Colored Vases series by using the same colors splashed on models wearing what he was sent.
You can read more about the collaboration here, but AWW states – “Pouring a color on an outfit creates a new condition for the design. It creates a midpoint between two conflicting ideas. Gravity and the shape of the clothes combine to create a unique moment. Using these cultural products as ready-mades celebrates and reinterprets the intention of creativity. I think this act shows my respect toward their creativity. For the last ten years, these 14 colors have existed in our studio color chart for the production of Colored Vases. It’s a complete coincidence that we had these 14 colors for exactly 14 outfits.”
Via Beautiful/Decay & Hyperallergic.
Discuss Ai Weiwei here.
