Future Petroleum by Annika Kappner at Marres

Future Petroleum by Annika Kappner at Marres during FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Future Petroleum by Annika Kappner is an installation performance adapted for The Painted Bird at Marres to create a multi-sensorial tableau vivant that envelops the viewers. The work explores the layering of perception and the consumption of experiences offered by the fashion and entertainment industries, the corporate world and the art world. It wonders what form of energy source the vast stream of images that are created and consumed on a daily basis will eventually yield.

Annika Kappner (DE, 1980) crafts multi-sensory experiences in the extended field of painting, by reverting principles of virtual and digital realities into the analogue realm to create glitches in perception. Prompted by her experience as an investment banker, her work targets the evolution of consciousness in relation to mental patterns and the underlying forces that shape their systemic counterparts in nature, visual arts, technology and science. She is a co-founder of the cross-modal artist collective Elephants & Volcanoes.

Performers: Fina Anjou (SE), Nicola Baratto (IT), Karolien Buurman (NL), Arie de Fijter (BE), Aurélien Lepetit (FR).

Future Petroleum is made with the support of the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts). The performance is part of Fashion Makes Sense, the 9th edition of FASHIONCLASH Festival in Maastricht (June 29 – July 2).

All pictures by Karen Kikkert

Dreams and Nightmares of Europe

The Painted Bird is a joint art work by Marie Aly, Cian Yu Bai, Bonno van Doorn, Kim David Bots, Gijs Frieling, Natasja Kensmil Klaas Kloosterboer, Mirthe Klück, Frank Koolen, Fiona Lutje House, Charlott Markus, Kalle Mattsson, Jan the Pavert, Tanja Ritterbex Sam Samiee, Charlotte Schleiffert, Derk Thijs, Sarah Verbeek, Helen Verhoeven, Evi Vingerling and Job Wouters.

Europe 2017. Are we dancing on a volcano? Are renewed nationalism, xenophobia, the distrust of politics and democracy, the arrival of refugees, and economic insecurity preparing us for a terrible meltdown? It is well possible. It shouldering give us hope for this project, since the best art is produced on the verge of despair, When civilizations crumble and we’re about to shift into a new world order.

Marres Maastricht produced a spectacular mural about Europe by nineteen artists who have painted all rooms, corridors, the stairwell, floors and ceilings of the historic Marres House. Having a surface area of ​​about 750 m2, the painting depicts a series of beautiful and frightening environments, zoals a high-tech clone supermarket, the last surviving piece of primeval forest, a Berlin love and hippie fest space, a spider portrait corridor, a new life festival in the year 2050. Gijs Frieling directed the modern Gesamtkunstwerk. The artists Frank and Kim Koolen David Bots developed a comprehensive soundtrack, and Charlott Markus and Kalle Mattsson make a publication.

The exhibition is part of the series of immersive exhibits at Marres previous instalments or How many followers included The Winter Anti Depression Show (2014) and Levi Veluw: The Relativity of Matter (2015).

http://www.marres.org

Zarvich from Uruguay

Meet Zarvich, a new brand from Uruguay, formed by designers Vivian Sulimovich and Florencina Gómez de Salazar. They have won Lumina 11 contest by Punta Carretas in Montevideo. Their price was participation at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017 in Maastricht.
They presented their stunning collection Fungi.

How would you define fashion?
Florencia: Fashion is indefinite and volatile; it presents infinite options and changes constantly. It is a reflection of our society; an act of expression. For us designers, it is an exercise of sensitivity that helps us transform an ideal into something material. It has to do with beauty, tradition, luxury… but also with dreams.
Vivian: Fashion is one of the institutions that creates meaning. It compiles a sociological document that deals with the sensitivity of an era; with the important causes of social change and dominant lifestyles.




What fascinates/inspires you and why?
Florencia: Everything that surrounds us can be a source of inspiration; it depends on the sensitivity with which we perceive it. There is not one thing or person in particular. We always have to be alert and surprised by the world around us.
Vivian: My inspiration shifts and is usually related to daily life’s necessities. In an aesthetic level, I am often seduced by architecture.

Finding your own distinctive voice can be difficult, where and how do you find your personal creativity (before you start designing/during the design process)?
Florencia: I think creativity has to be trained and the only way to generate something different is through experimentation, and that takes a lot of work. Any path is a challenge; we live in a very competitive world. We have to celebrate difficulties because that is what pushes us to become the best version of ourselves. If you want results, you have to go the extra mile to stand out. You sacrifice a lot, but it is worth it.

What challenges did you face during the design process?
Florencia: Not having a team to carry out the work efficiently; one that has the appropriate technical knowhow and that you can trust will deliver in a satisfactory and timely manner.
Vivian: The most difficult part usually is managing the project; to coordinate the different work teams and ensure everyone delivers in due time and form.

Maarten van Mulken wins RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017

Maastricht based designer Maarten van Mulken won the RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017 by Pascal Baillien

Radikal Film is an experienced creative film studio of director Pascal Baillien. Recently nominated for the Berlin Fashion Film festival and very experienced in productions, that bring music, art and fashion together, he has a strong ability and vision to translate stories into film.

Together with Maarten they will create a new fashion film that will premiere in November during the FFFF - FASHIONCLASH Fashion Film Festival (3 and 4 November 2017 in Maastricht).

www.radikalfilm.tv

Maarten van Mulken show at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017, photography Team Peter Stigter

Coffee Break Story #5

Together with our partner Coffeelovers we will be sharing a Coffee Break Story almost every Sunday as of the 4th of June! 5 Local designers who are part of FabricAge will be sharing their “Cup of Inspiration” and “What tickles their fashion senses”. 

Our last Coffee Break is with: 

Maarten van Mulken | www.maartenvanmulken.co | WINNER RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017

Maarten Van Mulken, 26, is a Dutch fashion designer living in Maastricht. Last year he graduated from the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts & Design (MAFAD). This year he will be introducing his new womenswear collection at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017. Next to creating own collections, he is working as a costume designer for a theatre, which fits perfectly with how he likes to design. He is thrilled with a project like FabricAge, where nobody is left out, and everyone can participate. Together with the rest of the team, he came up with the design that withholds three different kinds of crafts, creating a ‘gesammtkunstwerk’.

Photo: Team Peter Stigter

LAGOM by MIJ x MILA HALIZOVA

Dance performance "LAGOM" brings the art of contemporary dance and fashion on the stage to speculate on consumption. Consumerism in everyday life, creativity and consciousness. Minimalist aesthetics in a confrontation with a perversion of excess. What is the highest level of consumption and where it could bring you? Through dance exploration, plastic experiments and various techniques of contemporary and urban dance MIJ asks these questions and comes to an unexpected answers from the side of art. One of the most essential part of our work is the outfit: its absence or presence, minimalism or overbalance, preciseness or mess. Clothes become a metaphor of the main idea and are designed by young Russian designer Mila Halizova, the follower of minimalist style, non-linear forms and restraint based on the idea of «Deceptive simplicity». What is LAGOM? We explore different cultures and their attitude to life, art, design, space, way of thinking and consumerism to find an ultimate example of relationship between human and nature, human and society, human and its inner world. Lagom is a uniquely Swedish term, that doesn’t have an English equivalent. Popular etymological translation is “around the team” meaning enough food or drink for everyone at the table. Lagom is “Just enough,” “Not too much or too little,” “Just right,” “Enough to go around,” “Fair share”. It indicates balance. The value of "just enough" can be compared to the idiom "less is more”.

Photos: Team Peter Stigter

Raya van der Kroon - Pretty Exposed

Pretty Exposed performance by Raya van der Kroon presented in the Fashion Makes Sense LAB, during the Afterparty of FASHIONCLASH Festival Pretty Exposed is a project by Raya van der Kroon, featuring designers Nine Parre - Deniece Clermonts & performers Emma Haniotis Riccetto - Aziza Prameswara - Vanessa Ntinu. ‘Is female nakedness in nightlife clothing a result of sexualisation or female empowerment?’ As an i-Arts graduate I dove into the history of unclothing, the growth of new feminism, and the use of nakedness as a tool for either protest or attraction. Engaging into highly revealing sceneries - the nightlife of Amsterdam and of Rio de Janeiro - I concluded that my vision on contemporary femininity is a fusion of both places and their characteristics. Whereas Amsterdam is trying to re-incorporate femininity into feminism, Rio is striving for more social equality within their sensual culture: both are longing for a balance between sexiness and empowerment. The balance and combination of the terms is the core of this work: the visualization of the sensual feminist, the combination of Amsterdam and Rio. This idea is translated into a nightlife clothing collection, presented through an immersive performance, a magazine and exhibition.

Photos: Team Peter Stigter

Pleun van Dijk - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Pleun van Dijk is a young multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Rotterdam. She graduated from The Design Academy Eindhoven and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. By observing and analyzing moments of transition within society she tries to create new thoughts and show a different perspective on a topic. By taking new ideas out of the abstract and giving shape to a possible outcome she wants to give the viewer the possibility to anticipate on the new developments before they sneak up on us.

Pleun doesn't call her work „fashion” in the traditional meaning of the word. Most of her work is about the relations between human body and fashion in the sense of sculpting our body in itself.
Her biggest personal achievement so far has been her graduation project called “Reborn” and the follow up project “Transcience”. Exhibition wise she would say the Graduation show during the Dutch Design week, the For Play exhibition at MU and recently the DAE #tvclerici expo during Salone del Mobile in Milano  were the highlights of her career. At the moment she’s working on some freelance jobs and she is busy finishing her Artist in Residency at Springhouse (Amsterdam), where she started a new research on the future of human procreation. One of the most inspiring and challenging projects Pleun recently did is helping her brother/filmmaker Bram van Dijk with the production of his graduation movie which will be released this summer.
Pleun's biggest struggle as a young designer/artist is to find ways to produce new work. After graduation she realized how hard it is to find the time and focus to dive into a new topic, do a proper research and transform this into a new project. The reality of having a side job and working as a freelancer gives her often the feeling of loosing time and running around between all different projects.
The thing she loves most about her profession, if she had to choose only one thing, would be having the opportunity to give the viewer a new perspective on a certain topic, and make them speculate about certain things by triggering their imagination on possible future scenarios.

A.P.monde - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

photo Christina Stohn

Meet Anja Perisic. She designs Kimonos for her brand A.P.monde, She also designs costumes for stage productions and develops patterns for the brand Ann Demeulemeester. 9 years ago she finished her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee. Anja was born in Sarajevo, but grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. She lived in Berlin for a while and now she’s back in Belgium. Anja always knew that she wanted to work in the field of design. She grew up between art galleries and theaters. Choosing to make design her profession felt very natural for her. The real surprise was starting her own business. She has worked for great minds like Ann Demeulemeester, Terry Gilliam, Christoph Waltz and Jan Fabre. But winning Fashion One’s first season of Design Genius gave her the mental and financial boost she needed to create her own brand, so far Anja’s biggest pride and joy. At the moment Anja is designing the next A.P.monde collection. She’s developing patterns for Ann Demeulemeester 2018 and she’s mentoring a master costume design program at the Antwerp Academy. The thing she loves most about her profession is how we need to go through various stages in order to develop a new design. Research, sourcing, drawing, experimenting (when there is time), development of a collection, shoots, marketing, sales, and then it all starts all over again. Each time the journey takes you somewhere new and unexpected. That to Anja is exhilarating.

SENSES AND FASHION - INSPIRATION

“Fashion is about bodies; it is produced, promoted and worn by bodies. It is the body that fashion speaks to and it is the body that must be addressed in almost all social encounters”  (Entwistle, 2000).

·         “With aging, sensations may be reduced or changed. These changes can occur because of decreased blood flow to the nerve endings or to the spinal cord or brain. The spinal cord transmits nerve signals and the brain interprets these signals.” Pen State Hershey

 “Sensation is fundamental to our experience of the world. Shaped by culture, gender, and class, the senses mediate between mind and the body, idea and object, self and environment.” - The Senses and Society

         "Fashion in the context of art makes sense as an evolving form which offers ongoing exploration in understanding the self and in helping me to create connections with others through shared experience." – Jo Cope

        "The senses are one of the things that make us more sensitive as human beings, connecting us to experiences in an intimate way. The sense of the self and the relationship and development of the inner being and how that might be projected outwardly is explored in some of my work." – Jo Cope

        "Does fashion make sense if the quality of the products is low, the labor conditions are poor and it harms the environment terribly? The psychology behind fashion has become less about quality or durability and more about being fast, cheap and easy to replace." – SHI[R]T.

·         "It is inevitable to think of the human body, in any aspect of fashion, without the relation to the senses. They are meant to be provoked, teased and challenged to a game that will result in pure pleasure." – LUDUS

·         "Clothing is in a close relation to the human body because of its tangibility. Body feels the fabric and decides whether it will accept it or not. When they match, they become one. Clothing and fabrics shape the body reacting differently on each person. Clothing serves the body's appearance and also helps a person to express themselves." – NIKA TOM

·       “Clothing, as an extension of the skin, can be seen both as a heat-control mechanism and a means of defining the self socially.” - Marshall McLuhan

Foam of the days - FASHIONCLASH Festival

Kristina Ivkovic is a young designer from Serbia who recently graduated from the  Academy of Fine Arts Brera, Milan. In 2011, she co-founded Skochypstiks, a parkour clothing brand and she plans on moving to London soon to launch her new brand Foam of the days, which will be showcased for the first time at FASHIONCLASH Festival.