PRE-STIMULIS - Opening FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

PRE-STIMULIS
A project by FASHIONCLASH & MAFAD, in collaboration with the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts
The opening of FASHIONCLASH Festival took place on Thursday 29th of June at the Forza Fashion House in the LAB Building/Het Radium. This was also the official opening of the The Forza Fashion House, the new breeding ground for creative, cultural and entrepreneurial Maastricht and also the new FASHIONCLASH office. Directed by theatre makers Joost Horward and Nina Willems the evening contained interdisciplinary performances and installations by students from MAFAD and Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts.

PRE-STIMULIS Project
Specially for the opening of the festival, FASHIONCLASH teamed up with MAFAD (Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design). In the context of the new design curriculum ‘BODY, OBJECT & MATERIAL’, the second-year BODY design students were assigned to do artistic research on the ‘senses’ in relation to the festival’s theme 'Fashion Makes Sense'. In addition, each student has been connected to one or two students from the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts. Based on the research of the design students, each team developed a concept in which they expressed their vision and findings on the ‘senses’ and new ways how to create an enriched embodied experience for the audience.

Marcel van Kan (MAFAD) and Branko Popovic (FASHIONCLASH), togehter with Joost Horward and Nina Willems coached the students during the proces of research and execution of the performances. The project concluded in nine participatory installations / performances.

Participants Students MAFAD: Ashley Luypaers, Max Niereisel, María Voth Velasco, Michelle Cornelissen, Dana Lipka, Julina Bezold, Natalia Rumiantseva, Empar Juanes Sanchis

Students the Maastricht Academy of Performing Arts: Anthony van Gog, Nora Ramakers, Diederik Kreike, Izak Berman, Luca Meisters, Anna Luca da Silva, Maarten Heijnens, Caro Derkx, Mees Walter, Maxime Dreesen, Anoek Oostermeijer

Photography: Team Peter Stigter

1. Michelle Cornelissen & Nora Ramakers
H2O  (ρ = m / V + 70 °C) - sin α = 1 . λ/d (c=f.λ)
Colour Fluctus, part 9

Colour Fluctus part 9 registers an unique footprint, captured by colour. The movement, translated by the pigments, shows a timetable and controls the colours and patterns. The impact of the movement becomes visible once the colour is poured into the water. At the same time, we archive and measure the body movements as manifestations of emotions. The pattern is a memory of this particular moment and tells a story about one's character.  
Performers: Laura Hogeweg, Froukje de Boer, Nora Ramakers, Michelle Cornelissen

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

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

FASHIONCLASH & UAL

COLLABORATIVE UNIT PROJECT: FASHION MAKES SENSE

IN COLLABORATION WITH STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON (UAL) – LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION 

FASHIONCLASH is always looking to collaborate with future fashion talent. During the Collaborative Unit Project, we challenged the minds and creativity of the students of the University of the Arts London (UAL), London College of Fashion. FASHIONCLASH worked closely with students Caroline Zaidan, Isabelle Violet Thibault, Susanne James and Eleftheria Karipidi on the topic ‘Fashion Makes Sense’, this year’s FASHIONCLASH Festival theme. They were challenged to research the engagement between fashion and the body/senses. And they needed to engage with the public on the issue: How can fashion (designers, consumers, and the industry) nowadays actually connect with the body and human beings instead of being just a simple aesthetic of a symbolic phenomenon?

Collaborative Unit Project: Introducing Isabelle Violet Thibault & Eleftheria Karipidi

BLOG #2: Introducing Isabelle Violet Thibault & Eleftheria Karipidi

COLLABORATIVE UNIT PROJECT: FASHION MAKES SENSE

FASHIONCLASH in collaboration with students of University of the Arts London (UAL) – London College of Fashion

During the Collaborative Unit Project (February – June 2017) FASHIONCLASH works closely with students of the University of the Arts London (UAL), London College of Fashion on the topic ‘Fashion makes Sense’, this year’s FASHIONCLASH Festival theme. Students Caroline Zaidan, Isabelle Violet Thibault, Susanne James and Eleftheria Karipidi are challenged to research the engagement between fashion and the body/senses and they need to engage with the public on the issue: How can fashion (designers, consumers, and the industry) nowadays truly connect with the body and human beings instead of being just a simple aesthetic of a symbolic phenomenon?

Martijn van Strien, Post Couture Collective

Jeffrey Heiligers

LET’S ASK THE DESIGNER 
How do designers nowadays experience the connection between the body and the design process? Are designers aware of the importance of the senses and emotions in the way people dress, and how they attach value and significance to clothing?
As part of the ‘Fashion makes Sense’ research Dutch designers Martijn van Strien and Jeffrey Heiligers are interviewed by the students to gain insight on the ‘designer’ point of view on this subject.
How are they thinking about the body while they are designing? What is their design approach in terms of the body shape and size? And how do they approach the emotional and sensory experiences of the body and clothes?










We will of course keep you posted on the outcome. 
Now it’s time to meet team members Isabelle and Eleftheria!