dOCUMENTA (13): A FASHION SHOW, Day 2.75

Seth Price & Tim Hamilton, Spring/Summer 2012 Collection Installation view, dOCUMENTA  (13), Kassel Germany Photograph by Katy Hamer

From the dOCUMENTA (13) Guidebook: A piece of clothing is similar to an envelope: both are cut from a flat template, folded, and secured shut. Each is an empty package, awaiting content and subsequent travel.

Quite a poetic statement for garment design, but in an art context and exhibition setting, it can also be said that many things could be related to the simplicity of a template and maybe even an envelope. Can such be said about a building, something that was born and arose, man made and empty without its occupants? However, architecture cannot travel, (unless we discuss the travel of destruction) yet, if we discuss industrial design and the evolution of transportation methods, can’t that also be compared to having emerged from an idea or flat template? Many things in life lend themselves to metaphorical comparisons and none is as clear (or as questioned) as the comparison and duality between art and fashion. For dOCUMENTA (13) Seth Price collaborated with Tim Hamilton for the second time, once again making simple, aesthetically clean clothes with many details (zippers, pockets, etc). In their first collaboration, the two lined the interior of the garments with the banal blue print found inside most plain office envelopes. For their most recent collaboration, first revealed on June 7th at dOCUMENTA (13) in a subterranean parking garage used by the Fridericianum, the two manufactured white garments with the inner lining a sundry mix of credit card and finance companies. Several of the items from the collection are available for purchase for the duration of dOCUMENTA (13) at SinnLeffers department store located in the main city center. The night of the fashion show, which started promptly at 11PM and went until 3AM, many people were seen walking around Kassel, eyes crunched and brows furrowed in perplexity, looking for the parking garage where the event was to be held. After inquiring, it became obvious to follow the crowd who had gathered and were descending a long curled staircase.

Seth Price & Tim Hamilton, Spring/Summer 2012 Collection Installation view, dOCUMENTA  (13), Kassel Germany Photograph by Katy Hamer

Inside the space, all cars, beyond a few necessary for the exhibition crew, had been cleared and rather than feel like a garage, the space was teeming with energy. This was, as most events during the few preview days of dOCUMENTA (13), sponsored by Absolut Vodka and the space was centrally divided by a long, black catwalk. Upon entering, models were already in position and walking, or rather taking long elegant strides,  at a very specific pace. Most wore hoods and/or tight skull caps that fit close and hid any evidence of hair. The bodies marched around the catwalk in a counter-clockwise system all at once stopping, standing completely still while staring at one another. This pause went on for so long, viewers were not sure if they should remain invested or simply talk amongst themselves and hit the bar. It was here where the fashion became much less relevant and art stepped into to claim its role. Dance music played throughout the event and a homemade mix CD was provided when departing, containing a musical selection compiled by Price himself.  Whispers also circulated around the room that tote bags would be given out, but they disappeared quickly.

The Spring/Summer 2012 line that Price and Hamilton presented is androgynous, mute, slick, and considering it is all white, destined to be worn by artist Terence Koh. The presentation was impeccable, the models, perfectly dewy, the fog machine, not overbearing, and the inside joke: priceless. Because in a presentation that is usually about money, the artist has both subtly and not so subtly made reference to large financial institutions which at an art exhibition of this scale, felt a bit tongue in cheek. As mentioned previously, concurrent with dOCUMENTA, many items from the collection will be available for sale. While entertaining, I wonder if the project would be more effective or tactfully efficient if the clothes were given away or auctioned off as statement items, meant to be sometimes worn and otherwise sit, a moment of suspension, like many works of art, in a dark closet, awaiting content and subsequent travel.

Seth Price & Tim Hamilton, Spring/Summer 2012 Collection Installation view, dOCUMENTA  (13), Kassel Germany Photograph by Katy Hamer