it often seems to me that the best things come when you're not really waiting for them... or, in fact, expecting them. today... i came into uni expecting an all day seminar/workshop on fashion branding. all very exciting i felt. so. in the little quiet time that i set aside for myself before the uni day begins, i check my email only to discover that the all day seminar/workshop that i had so been looking forward to had been cancelled as our guest tutor had succumb to an unfortunate tummy bug and instead we would be having an art and design lecture from our regular tutor. not that this was a bad thing you see but a little "oh" of disappointment did escape my lips.
about half an hour later we settled down to the lecture.... and then two hours later and we're at the end. i don't exactly know where the time went because i was so terribly engrossed with the entire thing. in fact, i almost protested that surely our tutor should be talking to us more as we simply hadn't filled the usual lecture giving time slot... then i realised we had actually surpassed it.
so today, my tutor talked to us about the relationship between art and design and the increasing synergy between the two fields. as well as brief history, we discussed the ideas of quotation/pastiche/copy & appropriation as well as focused on art within the design environment with much reference to fashion (of course... bit of a given.). there were many visuals and references to artists (fine and applied) and designers and i just wish i could gush about all of it for pages upon pages. this would, of course, make for a very boring blog.
instead... i have chosen to talk about the artist/designer combo that made me smile the most.
Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton.
i don't feel like i really have to give it but, just for illustrative purposes, here is an example of the kind of bag design we've all come to associate with Louis Vuitton:
and here is an example of Murakami's artwork:
and... lo and behold... this is their love child:
whilst i realise that those of you a bit more up on the knowledge about Louis Vuitton know all this and i am probably boring you half to death but i didn't know this and it fascinates me no end.
i will openly admit here and now that i am not a Louis Vuitton type of girl... never had been and never will be. in fact i would go so far as to say as the brand and the generalised chavtastic connotations that surround the brand absolutely beyond doubt repulse me. so therefore because i have never wanted to know before, i know nothing at all of the brand except the over saturation of it's logo throughout the fashion industry.
i never knew that Louis Vuitton collaborated with Takashi Murakami and i am absolutely in love with the fact that this collaboration exists. now... i will also admit my failings in never really knowing who Murakami is before today BUT i know i love his work being hopelessly in love with anime that i am (yet again... i know nothing of anime details i just appreciate the aesthetics). Murakami's anime style art work led to him creating an art movement known as Superflat Art. this term refers to "various flattened forms in Japanese graphic art, animation, pop culture and fine arts as well as the shallow emptiness of Japanese consumer culture" (wikipedia... citing Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, artnet.com ) and is a branded art phenomenon design for western audience (again, wikipedia... citing Kitty Hauser, Superflat: Kitty Hauser on fan fare, ArtForum, Oct, 2004. )
even though i love the fact that the Vuitton/Murakami collaboration exists, it's definitely NOT the final product that i appreciate most (see picture of love child above)... it's how it has been marketed to Japanese consumers.
please see the following wonderful short anime films used to promote the Murakami/Vuitton collaboration in Japan. i think you may fall in love with them as much as i did.
also.... some images of the new shop design for Louis Vuitton in Japan.
is it any wonder why i enjoyed my lecture so much? your opinion may differ so let me know.
that's how for now.
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