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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
A great read for anyone who is at all interested in clothing, in how and why we wear the things we do. I bought my copy at a gallery gift shop and expected it to be mostly a puff piece about various contemporary artists. Not so! Instead, it is a funny, insightful, provocative account of the relationship between clothes and their wearers. And it has obviously been written with a deep love for its subject matter, whilst still remaining playful and shockingly unpretentious. 5/5 would recommend.
I think this book felt kind of like a substack post? The format and what ideas/ways of getting those across (visuals, choices of stories to include, etc) felt like a long form blog post.
I think I was hoping for more of a study on trends and process and whatnot, but got more of a vignette based piece. I searched a bit for threads of a thesis or points to carry forward. I struggle a little typically with books on art because it feels like I’m missing some formalized art thinking paradigms or I don’t see what they’re talking about which can feel a bit alienating.
All in all I did appreciate a different type of book and the visual aids were amazing! I did think for some of the vignettes I did see clear vision on what artists wearing was a circular echo and informer of the art itself! And I got good intros into cool modern artists/more info on artists I know only in a limited sense.
I think I was hoping for more of a study on trends and process and whatnot, but got more of a vignette based piece. I searched a bit for threads of a thesis or points to carry forward. I struggle a little typically with books on art because it feels like I’m missing some formalized art thinking paradigms or I don’t see what they’re talking about which can feel a bit alienating.
All in all I did appreciate a different type of book and the visual aids were amazing! I did think for some of the vignettes I did see clear vision on what artists wearing was a circular echo and informer of the art itself! And I got good intros into cool modern artists/more info on artists I know only in a limited sense.
inspiring
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
I read this because Olivia Laing writes about it in her book: Funny Weather: Art In An Emergency. I loved it so much I wanted to read everything she mentions. This is an interesting set of essays about art and clothing and how the two are entwined. Each chapter has a slightly different focus. Sometimes it's about how the clothing is integral to understanding the artwork, as in the performance art of Gilbert and George. Other times it's the practicalities of how artist's survive in miserable conditions while they make their art. Other times it's the fertile friendships between artists and fashion designers and what that brings to both, as in the relationship with Louise Bourgeois and Helmut Lang. It was a captivating and interesting read.
this book was so unbelievably good. it made me so happy to care about clothing, so happy to be queer, so happy to be here now.
An easy, fun, and interesting read -- I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Being written in bite size "chapters", and being pretty light-hearted in general, I think this works well as a coffee table book (but one that you can actually sit down and read, that's more than a pretty cover). It didn't change my life, per se, but it definitely made me think/ask/consider more about the subject matter (especially as a practicing artist)!