Friday 19 April 2013

"Handling New Media in Fashion"

After having investigated and explored interdisciplinary networks within contemporary art for the last few months (BA History of Art dissertation project), it only makes sense for me to extend my academic interest into the realm of fashion. Media theory - in connection to new media art and fashion presentation - certainly applies to both areas of creative practice as a result of the inescapable integration of technology within culture. During/after this 'digital revolution', the once distinctly separate realms of academia and practice have become connected: the distributive nature of living in conjunction with technology has resulted in the decentralization of specific areas of understanding, which ultimately means that new relationships between these areas can be made. Collaboration is thus encouraged, and in so doing, new methods of creativity emerge and develop within contemporary art and fashion.

My decision to investigate new media in fashion has been further prompted by the Europeana International Fashion Conference, which happened over the last few days in Florence (more info here). Sadly, I was unable to attend, but the notes made on the event's blog have spurred my intentions to build upon the theories I have investigated in my arts degree. The interaction with fashion archives, as well as matters of library and museum curation and engagement are all very similar to important art-historical areas of consideration - which only serves to illustrate the contemporary/cultural blurring of the (once very distinct) boundaries between fashion and art. The visual implications of technology within both areas are also similar: in particualr, internet and moving image development have had huge effects on both industries, often in the same way.

I've got a lot of interesting research ahead of me, which I can't wait for.