CODE

Went to the Dress Codes exhibition at ICP.  It was an interesting exploration of fashion in contemporary photography/video.

It had some big ticket items like new works by Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger. The Sherman fashionista pieces were funny, it really feels like she is still hitting her stride. Kruger - dunno, they just kinda look like 90s skate culture advertising? Yeh, I get it, that's her intention but it didn't make me feel anything.

Melbourne artist David Rosetzky’s video portrait of Cate Blanchett was interesting. The focus sharpens and blurs and she constantly moves so we never get a very clear picture which is some kind of meta narrative about the difficulty of portraiture, but for me, I found her voice-over about the craft of acting the most fascinating aspect of the work.

I also liked the installation by Thorsten Brinkmann, who disguises himself with costumes made from everyday objects.  His face is always obscured making him seem like he is either growing out of the furniture or interior.

It kind of looked like hard rubbish heaven which made me feel a bit nauseous. Imagine how much crap he would have had to collect to make his work. The aesthetic is so right now (random, recycled, ornate, worn & warm looking) it looked a bit like the interior of some hip bar in Brooklyn or at least it will be soon.

I really enjoyed the video work of Kalup Linzy. It was laugh out aloud funny. The newer works have higher end production values, costuming by proenza schouler and cameos by Chloe Sevigny.

I wanted to buy the catalogue but they had sold out. Instead, I listened to some handsomely tatooed hipsters bitching about how their friend would never make it as a poet. 

Diane Arbus: “Everybody has this thing where they need to look one way but they come out looking another way, and that’s what people observe.”