A vote for Chanel
By Siofan Davies
New Yorkers were firmly in the grips of election fever when I visited over the weekend (indeed reminders to vote punctuated many a conversation, even between strangers), so it was fitting that fashion got a bit more democratic with the arrival of Chanel’s Mobile Art exhibition. If the current economic climate makes purchasing the classic, and now 50-year-old, quilted 2.55 bag the exhibit celebrates a little difficult, not to worry, Chanel has made entrance free and accessible to all.
The exhibition is contained in a portable pod created by architect Zaha Hadid. With two previous stops in Hong Kong and Tokyo, it now lays nestled in amongst the yellowing leaves in Central Park. While the design is modern, white and gleaming, it fits surprisingly well with the arboreous setting, like a giant white nut.
Once inside, you are outfitted with an MP3 player that cues you on your tour through the spiraling interior. Another icon, French actress Jeanne Moreau, talks you through your tour, telling you when to turn left and counting each step you take if stairs are involved. Her voice is deep and raspy, and deeply personal. The weight of her eighty years of experience comes through in each observation and she doesn’t so much explain the art to you as comment on how you might want to interpret it. At the first of the twenty installations, she cryptically states, “life is defined by forms;” at another she explains the importance of reflection as you stare into a puddle that mirrors a miniature façade of a building whose inhabitants go about their day in each window.
Each artist uses the inspiration of the 2.55 in varying degrees, David Levinthal photographs faces mummified in leather with hardware soothers, while Sylvie Fleury has made a giant replica of the bag and a powder compact, which in lieu of a mirror contains a video installation of multiple purses being shot at, like targets. The artists, who were selected by curator Fabrice Bousteau of Beaux Arts magazine, hardly seem restricted by their inspiration. They aren’t playing arts and crafts with the accessory, but rather creating new identities out of its chains and leather. By showing how creativity can take a traditional form and re-imagine it as something wholly different and unexpected, the artists reflect just the kind of change so many New Yorkers seem focused on these days.
The exhibit leaves New York on November 9 to move on to London, followed by Moscow and Paris, visit chanel-mobileart.com to learn more.
Yang Fudong’s contribution to the Chanel Mobile Art exhibit.
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