© BD PERIPHERIQUE / BE IN OPEN / TEXTS ON FASHION ISSUE 1
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ALPHABET OF THE NEW VISUAL CULTURE
EACH EPOCH CREATES ITS OWN VISUAL LANGUAGE. NEW TASKS REQUIRE NEW WORDS AND NEW VISUAL DESIGNS. ANY TREND APPEARS AS A REACTION TO CHANGES IN ATTITUDES OF SOCIETY. FEMINISM, ATHEISM, META-MODERNISM, AND OTHER "ISMS" REPRESENT ATTEMPTS TO EXPRESS THE DIRECTION OF THESE CHANGES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES.
WE HAVE CREATED OUR OWN ALPHABET THAT DESCRIBES KEY PHENOMENA OF THE NEW VISUAL CULTURE. READ IT AND FIND OUT, AMONG OTHER THINGS, HOW AGGRESSION AFFECTS THE VISUAL ART AND HOW SURREALISM LOOKS LIKE IN MODERN MULTIMEDIA. OR JUST BROWSE IT THROUGH AND ENJOY PICTURES AND VIDEOS THAT WE HAVE COLLECTED TO CONVEY THE SPIRIT OF TIMES.
WE HAVE CREATED OUR OWN ALPHABET THAT DESCRIBES KEY PHENOMENA OF THE NEW VISUAL CULTURE. READ IT AND FIND OUT, AMONG OTHER THINGS, HOW AGGRESSION AFFECTS THE VISUAL ART AND HOW SURREALISM LOOKS LIKE IN MODERN MULTIMEDIA. OR JUST BROWSE IT THROUGH AND ENJOY PICTURES AND VIDEOS THAT WE HAVE COLLECTED TO CONVEY THE SPIRIT OF TIMES.
TEXTS ON FASHION
The alphabet has created by:
Alyona Kukushkina, tutor for video directing
Andrey Musin, tutor for video directing
Katya Turkina Faso, photographer
Nadya Bedzhanova, film director
Zhenya Onegin, director
Alexey Bazhenov, BE IN OPEN conceptualist
Karina Nikiforova, BE IN OPEN fashion editor
Alyona Kukushkina, tutor for video directing
Andrey Musin, tutor for video directing
Katya Turkina Faso, photographer
Nadya Bedzhanova, film director
Zhenya Onegin, director
Alexey Bazhenov, BE IN OPEN conceptualist
Karina Nikiforova, BE IN OPEN fashion editor
AUTOMATISM VIOLATION
Aa
Alexey Bazhenov: As a social mechanism, fashion tends to disrupt automatism. Its main function is to bring one back to pure perception.
The violation of automatism is achieved not by an adolescent nihilism against everything, but by a story based on something new. People follow opinion leaders. Leaders follow those who have a backbone. Gucci, Balenciaga and other successful brands are not based on denial; rather, they have a peculiar new backbone that society eagerly studies.
A product should provide a psychological comfort and convey a message like "All cool guys that you follow will want to look like in spring 2020". The choice of clothes may seem to be a search for individuality, but in fact, it is a search for confidence. Instagram along side with a trend for continuous changes of one's look turn a person into a cocoon, empty and full of pain and self-distrust.
Only the strongest personalities manage to integrate their inner world with the outside, and turn their clothes into objects of art, social utterances, and messages about their moods and wishes. Other people try to guess what character will become fashionable. Entire industries are built around inventing such characters.
Freud used a concept very close to the "automatism violation". He extends psyche to biology and further to the laws of inorganic matter.
All internal body processes are conservative and are aimed at reducing stress. In a living cell, the ultimate reduction of stress is its transition to the inorganic matter which means its death. Evolution is possible through the adaptation of an organism to external conditions. In line with that, the brain has developed from the outer layer of a cell, the epithelium. Biological, psychological, and social progress is only possible through external relations.
In line with Freud's idea, the development of social structures, including fashion, should be based on the disruption of automatism, on the breakdown of internal conservative tendencies leading to non-existence, and on the development of external relations.
Social connections allow a vital system to adapt and evolve, and inhibit conservative tendencies of closed social and individual systems. Everything that is truly new moves forward and is against automatism.
The violation of automatism is achieved not by an adolescent nihilism against everything, but by a story based on something new. People follow opinion leaders. Leaders follow those who have a backbone. Gucci, Balenciaga and other successful brands are not based on denial; rather, they have a peculiar new backbone that society eagerly studies.
A product should provide a psychological comfort and convey a message like "All cool guys that you follow will want to look like in spring 2020". The choice of clothes may seem to be a search for individuality, but in fact, it is a search for confidence. Instagram along side with a trend for continuous changes of one's look turn a person into a cocoon, empty and full of pain and self-distrust.
Only the strongest personalities manage to integrate their inner world with the outside, and turn their clothes into objects of art, social utterances, and messages about their moods and wishes. Other people try to guess what character will become fashionable. Entire industries are built around inventing such characters.
Freud used a concept very close to the "automatism violation". He extends psyche to biology and further to the laws of inorganic matter.
All internal body processes are conservative and are aimed at reducing stress. In a living cell, the ultimate reduction of stress is its transition to the inorganic matter which means its death. Evolution is possible through the adaptation of an organism to external conditions. In line with that, the brain has developed from the outer layer of a cell, the epithelium. Biological, psychological, and social progress is only possible through external relations.
In line with Freud's idea, the development of social structures, including fashion, should be based on the disruption of automatism, on the breakdown of internal conservative tendencies leading to non-existence, and on the development of external relations.
Social connections allow a vital system to adapt and evolve, and inhibit conservative tendencies of closed social and individual systems. Everything that is truly new moves forward and is against automatism.
AGGRESSION
Andrey Musin: A negatively oriented contemporary artist stands up against people who, in their goodness, have reached the state of animals and lost the urge to move upwards, beyond personal limits. Endless tons of vanilla ice-cream that we take for art, literature, and design, are aimed at calming down and putting the mind to sleep. And an aggressive rebellion awakens.
ACTIONISM
Andrey Musin: In a situation of material abundance, artists produce anything, but not material things. Art has turned from an object to an act, the purpose of which is to provoke a response. Looking at an art object is too passive and boring for a contemporary viewer; one wants to take part in a game. An art action forces one to interact with art.
An art piece is split into two halves: an action itself and a viewer's reaction. Contemporary technologies allow such an interchange in real time. In the case of fashion, the result of an action is predictable.
An art piece is split into two halves: an action itself and a viewer's reaction. Contemporary technologies allow such an interchange in real time. In the case of fashion, the result of an action is predictable.
Alyona Kukushkina: Volchok held a presentation of its Mortal Combat Collection in an empty concrete room with fire barrels. The show was accompanied with fire broadcasted on huge displays and powerful epic music. That was an action by the brand. Answering the brand's call to "burns in the right way", the visitors were buying socks with fire flames.
BARRIER OF ENTRY
Bb
Andrey Musin: Since ancient times, images have been utilized to represent here and now what is not here and now. An image is a manifestation of something that cannot be touched, seen, or approached. By depicting an object, one grants its existence in one's own reality.
The perception of an image is conditioned by one's self-perception, experience, and environment. When different people look at one thing, they see different things.
The new visual culture sets a high barrier of entry; not everyone can "see" it.
Radical forms of visual art include things that an unprepared viewer will not recognize as visual art.
Similarly, the noise music is just a noise for many unprepared listeners. Today, the boundaries of music expand, like the boundaries of visual art. Things that have been previously considered a wasteful and defective material suddenly become valuable.
DIVERSITY
Dd
Karina Nikiforova: What does diversity actually mean? Overdosed with looking at standard images and standard clothes demonstrated by standard models, we have launched a quest for visual adventures in distant countries and problem areas. When fashion magazines started to place photos of Afro-American, Asian, transgender, and plus-size models on a cover, they broke one system of stereotypes but right away created another one.
Look at advertising campaigns of Russian brands that are on sale in the West. As a rule, they feature at least one black model. Not because they want to, but because they have to. Along with that, none of them engages models who belong to Russian ethnic minorities, more typical for Russia than the black people.
Look at advertising campaigns of Russian brands that are on sale in the West. As a rule, they feature at least one black model. Not because they want to, but because they have to. Along with that, none of them engages models who belong to Russian ethnic minorities, more typical for Russia than the black people.
(POST)DRAMA
Alyona Kukushkina: In classical drama, there is always an idea and a counter-idea. A spectator, like a referee, must make a judgment and support either the idea or the counter-idea.
The art of drama requires convincing spectators about who is right and who is wrong. Post-drama is a genre where a spectator becomes convinced of something based on one's own experience. Post-drama requires a new mode of perception and, thus, provokes a spectator to development.
The art of drama requires convincing spectators about who is right and who is wrong. Post-drama is a genre where a spectator becomes convinced of something based on one's own experience. Post-drama requires a new mode of perception and, thus, provokes a spectator to development.
The same applies to the new visual culture. An unprepared spectator is unable to recognize post-drama. Without expertise in fashion, music, and contemporary art, one cannot detect a large amount of signals and rejects a piece of art simply because of being unable to understand it (see "Barrier of entry").
In fashion films, the use of drama material is limited to references to well-known plots and images. This is the case of a series of videos about Orpheus and Eurydice by Gucci. A recognizable dramatic plot is utilized, but it no longer has an idea and a counter-idea. One cannot say who declares what and who takes which side. Every character is beautiful in its own right. It does not matter whether Orpheus will save Eurydice; only a visual experience is of importance. Morality does not matter.
FEMINISM
Ff
Karina Nikiforova: Feminism has given freedom not only to women, but also to men. It has liberated the mind from many conservative dogmas and keeps doing its work. Despite the fact that this trend is not at all new and not entirely visual, it has a great effect on today's visual culture. In a sense, it is feminism that has promoted an idea of the beauty of imperfections. The new visual culture explores those imperfections in everything and "repairs" them.
FASHION FILM
Nadya Bedzhanova: Fashion film is a fairly new genre. In the essence, it is a beautiful video associated with a particular brand. It differs from ads by its artistic touch and budget. An ad or a campaign is often associated with huge wages, a large film crew, and, most importantly, it's all about the product. A fashion film is more like an art project, where a product goes to the background and an idea or a story comes to the foreground.
GENDER
Gg
Andrey Musin: Today, gender tends to replace sex. Let's leave aside unisex brands, men's make-up, and other visual manifestations of queer culture; those are common things now. Let's look deeper.
Sex defines the boundaries of personality. By rejecting a sex, we are rejecting personality or rather rethinking its structure. Revolutionaries try to break the boundaries determined by sex. Breaking these boundaries entails breaking other ones as well. Will the main boundary between "the other and me" remain then?
MYSTICISM
Mm
Andrey Musin: Odd enough, today we live through a religious renaissance not only in the East but also in the West. Interest in religion is much stronger in the current generation than it used to be in the 60s-80s. We launch ourselves into esoteric, astrology, Buddhism, or good old orthodox religion.
Every next generation tends to reject beliefs of the previous one. Parents die and lose. Therefore, somewhere deep inside, we need to think their lives over in order to find our path to immortality. This is what turns us to religions or forces to find one's own path.
Every next generation tends to reject beliefs of the previous one. Parents die and lose. Therefore, somewhere deep inside, we need to think their lives over in order to find our path to immortality. This is what turns us to religions or forces to find one's own path.
Karina Nikiforova: Mysticism has a larger scale than any religion. It is an attempt to explain the inexplicable or, on the contrary, to start believing in it. When all our feelings and sensations are explained by chemical formulas, one wants to believe in something supernatural that cannot be detected by any device. This naive intension becomes a commonplace for speculations.
NATURALNESS
Nn
Zhenya Onegina: Among things that I watch and like, there is a style that has been introduced by the Nowness website. It is the first media where video has become a prevailing content. It has its own aesthetics based on grained and vintage images, despite the fact that it depicts people who live today and their simple experiences. With this, I feel the advent of naturalness which is in full bloom in commerce nowadays.
Katya Turkina Faso: It is peculiar that everyone has moved from the 1990s to the 2000s; the aesthetics of these photos is a little bit clumsy, sterile, and weird. I follow other photographers, communicate with stylists, as well as talk to my friends; and what I can tell is that everyone basically wants to see a beautiful, lively, slightly blurred image, maybe even an analogue one. In the 2000s, there was a technical boom, but now everyone is tired of it, people want to make a pause and work more slowly.
PAIN
Pp
Alexey Bazhenov: What is the difference between Gosha Rubchinsky and Denis Simachev? Rubchinsky tells you about the Russian pain, whereas Simachev tells you about the Russian japeries. Japeries are about how to please others. Pain is always for oneself; it is something that makes a person unique. Those who transform their pain into art become great artists.
PUSSIES
Alexey Bazhenov: "Hypebeasts", "fuckboys", or "sneakerheads", they can be given different names. The term that we use derives from to the main media for trendy Russian teenagers entitled ÖMANKÖ that can be translated as "pussy".
The community of the ÖMANKÖ public is Russian-style hypebeasts who chase rare releases of street brands, collect and resell, communicate through clothing and live by them. Artyom Ermilov launched his blog in 2015. At first, he posted trendy hip-hop pictures of girls in massive sneakers, translated Highsnobiety, and tracked new drops. Now ÖMANKÖ takes interviews, shoot videos, release merchandise, and educate their audience.
The community of the ÖMANKÖ public is Russian-style hypebeasts who chase rare releases of street brands, collect and resell, communicate through clothing and live by them. Artyom Ermilov launched his blog in 2015. At first, he posted trendy hip-hop pictures of girls in massive sneakers, translated Highsnobiety, and tracked new drops. Now ÖMANKÖ takes interviews, shoot videos, release merchandise, and educate their audience.
In an interview to The Village, Artyom said: "When we used to upload images of a new Gosha's T-shirt and wrote that it costs 5,000 rubles, people were outraged. Half a year later, the same people would give 40,000 for a Raf Simons shirt and be proud of it. They have begun to share our views, and I am glad about it."
The phenomenon of pussies consists of the fact that they have adapted a Western subculture for Russia and accurately reproduce its key values. International brands, like Adidas, The North Face, and IKEA, have recognized the strength of that community and its involvement into the world of fashion, and have already released special projects with ÖMANKÖ. These teenagers know best what is fashionable today, and can argue about it for hours. Fashion garments constitute their main communication means; they perceive clothes as a wearable media. That is why they are taken into account by both KM20 and Louis Vuitton that hired Virgil Abloh as a creative director.
The phenomenon of pussies consists of the fact that they have adapted a Western subculture for Russia and accurately reproduce its key values. International brands, like Adidas, The North Face, and IKEA, have recognized the strength of that community and its involvement into the world of fashion, and have already released special projects with ÖMANKÖ. These teenagers know best what is fashionable today, and can argue about it for hours. Fashion garments constitute their main communication means; they perceive clothes as a wearable media. That is why they are taken into account by both KM20 and Louis Vuitton that hired Virgil Abloh as a creative director.
RITUALITY
Rr
Alyona Kukushkina: All our life is filled with rituals, with specially constructed actions intended to highlight some events in our everyday life. If we look at the history of any civilization, we will find that rituals accompany all events related to a transition of a person from one state to another, like birth, first school day, or wedding.
Rituals mark the boundary between two worlds. They separate one's life into before and after. A ritual ceremony shall provoke a change in the celebrant and lead to transfiguration that gives a rise to a new feeling. I feel changed, and it means that the ritual has worked.
Rituals mark the boundary between two worlds. They separate one's life into before and after. A ritual ceremony shall provoke a change in the celebrant and lead to transfiguration that gives a rise to a new feeling. I feel changed, and it means that the ritual has worked.
In this sense, a fashion show can be interpreted as a ritual, too. This is an arranged procession, where people, dressed in a particular way, walk in an unusual manner. The rhythm of walk is fundamentally different in a show from that of our daily life. Participants of this ritual, models, almost never interact with the audience; they are always a little bit "above the world" and are enclosed within a ritual action. They represent projections of the future; buying a fashion look, I buy the future for it and for myself.
Just think of the Gucci show with baby dragons and severed heads. All these people are different from others; they have more power and authority. They have a third eye! If such show does not provoke a rejection, you begin to think about how it works and how it acts on you. By making this effort you reach a new level. In this way a brand enriches you, it gives you a new mind and a new soul. It is essential for self-growth.
Just think of the Gucci show with baby dragons and severed heads. All these people are different from others; they have more power and authority. They have a third eye! If such show does not provoke a rejection, you begin to think about how it works and how it acts on you. By making this effort you reach a new level. In this way a brand enriches you, it gives you a new mind and a new soul. It is essential for self-growth.
There is a significant difference between Zara and H&M. Zara, despite appearances, is not part of an actual fashion, since it does not transform its audience. H&M, on the contrary, offers options for a new psychology and a new interaction with clothes, with the world, and with oneself. H&M says that you may be who you want, dress as you want, and even be imperfect — just stay responsible. Zara does not convey such a message. Zara has all external attributes of being topical, but there is no transforming idea behind it that would take consumers up onto another level. This is the difference between those brands that get us closer to the future and the ones that simply sell us their products.
SYMBOLISM
Ss
Alyona Kukushkina: Symbolism is another method for working with video content. It simultaneously satisfies the desire to see reality and rise above it. It rejects the structure of drama where time moves forward, tension increases, and the real world is imitated.
A symbolist video does not need to have a plot, one can use any set of symbols, but it is important to understand that each of these elements is like a letter in a word. A film director writes a kind of an encrypted letter which can be read only by those who have "keys". A symbolic message shall be a holistic structure, without superfluous elements and symbols for the sake of symbols. It must be symbolic from beginning to end.
A symbolist video does not need to have a plot, one can use any set of symbols, but it is important to understand that each of these elements is like a letter in a word. A film director writes a kind of an encrypted letter which can be read only by those who have "keys". A symbolic message shall be a holistic structure, without superfluous elements and symbols for the sake of symbols. It must be symbolic from beginning to end.
Imagine that a young film director is shooting a glass of milk on a table, and for him it is a symbol of the fullness of life. But in order for this glass to be perceived as a symbol, it must acquire a certain quality. Symbols always refer to qualities, phenomena, and concepts; that is the way they function. The viewers will need a hint on whether this milk is fresh or sour. The video shall convey that through light, colour, composition, music, etc. An object becomes a symbol only when we describe it and attribute some qualities.
SINCERITY
Nadya Bedzhanova: I think that the new visual culture is subjective in its essence. It is very much like a POV shot, a first person narrative. It was due to affordable cameras that everybody has started to express themselves in video. Egocentrism flourishes, especially in the USA. Celebrities become presidents, and their twitter threads become the main source of news.
We swipe Instagram stories taken in different parts of the world like book pages. We have lost ability to concentrate for a longer time. A first image shall generate an immediate wow-effect; otherwise, people will skip the rest. From my view, today this wow-effect is produce not by means of action or loud sound, like in an ad, but rather by something calm, simple, and honest.
We swipe Instagram stories taken in different parts of the world like book pages. We have lost ability to concentrate for a longer time. A first image shall generate an immediate wow-effect; otherwise, people will skip the rest. From my view, today this wow-effect is produce not by means of action or loud sound, like in an ad, but rather by something calm, simple, and honest.
Everything has become so personal that the audience literally lives through other people's lives. If one manages to keep it "simple", then a visual style appears, and people get interest in its content and evolution.
STORYTELLING
Andrey Musin: When we talk about the new visual culture, we always remain in the field of storytelling. Visual art originates in texts; the inner text is always there, not necessarily expressed by words. If a brand creates an illusion powerful enough to catch one's imagination, it opens an alternative world. This world can be lived in and explored for opportunities applicable to life. And that is quite a strong statement.
Alexey Bazhenov: Marketing used to be about positioning a brand, and now it is about storytelling. Why? Because now there are too many things happening too fast so that we remember nothing, but stories told to us on a regular basis.
In the past there was less information noise, and it was possible to get public acknowledgement as the main fashion magazine, or the main Parisian tailor, or the most prestigious car, and this was sufficient for people to remember the brand. Today people's memory for brands hardly lasts a week; everything is forgotten as easy and quickly as news about the quarrel between Zemfira and Monetochka.
Nowadays, in order to make people remember you, you have to constantly post your stories, or at least something coherent. A brand positioning and a brand images are longer enough; it is necessary to tell continuous new stories.
An important remark here is that most readers do not stay in a permanent contact with a storyteller; they can barely recall the previous post. At best, they have seen some post a week before. So if posts are not connected, no one will remember you. If, on the contrary, there is a frame story, there is a chance to be noticed. Come up with a good narration; otherwise, followers will get bored and forget the brand.
In the past there was less information noise, and it was possible to get public acknowledgement as the main fashion magazine, or the main Parisian tailor, or the most prestigious car, and this was sufficient for people to remember the brand. Today people's memory for brands hardly lasts a week; everything is forgotten as easy and quickly as news about the quarrel between Zemfira and Monetochka.
Nowadays, in order to make people remember you, you have to constantly post your stories, or at least something coherent. A brand positioning and a brand images are longer enough; it is necessary to tell continuous new stories.
An important remark here is that most readers do not stay in a permanent contact with a storyteller; they can barely recall the previous post. At best, they have seen some post a week before. So if posts are not connected, no one will remember you. If, on the contrary, there is a frame story, there is a chance to be noticed. Come up with a good narration; otherwise, followers will get bored and forget the brand.
SURREALISM
Alyona Kukushkina: It gets us back to the new visual culture in video. In surrealism, familiar images are combined in a paradoxical or absurd way. Surrealistic art does not try to create a ciphered message. It actually cannot be decrypted. One can refer to a universal library of signs when dealing with symbolism, but this is impossible in case of surrealism, as it uses signs vested with individual meanings.
The task of surrealism is to provoke creative processes in a viewer, not to force one to solve puzzles. Absurd images initiate psychic "thunderstorms" causing the violation of automatism. In surrealism, not only the course of time, but also all physical laws and parameters are disrupted. It is only in a dream or a movie that we can see the past or the future, meet those who passed away, or fly over a city.
SYNAESTHESIA
Alyona Kukushkina: Visual information triggers processes in other sensory receptors. It can intensify feelings up to unbearable euphoria.
I see a fluffy sweater, and I can literally have a tactile sense of it. I see a lemon being squeezed, and I can tell its bitter taste. I see a sharp knife touching a tongue, and my skin crawls. It is a sensory shock that provokes a respective.
I see a fluffy sweater, and I can literally have a tactile sense of it. I see a lemon being squeezed, and I can tell its bitter taste. I see a sharp knife touching a tongue, and my skin crawls. It is a sensory shock that provokes a respective.
When we see something broken, destroyed, crumpled, we feel discomfort, since it always refers to death. The loss of integrity, destruction, and garbage are manifestations of death. Creating something new from garbage is an attempt to step into the territory of death and defeat it.
At first, clothes by Issey Myiake, which seem to be made of paper, provoke fear: "Oh, they are white, made of paper, and are so fragile." But in fact, they are just made of synthetic materials. It is paradoxical that an enduring practical backpack can be made from this fragile crumpled "paper". Here dead turns alive.
By putting on ripped jeans, people proclaim that their body is stronger than a material matter, that piece of fabric that disintegrates under the influence of environment, and that they are not afraid of destruction and can overcome it with ease.
In The Colour of Pomegranates by Parajanov, a broken bowl and a broken pomegranate are as valuable as a golden bead; these separate items merge in synergy and create a different reality.
At first, clothes by Issey Myiake, which seem to be made of paper, provoke fear: "Oh, they are white, made of paper, and are so fragile." But in fact, they are just made of synthetic materials. It is paradoxical that an enduring practical backpack can be made from this fragile crumpled "paper". Here dead turns alive.
By putting on ripped jeans, people proclaim that their body is stronger than a material matter, that piece of fabric that disintegrates under the influence of environment, and that they are not afraid of destruction and can overcome it with ease.
In The Colour of Pomegranates by Parajanov, a broken bowl and a broken pomegranate are as valuable as a golden bead; these separate items merge in synergy and create a different reality.
TECHNOLOGIES
Tt
Andrey Musin: Artificial intelligence is learning to solve complex tasks for us, and without it we would have been far back in everything that we have today. Even if you produce something offline, for example, an embroidery or a performance, you will still need to record it and broadcast into the cyberspace. If it is not on the web, it has never happened.
UNIQUENESS
UNIVERSALISM
UNIVERSALISM
Uu
Katya Turkina Faso: It seems to me that our main problem is the fear of being ourselves. We watch i-D, or Dazed, enjoy light and composition of a photo shoot, and try to copy that in our works. We never dare to deploy our own theme.
Self-identification requires a basis, and finding one is a complex process. People really need something new; they are sick and tired of those photo sessions.
All iconic photographers, such as Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, or Peter Lindbergh, took a lot of risks, did many "wrong" things and became popular because their artworks were eye-catching and impressive. When I work with new assistants at the site, it is difficult for me to explain to them that it is necessary to put the light wrong in order to make an impressive shot. They do not understand that until they see the result.
Self-identification requires a basis, and finding one is a complex process. People really need something new; they are sick and tired of those photo sessions.
All iconic photographers, such as Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, or Peter Lindbergh, took a lot of risks, did many "wrong" things and became popular because their artworks were eye-catching and impressive. When I work with new assistants at the site, it is difficult for me to explain to them that it is necessary to put the light wrong in order to make an impressive shot. They do not understand that until they see the result.
Alexey Bazhenov: I would complement a word "originality", so popular today, with its antonym "universality". In order to be a successful designer, one needs not only to be different from others, but also to be understandable to the whole world. You all know the examples. This is how it works.
VIRALITY
Vv
Andrey Musin: Contemporary art can easily be "turned off" at any time. It is like Instragram stories — 15 seconds of attention and you scroll further. Therefore, any creative act shall impress instantly and behave like a virus. It does not matter whether you have been shown an artwork for an hour, a few minutes, or just heard about it. If something has entered your mind, it will never be reversed.
VARIETY SHOW
APPROACH
APPROACH
Alyona Kukushkina: Variety show is an entertainment with no unity of time or concept. It is a combination of incompatible acts that rapidly change one another. But each piece is an integral and logical unity in itself, which makes a variety show different from surrealism that combines incompatible elements within an art piece. A variety show is based on an accelerated change of images, which makes it akin to Instagram stories. The change is so rapid that one cannot grasp and comprehend each image separately.
When too many things are shown at once, human's mind cannot fully process, nor totally ignore such a situation, and, therefore, start looking for connections. The variety show approach is commonly used in fashion, especially in the sneaker culture.
Take a brand that each season produces a lot of different sneakers in a variety of collaborations (one made of ocean garbage, one created together with a popular rapper, and a simple one for tennis players). They are not related to each other in any way, but taken as a whole they create the story of the brand.
Today, one feels stressed when there is little information, not when there is too much of it. The modern viewer needs more information, more diversity, and does not have time to deliberate over each rapidly changing image. The energy is spent to keep afloat the intense information flow, to remain on an amusement ride.
Take a brand that each season produces a lot of different sneakers in a variety of collaborations (one made of ocean garbage, one created together with a popular rapper, and a simple one for tennis players). They are not related to each other in any way, but taken as a whole they create the story of the brand.
Today, one feels stressed when there is little information, not when there is too much of it. The modern viewer needs more information, more diversity, and does not have time to deliberate over each rapidly changing image. The energy is spent to keep afloat the intense information flow, to remain on an amusement ride.
THE AUTHOR EXPRESSES SPECIAL THANKS
TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE TEXT TO THE END.
YOU ARE A HERO.
TO THOSE WHO HAVE READ THE TEXT TO THE END.
YOU ARE A HERO.
The publication includes photos by Sasha Chayka and Mariya Skopintseva, Carlotta Guerrero, Metal Magazine, Dan Tobin Smith, Julia Rommel, Nerea Garro, Derek Johnson, @antonbelinskiy, @k__e__e__p, @synchrodogs_official, @needsupply, @illusorysuperiority, @volker_conradus