Foundation Inspiration

Annual Art Exhibition hits The Kaetsu Centre

Alice Toby-Brant
localsecrets.com Monday, 11 Jun 2012

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Fashion students have long dreamt of making their visions our desires; McQueen studied at Central Saint Martins and Stella McCartney got her groove on with a foundation course at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication.


Last weekend at The Kaetsu Centre on Huntingdon Road, the foundation students of Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts took their turn displaying their works for all to see. Not being the biggest art fan but interested in the future of style, I ventured in to see what might be on the agenda for tomorrow’s high street.

 

Many of the pieces shown were out and out fashion extravagance and one I was strangely attracted to was a necklace of a bizarre material choice. A statement piece indeed, this orange peel offering was quite striking and does show what creative types can do with their lunch leftovers!

 

 

Next a somewhat McQueen-esk dress seemed (to the designer) not to be complete without a chandelier/bondage neckline. Though not something you or I might wear to Tesco’s, it did stand out as one of the pieces that had a little more hanger appeal then some of the others.

 

 

As did this floatingly delicate design which looked to be inspired by Shakespeare’s A midsummer Night’s Dream. The students’ modelled pictures and diaries were also on display along with their creations. Rather un-scandalously, the entries were more “found a great material!” than “found my boyfriend in bed with a ton of orange peel!” but it did help the onlooker understand the progression.

 

Some projects showed fashion with a function. Shoes with soles that create physical stimulations from audio signals (for example vibrations for an explosion scene on the TV) may sound a little obscure, but when you learn how this could enhance the viewing pleasure for the deaf it takes a turn for the interesting. Though the shoes created maybe weren’t the most aesthetically pleasing, seeing the student’s image board, showing the journey of concept to creation, really helped add depth to the pieces.

 

 

Others went deeper still with sculpture. Kota, a Japanese student studying in London, sculpted a piece which received one of the highest grades. At first glance, if I am completely honest, I really couldn’t see what the fuss was about, but this work became more beautiful once the concept was understood.

 

Representing his feelings about the earthquake in Japan last year, Kota’s sculpture, which he advised took 3-4 weeks to make, looked to be just two casts of his own body, dark and light. However, Kota explained his focus was on the rejuvenation that spread after the destruction. “What captivated me about this was the aftermath when the mystique of regeneration happened and green started to grow throughout the urban landscape of the cities that had been left ruined and abandoned.”

 

When he’s not being all deep and meaningful, Kota also does things with colouring equipment that impressed even me. Mainly because this was the first time I have wanted to wear colouring pencils, goodness only knows his interpretation of the skirt of the same name.

 

While some of the material choices may not be the most wearable, they didn’t lack inspiration. If this is what a foundation course supplies, I’m more than a little intrigued to see what happens next…