Extra/Ordinary Dress Code: Costuming and the Second Skin in Asia
By way of academic and artistic endeavors Extra/Ordinary Dress Code explores local and global fashion and sub-cultural style - Focusing on modes of dress, aesthetic trends and cultural politics – Reflecting on gender, age, sexuality, lived experience, consumer habits and the ways a material commodity is integral to the creative industries –
1. A CONFERENCE held at City University of Hong Kong on December 8,9,10, 2009 with invited international scholars and artists, such as
Vicky Karaminas, Louise Bak, and
Hazel Clark. The conference takes a critical look at fashion in relation to the local and global histories of clothing, styles of appearance and dressing-up, the semiotics of mainstream society and deviant sub-cultures.
2. A GALLERY SHOW at
Videotage on December 10, 2009 exhibiting a COLLABORATIVE PHOTO PROJECT documenting the everyday dress of the people of Hong Kong by way of full body size photos printed and exhibited on roll-up banners and A4 size prints. Models include a wide spectrum of Hong Kong types and lifestyles; ALSO the fantasy costuming of four local Cosplayers, along with live appearances by our "street models" and "Cosplayers” (not exactly a "catwalk", but most definitely a live interaction).
3. A CABARET style event, at the opening of the Videotage exhibition on December 10, 2009 inviting a mix of artists and academics to explain “fashion” as it stands right now within their lives and practices. Confirmed participants include Toronto based poet
Louise Bak, Taiwanese filmmaker Mia Chen, Viennese artist Nino Jaeger, and local artist
Him Lo.
4. A GROUP SHOW at
The White Tube Gallery, Hong Kong Art Center in November/December 2009, exhibiting a juried selection of four different semester’s work from the SPEED Digital Imaging course at the Hong Kong Art School. Students were required to create an alternate or "fake" identity using themselves as the model, and Digital Imaging as their form.
