Ma Ke at the V&A
Petrify 1. to convert (organic material) into a fossilized form by impregnation with dissolved minerals so that the original appearance is preserved.
Petrified this was the word that came to mind during Ma Ke’s (see Selvedge issue 21) show last Friday, 16 May. Like bodies unearthed from an ash covered villa in Pompeii the living statues* dressed in designs by Shanghai-based designer Ma Ke loomed out of the surrounding darkness in all their eerie beauty.
This Fashion in Motion event at the V&A Museum in London was in fact motionless on the part of the models while the audience ebbed and flowed around the illuminated plinths studying the fascinating silhouettes and detailed construction of the Wuyong collection. The clothes appeared ageless and genderless. Elderly couples stood together, a family group included a boy of around nine and another that was strikingly reminiscent of Degas ‘Little Dancer Aged Fourteen’, c.1922, www.tate.org.uk all wore Ma Ke garments that blended of fashion and art.
According to the V&A* Ma Ke takes “discarded items such as an old paint covered sheet …and transforms it into a dress, the cracked paint creating a beautiful pattern on the garment, and an old tarpaulin is constructed into a coat of magnificent volume.” In a fashion climate where few companies or designers can resist a token gesture towards sustainability Ma Ke is unusual. Her decision to use what she calls “useless’ discarded materials appears to be primarily an asethetic one and as a result the materials she chooses are an integral part of the clothes rather than an afterthought. The beautiful tableau vivant lasted just twenty minutes – barely enough time to absorb the densely layered textures and intricate workmanship….
Ma Ke’s next show will be in Paris on 3rd July www.mixmind.com
*Ma Ke is one of the most prolific fashion designers working in China today, she graduated from the Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology in 1992 and four years later set up her own label Exception de Mixmind.
Ma Ke’s interest in the crossover between contemporary art and fashion led her to establish the artistic collection Wuyong (Useless) in 2006. Wuyong is an examination of the concept of ‘uselessness’ and how this interpretation varies when seen from different points of view. In February 2007, Wuyong was presented at Paris Fashion Week for the first time and the innovative concept attracted much attention within both art and fashion circles. www.vam.ac.uk