The making of N I S T - ss11 by VAUNTD. “Wearable rubber of untouchable art.”
Look II - based on Lee Krasner’s Gaea.
There are times when I think I’m just a frustrated painter. I’ve always loved abstract art, the highest of which to me are the modern masters of Abstract Expressionism. I was reminded of their work and the frustration I have with “white cube” galleries/museums when I saw Abstract Expressionist New York (running October 3,2010-April 25,2011) at the MOMA during the holidays. These paintings are so tactile in nature, so organic in their process, that it’s a crime that they can’t be touched. So I set out to make a line based on close-ups I shot of 5 works that would be inherently touchable- fashion, after all, is meant to be worn and felt and experienced. I printed out & analyzed the colors from each and then replicated them as closely as possible using latex sheeting as the base and liquid rubber that I custom mixed to the approximate colors as the detailing on top. Each dress took about two days to complete: the first to cut out and glue the basic pattern and apply the rubber (using a variety of tools like paintbrushes, screwdrivers, and my fingers), the second to combine the now dry pieces together into a finished garment and add the non-latex elements such as zippers, knotted rope, and fringe.
Why latex & rubber? Because it is the anti-thesis of the untouchable- it conforms to the wearer like a second skin, so close that it transmits body heat within a minute of being adorned. It is hot where paint is cold, it is alive where paintings hung on a wall are dead. And while my mission is not to deride fine art, or put myself on the same level as acclaimed artists, I do think that this is a perfect example of how craft can be more meaningful than art. Because this craft of apparel, the nuance of fashion, needs humanity to fill it out. It needs the body to truly exist.