Consuming Fashions

Author/Artist Name

Malcolm Fife, Murray State UniversityFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Spring 4-29-2022

Artist Statement

We live lives that revolve around consumption and buying more than we need. Past fashion preys upon our laziness and encourages our rather prodigal spending. Why repair something when you can just buy a new one? We have become disconnected from how the clothes we wear are made and distanced from the people who make them. Fast fashion companies are more concerned with profit than creating durable products, paying their workers a living wage, or protecting the environment.

I want to contrast current fast fashion trends with older and more thoughtful practices, some of which are coming back. A century ago, people took great care in creating garments that would last a very long time. They also went to the almost insignificant (to them) trouble of mending their clothes, rather than throw them away as is common practice now. Visible mending, a new wrinkle on an age old practice, makes a statement through extending the life of a garment while also making that garment desirably unique.

Wearing used and thrifted clothes can be a way to make a difference and an easy habit to acquire. I myself wear secondhand and vintage clothing on a daily basis. In my experience, the vintage clothing community is a safe and supportive place for people of all ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations, allowing them to merge aesthetic appriciations of the past with contemporary activism. This is exemplified by the popular motto and hashtag: "vintage style not vintage values,"

My work is spread over multiple media: painting, printmaking, and ceramics. The square format throughout much of my work alludes to social media interfaces influence our self fashionings. The juxtaposition of historic and contemporary ways of "consuming fashions" should invite the viewer to reflect upon their own practices to fashion a sustainable self.

Advisor/Mentor

Prof. Danielle Muzina; Prof. Nicole Hand; Prof. John Utgaard

Description

"Serigraph, 15 x 11 inches"; "Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24 inches and 48 x 34 inches"; "Oil on Canvas with Embroidery, 12 x 12 inches"; "Blue Jeans,12 x 12 inches"; "Terracotta with Maiolica, 38 x 16 inches and 32 x 16 inches"; "Drypoint with Serigraphy, 15 x 11 inches and 30 x 22 inches"

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Fife, Malcolm, "Consuming Fashions" (2022). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 101.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/101