Event 3: Gagawaka + Postmortem

Vivian Sundaram is the designer behind this incredibly fascinating exhibit at the Fowler Museum on campus.  Sundaram is a habitant of Delhi and a veteran of socially engaged art.  The exhibit was split into two parts, Gagawaka and Postmortem, with Gagawaka being comprised of about 30 wearable garments, made completely of recycled materials, medical supplies, or other various materials that interact with the fashion in a whole new way.  Postmortem made up the various mannequins and anatomical works throughout the exhibit.  When these two projects are combined, they create this exhibit, giving these garments and mannequins an added aesthetic appeal with the dual projects.  After seeing this exhibit, to me it seemed like the artist was trying to express the fragility of the human body, while also using the recycled materials to reflect our changing society on its way to a completely global community.  To me, this exhibit expresses the relationship between art and science, and how things like dresses made out of surgical masks can represent a cultural shift.

Upon entering the exhibit, the first two works I see are two very avant-garde dresses with hats and masks accompanying them.  They are both a similar blue-turquoise color, so that's what initially caught my eye.  Then, I read the captions below the works and found that they were made out of surgical masks and surgical caps.  I found this really interesting, how the artist used these materials to create a work of fashion.  To me, the surgical masks and hats represent our modern culture, and I could be completely off, but I think the artist is trying to show us that our priorities need to be sorted.  People, especially in Los Angeles, take fashion incredibly seriously, and can talk about the latest trends for hours, but when it comes to things like the medical field, they are completely overlooked in our modern culture.  The artist is combining art and science to start a dialogue about our global community.

The final piece that really stood out to me was the tunic made of chain mail.  I thought this was really fascinating, mostly because I really could not figure it out.  I think it could be a piece that represents how far we've come as a society, going from using things like heavy chain mail as protection, to now having things like kevlar, making chain mail simply a costume for Hollywood.  I think that's why the artist puts this piece at the end of the exhibit, as a testament to how far we have come as a species, and how much more potential we have for the future.

I really liked this exhibit and definitely would recommend it to any and all that are thinking about going to see it.  I think it provides an interesting perspective on the world and an interesting narrative about our global community.  I loved how art and science were present throughout the exhibit, with the combination oozing out of garments made of medical supplies.