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This time it\u2019s personal . . . .<\/p>\n
It\u2019s next to impossible to walk through \u201cCostume Art<\/a>,\u201d the Met\u2019s blockbuster fashion exhibition, as an impassive observer. Active looking is more than encouraged, it\u2019s required because one\u2019s own visage appears in the flat, reflective surface of the faceless mannequin heads created by sculptor Samar Hejazi. The idea, curator Andrew Bolton said, is \u201cto reflect on your own lived experience, hopefully to create a connection, empathy, compassion towards each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only does this interactive element transform a visit to the museum into a small voyage of self discovery, but it is a bodily experience that cannot be replicated digitally. This at a time when humans are being replaced by machines and AI anxiety is pervasive.<\/p>\n Bolton\u2014the man who a decade ago dreamed up \u201cManus x Machina<\/a>,\u201d an exhibition about the happy coexistence of humans and technology\u2014is once again a step ahead of the rest of us in focusing on physicality and dimensionality in a visual world that favors flatness. After all, what could be more materially foundational than the human form?<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole show [is] structured around a typology of bodies, and these are bodies that you see across the museum when you encounter artworks,\u201d Bolton explained. \u201cThe simple thesis for the show really is the fact that the dressed body is the connecting thread throughout the entire museum.\u201d What you won\u2019t see anywhere else at the Met are mannequins of diverse body types modeled after named individuals, like those commissioned for \u201cCostume Art.\u201d And this is transformative in many ways. As the scholar Llewellyn Negrin notes in her catalog introduction, not only do mannequins project a beauty standard, but their \u201cdimensions often dictate the sizes of the garments shown, and the garments\u2019 sizes correspond to the idealized proportions of the preferred mannequins, resulting in a mutually reinforcing process that perpetuates the privileging of culturally esteemed body types.\u201d<\/p>\n Before getting into the organization of the exhibition, it\u2019s important to address some of the frameworks around the show, especially regarding fashion\u2019s changing relationship to art. In this age of individuality, where images are the common currency, and keeping up appearances (often through clothing) is a blood sport, interest in fashion has grown and it has become ever more integrated into all aspects of culture. This has affected its standing in the art world in general, and in museums where the subject is a big draw for visitors. Three of the Met\u2019s most attended exhibitions of all time were organized by the Costume Institute, with \u201cHeavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination<\/a>\u201d 2018 holding the number one spot.<\/p>\nSame Date, New Location<\/strong><\/h2>\n