cross-genre fashion ethics ‘wear good’ gyeonggi museum of modern art, koreajuly 23rd to october 4th, 2009

body container – VOGUE, 2009 installation / magazine sculpture image courtesy of pékin fine arts

the ‘cross-genre exhibition’ is one of the annual shows held by gyeonggi museum of modern art in korea. this year the focus is on fashion and is entitled ‘ ‘. the exhibition invites domestic as well as overseas fashion designers and artists who are practicing ethical fashion based on their primary interests in eco-friendly fabrics, recycling, fair trade and including ethnic costumes. a new standard of value in fashion as well as for costume aesthetics is explored through the pieces on display.

one of the artists participating in the exhibition is hong kong-based movana chen, whose main art production tools involve a shredding machine and magazines. chen constructs various structures, clothing and containers by knitting the thousands of shreds of magazine, transforming the normally discarded paper into a textile-like material. by shredding the magazines chen makes a statement of resistance towards consumer culture. her practice of knitting and reconstructing questions the original language of magazines, subverting their message into an alternative means of ‘reading’ print media.

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreainstallation / performance of body container in the street image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreabody container – VOGUE, 2009 installation / magazine sculpture image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreachen knit shreds of magazine into a sock-like tubular form to be worn by an individual image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreabody container – VOGUE, 2009 installation / magazine sculpture image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreabody container – VOGUE, 2009 installation / magazine sculpture image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreashowing the flexibility of the textile-like material as a result of knitting magazines image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreabody container – VOGUE, 2009 installation / magazine sculpture image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreaa look at the knitted shreds of magazine image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreanumerous body containers in different forms and color variations image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreadeconstructing, 2004-2008 installation / knitted magazines, shredded pages, 6m x 4m image courtesy of pékin fine arts

movana chen: 'fashion ethics wear good' exhibition, koreadeconstructing, 2004-2008 installation / knitted magazines, shredded pages, 6m x 4m image courtesy of pékin fine arts