Cargo Cults

#31
fafnir, I am SO JEALOUS!!! I've yet to see a Sally Mann exhibit - I'd love to! I did watch the documentary, What Remains, and was transfixed. Surprisingly. Never even been to Austin! Lucky you :smile:

I think it's all pretty funny, too, except the "deities" part, which is just... strange.

Love you too Jenni :heart:
 
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#32
I like how HH and other designers develop a collection around a theme. I am curious, though, about what people think of the "exploitation" aspect. Is it only exploitation if HH is referencing a native, indigenous culture? What about SS2008, where they reference Brazil:
rhumba, samba, frevo. hayden-harnett's s/s08 collection is deeply inspired by a love for the passionate arts and culture of 60's brazil. vivid color, bold shapes, and hand-crafted detailing reflect the cultural flashpoint of tropicalismo. so, put on some caetano veloso or os mutatnes on the hi-fi, kick back and watch the surf roll in. remember, it is forbidden to forbid. from corcovado to sao paulo, we hope there's something perfeito for the artisan in you.
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Or Memphis and the 80s, with SS2009:
The Hayden-Harnett Spring 09 collection was inspired by Kira and her eight sisters, the muses of the 80s move Xanadu, disappearing into a graphic wall of Memphis design circa 1981. As the muses glow to life from the mural, glossy metallics, patents, and vibrant pops of colors become grounded by ethereal neutrals and subdued milky brights... The bold graphic elements of the accessories offset the drape, flounce, and feminity of our apparel silhouettes and prints, conjuring the fluffy clouds in which Kira and her sisters might lounge on a Ettore Sottsass chaise while looking down over a nighttime Miami while watching "Working Girl" or "Nine to Five" on the big screen in the sky.
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Similar artsy (some might call it "pretentious"), fanciful wording for each season centered around a different theme.
 
#34
Well... I don't know if you could truly "exploit" a cargo cult, since they were all different. It's really more of a metaphor than anything... the cults were pretty fleeting, right, and it's not the culture of the people that's being referenced. It's their tendency/ability to find things and attach meanings to them that weren't inherent. Does that make sense?
 
#36
I can't eloquently put into words my thoughts about this... so I've really enjoyed hearing what everyone else has to say about this interesting topic.

In an interview this is what toni had to say about it: The part that I bolded has stuck in my head......Cargo Cult.....Trashy Novels??? Interesting

"For Fall 09 I was inspired by the concept of Cargo Cults…I wanted to design a collection that had totemic, symbolic meaning through prints, shapes, color, and hardware. The collection was designed around an imaginary cult of girls who live in the Chelsea Hotel, leaving at night only to buy trashy novels, junk food, and to steal beautiful clothes, bags, jewelry, and shoes."
 
#37
I don't think it's exploitation in the examples cciele referenced but is it exploitation when the practices referenced are a "religious" practice or ritual associated with religion of some kind? Cargo Cult was - at least in some instances - considered worship. The totems HH did a while back (I wasn't here for them or the discussion) were also considered to be part of a cultures practices associated with their religious and cultural rituals.

HH as well as other designers (since that who we're talking about) do try to weave a mood into their collections and that can be fun. What I wonder about is if totems were inappropriate are cargo cults also? Or if something is no longer in practice is it fair game?

All of us at some time attach meanings to things that aren't inherent. It may be nonsense but that doesn't make it any less real to the person doing it. "Winning football socks" anyone? :biggrin:
 
#38
That's a good point! Or several! And I'm not sure why the Iskia made me uncomfortable but the cargo cults don't. Perhaps because the feather charm referenced a SPECIFIC totem associated with specific groups. Nothing in the AW collection actually features a specific totem associated with this or that cargo cult...

Also, I don't know that much about cargo cults, but we're up against the difference between definitions of religion vs. cult... which is ALWAYS sticky... but didn't some of the cargo cults spring up around individuals who used whatever he found as a way of building power and gaining wealth? The totems in the case of cargo cults were single found objects, not items that for generations came to hold significant meanings. (Or were indicated in this or that religious text.)
 
#39
lulu3955 said:
I can't eloquently put into words my thoughts about this... so I've really enjoyed hearing what everyone else has to say about this interesting topic.

In an interview this is what toni had to say about it: The part that I bolded has stuck in my head......Cargo Cult.....Trashy Novels??? Interesting

"For Fall 09 I was inspired by the concept of Cargo Cults…I wanted to design a collection that had totemic, symbolic meaning through prints, shapes, color, and hardware. The collection was designed around an imaginary cult of girls who live in the Chelsea Hotel, leaving at night only to buy trashy novels, junk food, and to steal beautiful clothes, bags, jewelry, and shoes."
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What? Isn't that plain old theft? The a/w collection is inspired by theft? Really??? Ok, the Cargo Cults I can live with - even if the interpretation is different from the origination, that's not really relevant - but theft?? Romanticizing theft? I just can't get over this, I find that deeply offensive.

I was just writing out loud about Cargo Cults and trying to decide about how nutty it was using them as inspiration for a collection. I didn't really care, I thought it was a little off the wall but theft as inspiration??? How can a merchant think that's appropriate, can I go to HH and steal something and say I'm part of the cult that inspired the a/w 09 collection?

Go ahead and tell me I'm over-reacting but to say the inspiration was a cult of girls who only emerge at night to steal? How strange.
 
#40
Maybe I'm too slow to get the darker implications, but it just seems very tongue-in-cheek to me. I get way more offended by, say, some political statements that are getting thrown around these days in all seriousness (not to get political, but say, references to Nazis and Hitler, for example. That offends me deeply). Fashion stuff pretty much rolls off my back.
 
#41
No... you're not over-reacting. But theft is a longstanding idea/ideal in boho/alternative philosophies. Hippie, artist, whatever misnomer we want to use... in the leftist tradition it's part of the idea that "hey, I WISH we were a socialist society... if we were, this would be free or provided to me". But in this case, I guess I see that line as pointing out the self-mockery implied in the whole FW shoot. I think there's an inherent nod to the fact that quite a bit of the fashion we see around us (here I'm thinking of Stormy's MJ/LV luggage) IS completely out of our reach. And in Toni's fantasy world, maybe that's the only option. I doubt she's actually advocating stealing bags, but perhaps she is... they're definitely left of center :nuts: Like the "Steal this Book" thing...
 
#42
I agree with the references to Hitler, Nazis and Fascists being deeply offensive. I doubt that the people throwing around those comments even truly know what they're talking about, it's just an opportunity to tell themselves they've got the ultimate card and have won the game or whip the masses into a frenzy with disinformation. I'm not saying it's not dangerous because it can be.

My home has been broken into 3 times and good friends had their home broken into yesterday. Oh sure, if you're the thief it can be looked upon as amusing or a great deal but when it's your things that have had someone's dirty hands rummaging through them it's not funny at all.

It's one of those things that might be seen as cool or chic or trendy or whatever to talk about with your equally whatever friends so you don't feel bourgeois (oh the horror) if that's what you value or it may be seen as a way to put yourself above the people who do value the things for which they worked hard.

I guess we all have our own ways of attempting to see ourselves as cooler or more sophisticated than the next person. I had a border collie who taught me the right response to that, "whatever, now get out of here."
 
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