Dissolving Memory

 

I typed “Martinez Lierah designer” into Google, a short unprepared display of words, knowing full well that my sentence or there lack of did not meet the English grammar standards at all, but it is Google and I am allowed to be short. Hastily trying to know more about this designer, until I found out there were two men that could be held accountable for this collection.

 

Under the heading “About” on the Martinez Lierah official website explains that:

“Daniel Lierah and Arturo Martinez established their Paris studio in 2010 to commence a design project in women’s ready to wear.

Marrying the improbable and finding beauty in the odd is part of their design ideology.

Through thoughts and feelings they experiment at their atelier with personalized fabrics, prints and silhouettes to make their cerebral process come to a reality.

The mixture of their Latin roots juxtaposed in a sober Parisian environment creates equilibrium between structure and fluidity.

A silent artisanal mood together with architectural mismash of shapes and straight lines.

An amalgamation of thoughts turned into spontaneity” (Martinez Lierah 2015).

 

After my eyes glazed across each line, I began to cherish the image I stumbled across that got me researching this fashion house. Pure sculptural art in fashion always excites me.

 

I like to know about the designers before I divulge their collections into my mind, and try best to decode their concepts from my point of view. Needless to say, their work is phenomenal.

 

“For winter 2012-13 Martinez Lierah finds inspiration in the idea of a memory that is dissolving and its consequences in the human mind.

When a very traumatic event occurs the mind keeps the memory very clear. As time passes by, this memory starts to fade, sending erroneous messages about what happened. Apparently after sometime memory collapses.

Influenced by the work of Toshio Shibata and Daniel Libeskind; in this collection, Martinez Lierah continues the search for a balance between structure and fluidity, with disintegration as a reference point” (Martinez Lierah 2015).

 

A memory, clinging to your subconscious, who would have thought inspiration could be found in such a feeling, who knew such a feeling existed.

Twenty one mesmerizing looks, beginning in all white, with shadows of green emerging.

Instantly I am hooked :

 

The garments are bold and can hold their own. The shapes are rigid and promote confidence to women wearing them.

From the first two looks I observe that the wrists are held in place, however not in a restricting or demeaning fashion, rather revealing a suppler and caressing manner, creating equilibrium between structure and fluidity.

 

I researched Toshio Shibata, an influence to both designers:

Shibata began his career in Japan, and the photographs he made there explore the inherent visual contradictions of a land relinquishing its natural resources to structures meant to contain and preserve them (Laurence Miller Gallery 2014).

The photographs of Toshio Shibata convey a powerful drama, generated by the conflict of natural forces against man-made structures (Laurence Miller Gallery 2014).

After flicking through a few images it was evident that the combination of man-made versus Mother Nature took its place within this collection, the rigid versus the harmonious. The fluid organic matter emerges in the collection visually as the green pigment emerges, flowing, distinct against the piercing white glacial background. An amalgamation.

“The man-altered landscape becomes a mysterious abstract composition in which the shapes and patterns intrinsic to both the natural and artificial forms becomes visible” (Laurence Miller Gallery 2014).

Another pinnacle source of inspiration for this collection stems from an architect named, Daniel Libeskind.

I was particularly drawn to a collaboration between Libeskind and performance artist Marina Abramovic, Daniel Libeskind created a limited edition table based on Abramovic’s exercise “Counting the Rice”. The table is an embodiment of the performance staged by the Marina Abramovic Institute that involves counting grains of rice for six hours or more—the type of physically demanding experiment for which the contemporary artist is known (Daniel Libeskind 2015).

“I wanted to create something austere, but also beautiful that speaks to Marina’s work in a very direct way,” said Daniel Libeskind.  “The design comes from the idea of a church pew or monastic cloister” (Daniel Libeskind 2015).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Produced in an edition of 30 by the Italian furniture company Moroso, the table is one piece of high performance soft grey cast concrete, etched with intersecting lines. The first prototype of the table was presented in April 2014 in the Cortile d’Onore cloister at Milan University, during Design Week 2014. Moroso produced a single wooden version for the occasion, used for the ‘Counting the Rice’ exercise performed by students in Milan (Daniel Libeskind 2015).

The influence of this specific table is evident in the shoes of this collection. The concrete austere atmosphere can be radiated by the entire runway show. Bringing forth the importance of minutiae details that set the foundation for the Autumn Winter collection.

 

 

On a closer observation of the garments, I was taken by the overall linear appeal, through the use of panels and well cut inserts of fabric that created a three dimensional approach that linked to Toshio Shibata precise and crisp images.

The eye dances, through, around and beyond each outfit. Following the linear treasure map set before us.

Seeing as this is a ready to wear collection the balance between marrying the improbable and finding beauty in the odd is met.

The simpler approach towards the pants and skirts becomes a daily wearable item, paired with a more artistically designed shirt that creates a lucid outfit. Being a ready to wear collection, your garments need to be ready to wear daily.

 

 

Reference List

Text

• Daniel Libeskind (online). 2015. Available: http://libeskind.com/work/counting-the-rice/ (Accessed 3rd January 2015).

• Laurence Miller Gallery (online). 2015. Available: http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/artist_shibata.html (Accessed 3rd January 2015).

• Martinez Lierah (online). 2015. Available: http://www.martinezlierah.com/ (Accessed 3rd January 2015).

 

Image

• Counting the Rice (online). 2014. Available: http://libeskind.com/work/counting-the-rice/ (Accessed 3rd January 2015).

Video

• Martinez Lierah.. 2014. Martinez Lierah · Autumn - Winter 2012-2013. (online). Available:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Nn__Ohtow (Accessed 3rd January 2014).