On October 31, Berlin’s Schinkel Pavillon will open “Costumes and Wishes for the 21st Century,” a collaborative exhibition between Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, BLESS, and the design studio Manuel Raeder.
Centering itself around the “apparitions” upon which Gonzalez-Foerster has based her recent practice—in which she appears in various places as different characters or visionaries from the past, including Scarlett O’Hara, Bob Dylan, or Helen Frankenthaler—the exhibition will present the artist’s costumes used in these performances.
In speaking of her “apparitions,” Foerster said in 2014: “In my view, this resonates completely with our actual identities, which are characterized by fragmentation and displacement.”
According to the press release, the costumes will be staged by Manuel Raeder to perpetuate the spirit of apparitions and transformations. Ensembles to be displayed include Edgar Allan Poe, as well as Sarah Bernhardt, Marilyn Monroe, and Maria Callas.
In a visitor-friendly move, BLESS will design t-shirts and accessories for gallery-goers to try on (this is in addition to makeup by “uslu airlines” and hairstyling by Hiro). In doing so, the goal is to encourage the audience to “incorporate the characters and take their contemporary interpretations even further, off-site.”
The exhibition is one of a year-long series of ongoing presentations at the Schinkel Pavillon, titled “Porzellan und Vulkan. Kollaborative Praxis“ (which translates to “Porcelain and Volcano. Collaborative Practice”).
“Costumes and Wishes for the 21st Century” will be on view at the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin, from October 31, 2016 – January 22, 2017.