Ms Natalie Smith
Natalie is a Ph.D candidate and her research interests are the theory of art and theory of fashion. The focus of her doctoral thesis is the relationship between art and fashion from 1982 (the year of an Artforum editorial by Germano Celant and Ingrid Sischy dedicated to fashion) to 2002. Previous research has been conducted in the area of wearable art and specifically the phenomenon of the New Zealand Wearable Art Awards.
Beyond the Rhetoric: Looking at Those in Fashion Who Really Know What Sort of Concept Art Is
John Calcutt, in an "Art History" article, (June 1987), stated that serious study in fashion is hampered by its adoption of history of art methodologies that "attempt to construct for their object of study a system of absolute, ahistorical and hierarchical cultural and aesthetic values." Calcutt's statement can be focussed on fashion designers who promote their work as art with reference to the history of art history. This rhetorical mode creates, for fashion, an aura of cultural capital conveying the illusion it is more distinctive than other artistic practices. Such rhetoric is style, without substance, affording fashion a temporary reprise from slipping into the indistinct ontology of visual culture. Arthur Danto argues that in the contemporary artworld anything can now be considered art. Arguing from Danto, I analyse the way in which conceptual couturiers dispense with rhetoric, audaciously presenting their work as art by claiming to know what sort of concept art is. It is through the practice of conceptual couturiers that the relationship between art and fashion moves beyond rhetoric and is opened up to greater understanding and serious study.
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