Over the summer, I was given the project of creating a wearable gallery, portraying where we had been over summer and create something out of it. In summer, I had travelled to Rhodes, and it was there I received the email for the project. When looking around I didn't know what to do.
I found that the area I was staying in was very British Friendly, and catered a lot to British taste, making sure that when they were on holiday they were at home, away from home. I found this quite tacky and embarrassing being English myself. The idea of going to Greece and being able to get a Yorkshire Dinner there seemed really bizarre. The tourist shops were very interesting. They sold traditional things to very novelty things, such as rude postcards to phallic bottle openers.
It was this home away from home idea that I wanted to make a piece out of. I bought adult themed playing cards and knew that was the item I wanted to do something with.
I created a playing card bikini, and covered all the rude images on the cards with novelty items, such as objects and food, in a touch in cheek playful way, because it was still obvious what I was trying to cover up on the cards. I thought the idea was quite interesting and was a lot of fun to create. I looked at artists work such as Martin Parr and Jeff Koons. Martin Parr's photography work captured British Culture beautifully, and also in a quite endearing way. The cards I had bought were very seventies-esque. I saw a connection with the highly saturated colour in Parr's and also Koons' work. Jeff Koons' work also had a very sexual theme in some parts but also very tacky.
When making the bikini it became a challenge in itself to come up with ideas to cover up these adult themed cards.
It was a very light hearted project and was fun to show the rest of the course. Sharing ideas in which it had came from and the piece itself.
