backstage archiv9808, paris 2009
Creating a central ideology that encompasses fashion, art, and philosophy is not an easy task. The the designers of ____fabrics interseason, Johannes Schweiger and Wally Salner from Austria, have been able to collocate all of these components under their multimedia brand. Though the name ____frabrics interseason appears to be an enigma (yes, the underscore is intentional), their artistic expression and point of view is manifested in any medium the duo seizes. Whether Schweiger and Salner are creating art installations, or drumming up a new collection, they are constantly creating and finding the means to put forth their visions in a perceptive manner. Their garments alone are testaments to their ability to build and mold, as seen through their heavily layered aesthetic. The silhouettes are often full and the their shapes are fluid and organic. Nothing is ever over whelming or contrived. The designers break away from the constraints of fashion, and are not bound by the conventional ideas of nipped waists and hemlines. They do not succumb to the triteness of it all. Schweiger and Salner maintain an equillibrium throughout their work, translating conceptual ideas into palpable, tangible fabric and materials.
I’ve written about ____fabrics interseason before because I immediately fell in love with the aesthetic and appreciated the substance behind it. It’s so rare to find artists/designers who are so well rounded to this extent and are able to execute their points of view so beautifully and effectively. That being said, an interview with the designers was very necessary. Thanks Wally and Johannes!
1) What is the meaning behind the name ____fabrics interseason?
During our studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (in the early 1990s) we participated in self-organized projects and exhibitions. We developed early on our need to be independent and to do our own thing, instead of waiting for a curator or a gallerist to save us from the ivory tower and put our work/personas in a white cube.
Back in those days we had loose ideas about how we wanted to continue to work and approach different projects, but it was only a little later that we decided to collaborate as ____fabrics interseason, creating a platform on which different methods of expression (fine arts, design, new electronic music etc.) could meet.
The term ____fabrics interseason still stands for itself, but might suggest issues of material, value and sustainability.
2) Your work seems to have cultural motifs and social implications embedded in it, what exactly do you try to convey through your designs?
When we finished our studies (graphics, painting, and new media), there was no fixed plan at that time as to which direction the collaboration of ____fabrics interseason would take. Of course, our interest in design and moreover fashion, with all its social implications, was a driving force, but there was always our strong connection/background to the fine arts, as well as the possibility and necessity to discuss and state the various concepts/issues behind every project and collection within the contemporary fine art context.
____fabrics interseason would like to provide alternatives of any kind for a new life-style.
manifesta7: “dominant design: go tell the spartans thou who passest by…”
3) Is there a difference between how approach your designs and how you approach your art installations/exhibits?
The combination of creating an art piece, or having exhibitions in museums and galleries, as well as producing a collection of garments and accessories twice a year within the fashion context, seemed to be a challenging method of working for us, as cultural entrepreneurs. This might not have been an easy objective, and it is still barely understood by many people, but for us it was the only way to develop ____fabrics interseason’s idea of a “cultural work with a surplus value”.
The influence of art on fashion, and vice versa, might lie in the sharing and reflecting of social layers – at least the way we are doing art and the way we are doing fashion and design in general. The interest in the “surface” of things and more so the life within this surface – either the social, political or designed skin of whatever structure – could be a main issue of our work. It is not really about deconstructing established values, but more about making diverse codes transparent with our own (visual) language…
4) How would you classify your aesthetic?
Unbelievable but: rigid, pure, modern(ist) bourgeoisie.
5) Your garments can seamlessly make their way into the wardrobes of either sex, is gender specificity something you try to avoid?
Deeply seated bonds between fashion trends, gender-specific identity, and the female body, were and are important for the formulation, analysis, and deconstruction of this topic.
One thing is clear: nothing is outside of fashion any more. It is meaningless to discuss fashion as an isolated phenomenon, without taking into account the economic, social, and ideological connections that have always constituted it. Hence, fashion is an analysis of the surface, with all its political implications.
But, can a choice of clothing be viewed as a symbolic politics, or even be confused with political action? Can clothes still enable revolution or subversive politics, if everything is now only a matter of quotation? In our work, fashion phenomena which break with social norms, or attempt to subvert gender-norm stereotypes, are an important topic. We think that a breakout from normative standards and societal regression is negotiated with/by the body itself – and no longer with clothes – for instance via body hair (unshaven armpits, pubic hairstyles, unshaven legs). The micro-codes of feminist resistance e.g. have become quite subtle and are directed against standardised concepts of gender, sexuality, and desire.
manifesta7: “dominant design: go tell the spartans thou who passest by…”
6) What is more important to you: silhouette or fabric?
Each material, its quality, texture, and encoded character are important to our work and sort of describe how a garment, a product or an object will look in the end. Shapes and silhouettes might conspicuously seem to be important for us when designing clothes, but they are NOT! Though our style is often described as voluminous, it is simply a question of how you look at the image and style of ____fabrics interseason. Volume could be a possibility to describe power and protection in terms of garments, but for us it is also simply the result of an eclectic mixture of codes.
7) How have you, as a design team, and your designs evolved over the years?
The way we work together might have changed over the years, as the cultural output/direction/character of our brand has naturally changed and developed in an unpredictable way, but it is still based mainly upon a strong and intense communication between the two of us, which results in our very own ____fabrics interseason products. Of course there is room within ____fabrics interseason to focus, research, and express personal needs (and it is vital to do so), but the decision to use an anonymous name (FI) for our work was a means of ridding ourselves of the conventional, conservative, and traditional image that personal authorship is still necessary for either the mediation or the reception of any cultural work.
8) When are you most inspired?
When being in love, while making love and when there´s some money in our accounts!
