As this years competition was based on Pugin,
it being his bicentenary, they decided to create pieces that built on their artistic concerns, but bring in pertinent aspects of Pugins philosophy & design ideas; things like the structure of the patterns they have created for these 'garments' are reminiscent of his, but they also thought about the society that he lived in & his belief that peoples lives could be improved by good design, by having 'beauty' in their lives.
Corpus Cutis say 'We know that the average life expectancy in the mid to late victorian era was around 40 (Pugin himself died around that age), & that huge rafts of people had only the clothes they stood up in & worked incredibly long hours in terrible conditions. That's the sort of thing that was in the backs of our minds when we were making this work'.
The garments they have created aren't made to wear. They fit into a space between Fine Art & design. The fabrics are covered in pattern based on Pugin, but created from images of skin, blemishes & disease. They have an ethereal beauty but are also slightly stomach churning.
See them at the Imago until the 20th September
Photos by Sue Westergaard
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