Culture

AS IS, 377 Princes St

Sebastian Reynard’s Definitive Cuts at AS IS features an assemblage of floating fabric sculptures dangling from the ceiling. It challenges our value system, making us question what art is, what craft is, and subverting the notion of what is typically considered ‘low’ art by simply placing the exhibition items in a ‘high art’ gallery context. Upon entrance to the gallery, one is made aware of both the building’s primary function as a theatrical performance space and also the theatrical process of dressing and self-expression. The space has been divided through the use of sheer fabric billowing from the ceiling, which enables the viewer to be submerged inside the web of works in an almost ritualistic process. The viewer is invited to physically engage with each garment and truly feel an intimate connection to each work.
Reynard makes no attempt to hide the origins of each garment. The sculptures are made using discarded fabrics and re-imagined into items which challenge our perception of clothing as merely ‘functional’ objects designed to be worn. Many of the garments would’ve been created in a sweatshop. Every piece of fabric is left the way in which it was found; stained, worn and with its tag of origin intact, then lovingly crafted in what must have been an incredibly time-consuming process. Reynard has taken these items and laboriously hand-stitched each piece. This recycling enables the viewer to be aware of both the history of the fabric and its mode of production.
Every sculpture appears like an aerial shot of the landscape. Scar Tissue Ballerina Cardigan consists of a Glassons’ cardigan, which appears to be scrunched into an evolving organism, as though Reynard’s curved stitches sought to consume the remnants of the garment. A long, curved scrap of wool floats down from the sculpture, as though it were still growing. Imperial Robes was made from three recycled jerseys and each moulds together, presenting the viewer with seemingly different natural landscapes.
rescuing of the ugly both highlights Reynard’s ability to find beauty in the unexpected and refers to what lies outside the location’s windows, as there is a unique interplay between the interior gallery space and the exterior skyline of decaying, yet poignantly beautiful, old buildings along Princes Street.