NORMCORE LANDSCAPE
EXHIBITION ROUSE GALLERY PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY MARCH - APRIL 2018
NORMCORE is a contemporary phenomenon, particularly in the fashion world, where common, ordinary or street fashion is elevated and transformed with new content and signification through artistic appropriation and manipulation. NORMCORE conflates normal and hardcore. NORMCORE typically takes the common--bland--normal and infuses it with wit, irony and craft. Fashion designer Demna Gvasalia’s fashion label Vetements is a leading proponent of the NORMCORE movement and he is now the designer for the Balenciaga label. He worked with influential designer Martin Margiela before starting his own label. Gvasalia’s manipulation of the classic bomber jacket with exaggerated proportions is both recognizable normal and affected extreme. Most ordinary landscapes are not designed by landscape architects. They are installed products procured from catalogs, big box retailers or maintenance supply sources. Normal landscape aesthetics are typically derived from media images, typical specifications and common practice. Mostly these landscapes are created as expressions of normality and convention. This installation looks at the issues of NORMCORE aesthetics and critique in landscape design. What is the normal in the profession and industry and what are the contemporary cultural conditions and questions that might be explored through NORMCORE inquiry, reworking, and commentary?
KEN SMITH WORKSHOP 2018