Mirror-montage

I was reading about handmade special effects last week and admiring Jan Von Holleben photographs.



I found these surreal optical illusions very inspiring for our shop window project, I liked the way he uses every day life objects to create these absurd compositions, like cut-and-paste.

I was also flicking through the "Hair Wars" book

at RD Franks and I thought I would like to make something with synthetic hair, lots of it! well maybe that would be a little expensive...
However I kept thinking about

18th century wigs


Brixton arcade

I also remembered an exhibition (someone told me once or twice that I see too many!) I saw many years ago, "When Philip met Isabella"

where Philip Treacy's wonderful hats where placed on black hatstands, inside glass cabinets so you could see your face reflected on the glass and it looked like you where actually wearing the hat

I don't think that was intentional as it wasn't very obvious but it inspired this idea:


(The grey areas are mirrors where passers by can see their reflection and it looks like they are part of the composition of 18th century wigs printed on paper and stuck on the window, the background is wax print fabric pattern as I imagined this in Brixton, maybe it used to be a hairdresser's shop...)

What do you think? it's not necessarily what the window should look like but rather a way for people people to interact with the window, in a very low-fi way, this is just a layout and I still believe there should be a message behind it which could inform or be part of the composition

Art attack on the urban blight!

I read an interesting article today on The Economist, I admit I only understand half of the social, economic and political dealings covered by this publication but I found the article very relevant to The Fickle Street Project, although it's not about empty shop windows and despite the fact that we are still trying to work out what we will actually show in the windows once we manage to find some to curate!

The art of abandonment
Some weird and wonderful things are rising from the ashes of the Motor City

Detroit, the once model city of Industrial automobile production is now the home of the Heidelberg Project, a design collective founded by artist Tyree Guyton, turns abandoned and run down neighbourhood in Detroit into an open air art gallery.


I feel very inspired by projects, like this one, it takes a lot of courage to create beauty and wonder from challenging, and hopeless environments, and economies. The most surprising thing is when creative people like the Detroit Collaborative Design Centre see something new and unexpected, like an open air amphitheatre in a house in disrepair!



PS: Tyree Guyton's "Faces In The Hood" (faces pained on the bonnet of Detroits long gone industrial pride) reminded me about the mirrors mentioned in ...down the pub

Happy New Years

I found a good site for browsing: http://tokyofashion.com/tag/shop-windows(tokyofashion.com)

Shopping is pastime in Toyko, the high streets shop windows are a retail wonderland and visual treat so a good place to look for inspiration.

Although the sites main purpose is for Japanese fashion / shopping the photographs taken by a girl(?) who is living locally are a good insight into shop retail displays - she collects pics of all the shop windows in mainly in the Harajuku district and anything else that stands out.

One thing that really struck me was the hype generated for the stores, even this is visible through the images. Shop windows are adverts for their promotions and emphasis is taken away from other staple products. The mania deliberately created around getting something individual that no-one else has. Limited editions are especially popular ensuring you stand out in the populated crowd.

Still a massive advertising favourite is the branded bag, and they're not always freebies, 500USD for a Paul Smith bag! Uhmmm, I remember we had a similar phase in the UK a while back.

New Tidings, New Ideas...

Happy New Year! The Shop Floor Project has put up a new 'shop window' to see in the beginning of twentyten, I thought; *Has anyone done a window on new year resolutions? I also came across a site from someone I used to go to uni with who only photos windows, mostly fashion houses but good for research purps. That's here. I just wanted to say a hello and let's get to work, I'm feeling particularly proactive, woo 2010!

Brixton Village by Spacemakers

What I found interesting and inspiring about the Brixton Village project where the shops that looked less like retail environments, the ones by the designers/artists that with a very brave move didn't see this as just an opportunity to sell something but instead to say something, the creative process behind their creations (don't think they where even on sale!) or a story, like at
Cabinet of Curiority

These "shops" created the most abstract and surreal narratives, and in my opinion made an interesting connection with the markets existing environment.


It would have been nice to see a connection with the past of the market or the other shops, like “mirrors”...

More information about the Brixton Village project on
http://spacemakers.org.uk/projects/brixton/

...down the pub

Over our yummy hot green curry we began to ponder the main mission in defining our 'Fickle Street' How and what are we doing with our shop front?

We want to stand out and attract attention but for the right reasons?

The identity and individuality of each towns high streets around the UK has dwindled since the likes of McDonald's, Starbucks, Tesco's and B&Q arrived on the scene.

A lot of family businesses or unique, quirky stores just cant keep up with the competition especially in this harsh economic time.

How can we show the people on the streets what is missing?

Give them a mirror to look closely at what they are spending their money on. Mass, cheap, production. Service is questionable, community forgotten, crafts lost.

And does a £3 coffee really makes you smile that much??

Lets mimic the Brands and Chains who care only about making money... Mirror their actions in our window displays across the road or next door. Make a subtle statement.

Or maybe there is just fun to be had with the concept of reversing what is expected in the fickle street window displays:

New Look Vs Old Look

Cheap line factory produced clothes Vs Vintage quality clothing

Machine produced Vs craft produced

Same mass brand Vs homemade and individual

Nearly a snow day

On a very cold December evening we trekked down to Brixton Market. The clever chaps had decided to promote a festive shopping experience by encouraging magical pop up stores. Although still going strong during the day, Brixton undercover market has also been experiencing some problems of late and a higher percentage of shops and units have been left unused and empty. This scheme enabled start up companies, or artists and designers to promote their work and create a shop environment for networking and potential customers. Interesting stuff.

{Documented in pics by Sandra D.}

We then headed off to the pub for some brain work.

Home is where the pub is...

image from flickr

Friday night I went to Designersblock hq/home/pub and it was one of those 'yeah! a shop doesn't have to be/look like a shop' moment just as this pub is now (soon to be demolished) a place for all kinds of events, mostly a venue for parties and exhibits. I like thinking about displacement, put something where it doesn't quite fit, make something useless or turn a pub into a private-public-space as Designersblock's (owned by the Geffrye Museum) pub.

Displaying Conversations

Whether they are the conversations lost in space that have already taken place or the shop's own voice (is that weird), I'm referring to Clare's post, honing in on "conversations" and the history behind the space that Sandra mentions. Some visual food:


Images various sources

Peepshow

image from Peepshow

Found myself drawn to the peepshow virtual Christmas shop window display. I like the eye catching cartoon colours they use. Its eye catching without being cluttered.
www.peepshow.org.uk/peepshop

The big question: What are we going to exhibit?

After talking to my cousin Angelos who, as a scientist is a very down to earth kind of person I started reasoning on one of the main ideas that influenced this project: we aren’t actually advertising or selling anything! After explaining to my cousin the idea behind the Fickle Street Project, it didn’t have a name then, he told me that one of the golden rules of selling is to lure your customer into the store, if this fails you have lost him and a possible sale! So I thought what if we decide not to make any money? Fickle Street Project is not inviting anyone to walk inside the store, we almost make a point of it being closed, but just to enjoy what is in the windows without feeling invited to buy. Not selling is probably one of the main reasons behind all these shop closures, so can this project be inspiring although it’s not designed to make any money? Clare suggested that this project should raise awareness about all the shops that had to close down, and suggested a link between the history of the shop before it shut and what we are going to exhibit. This does not explain just what we are planning to exhibit but hopefully should offer inspiration as some of these shops have a very interesting past and the type of things they used to sell where quite specific and unique or part of a long gone era We would like this to be the inspiring brief for the Fickle Street Project but without being nostalgic about the past

IDEA #1 Shop Sitting?

I like the idea of people shop-sitting like they do when a house is left empty. If we could get a list of people to come in and do what they will for a week or a day and then pass it on to the next 'sitter' that would be a growing collaboration, naturally.
image from Flickr

Article of Interest

I found the following quote very interesting:

"I hate it when you can tell where the art ends and building begins," says Sarah Gaventa, director of Cabe Space, the public-space arm of design watchdog the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. "There's nothing sadder than seeing art as an addon and not part of creating places."

Future of Cities, Guardian article