La grammatica del bianco e nero, nel suo continuo alternarsi
di significati e valori, può anche diventare dinamica, poiché lo spostamento
tra i due estremi e il gioco dei pieni e dei vuoti che ne risulta, induce lo
sguardo al movimento.
Ben lo sapevano gli artisti che, nel 1965, esposero al MoMA di New York le loro opere di Optical Art in una mostra intitolata “The Responsive Eye“.
Vi rimando a questo link per un interessante articolo in lingua inglese: The Trendmaking Eye
Il dinamismo era un inganno studiato ad “arte” (mi si perdoni il gioco di parole) dagli artisti OP. Scorrevano veloci gli sguardi degli spettatori, attratti da quel che vedevano, stupiti, talvolta con un senso di vertigine che il movimento illusorio delle linee in bianco e nero può provocare.
Un senso di smarrimento che riesce a rendere i dipinti optical eccezionalmente accattivanti.
Un senso di smarrimento che riesce a rendere i dipinti optical eccezionalmente accattivanti.
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| Illustration by Elisa Gibaldi (the author) |
La moda non poteva non accorgersi di tale movimento, sia in senso artistico che di significato. Dalle tele di Vasarely e Jeffrey Steele alle tele degli abiti il passo fu breve, ma contribuì a determinare un passo importante in direzione della modernità.
Jeffrey Steele ha sperimentato la pittura optical come quadro di stampa per abiti dalla linea semplice
ma di grande effetto scenografico
I creatori di stile dell’epoca compresero l’importanza del connubio tra arte e moda e trasformarono i loro abiti in supporti tridimensionali per le opere OP. In tal senso scelsero di semplificare le forme per dare spazio all’illusione della stampa.
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| Optical art in fashion (left) Optical art in fashion (right) |
Oggi come allora il gioco illusorio della visione gestaldica rimane, ma viene interpretato dagli stilisti con un tono più enfatico.
Il bianco e nero non serve più solo da superficie bidimensionale che cerca di ricreare in piano una superficie tridimensionale.
L’optical moderno gioca con i volumi e li esalta, ne supporta la struttura e li rende più movimentati.
Il bianco e nero non serve più solo da superficie bidimensionale che cerca di ricreare in piano una superficie tridimensionale.
L’optical moderno gioca con i volumi e li esalta, ne supporta la struttura e li rende più movimentati.
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| Ink illustration by Elisa Gibaldi (the author) |
In tal senso potremmo dire che l’optical crea un effetto di drammatizzazione quasi disturbante del volume e della forma.
Applicato alla semplicità della forma esso convoglia l’occhio verso una direzione voluta, mentre utilizzato in una forma complicata e multilivello, diventa generatore di disturbo e portatore di un overload di informazioni contrastanti.
Un uso teatrale che trova in Gareth Pugh uno dei massimi esponenti tra i designer più di avanguardia.
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| Gareth Pugh Spring Summer 2007 |
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| Gareth Pugh by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia February 2007 |
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| Gareth Pugh Spring Summer 2015 |
Tra i grandi classici degli anni ’60 vi era il pied de poule. Un tessuto che ha vissuto nel corso della storia mutazioni, ingrandimenti e restringimenti, ma che proprio alla classicità ambivalente del duo bianco/nero deve la sua fortuna.
Nei continui ritorni della moda esso viene utilizzato in forme moderne non più semplici e lineari, ma lontane anni luce dall’applomb bon ton che lo aveva caratterizzato nei Sixties.
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| John French 1960 |
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| Ink illustration by Elisa Gibaldi (the author) |
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| Ink illustration by Elisa Gibaldi (the author) |
Come per la matrice optical vera e propria, il pied de poule diventa stampa tra le stampe, tessitura che si perde tra le tessiture. Un movimentato camaleonte. Grande rivisitatore del classico, Alexander McQueen dona a questo tessuto una meravigliosa e audace versatilità.
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| Alexander Mc Queen fall 2009/10 collection |
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| Alexander McQueen fall 09 campaign |
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| Kristen McMenamy in a dress by Alexander McQueen fall 2009 collection |
ENGLISH VERSION
The grammar of black and white, in its continuous alternation of meanings and values, can also be dynamic, because the move between the two extremes and the play of full and empty spaces that results, leads the gaze to the movement.
It was well knew by the artists who, in 1965, exposed at MoMA in New York their works of Optical Art in an exhibition entitled “The Responsive Eye“.
I refer you to this link for an interesting article in English language: The Trendmaking Eye.
The dynamism was a deception designed at “art“ (forgive me the play on words) by OP artists. The eyes of spectators ran fast, attracted by what they saw, amazed, sometimes with a sense of vertigo that the illusory movement of the lines in black and white can cause. A sense of loss that can make the optical paintings exceptionally attractive.
Fashion could not to see this movement, both in the sense of art and meaning. From canvases by Vasarely and Jeffrey Steele to the canvases of the clothes was a short step, but it helped to determine an important step in the direction of modernity.
The creators of style of the period understood the importance of the link between art and fashion and transformed their clothes in a support for three-dimensional OP works. In this way they chose to simplify the shapes to give space to the illusion of printing.
Today like yesterday the illusory game of gestald vision remains, but it’s interpreted by the designers with a more emphatic tone. The black and white don’t serves only as two-dimensional surface that tries to recreate a three-dimensional surface. The modern optical plays with volumes and enhances them, it supports their structure and makes them more lively.
In this sense we could say that the optical effect creates a almost disturbing dramatization of the volume and shape.
Applied to the simplicity it conveys the eye toward a desired direction, while used in a complicated and multilevel shape, it becomes noise generator and carrier of an overload of conflicting information.
A theatrical use that found in Gareth Pugh the forefront among the most cutting-edge designers.
Among the great classics of the ’60s there was the houndstooth. A fabric that has lived throughout history mutations, enlargements and narrowings, but that just to the classicality ambivalent of the duo white / black owes its fortune.
In the continuous return of the fashion it’s used in modern forms not more simple and linear, but light years away from the applomb of bon ton that had characterized it in the Sixties. As for the optical matrix itself, houndstooth becomes print between prints, texture that is lost in the textures.
An animated chameleon. Great interpreter of classic, Alexander McQueen gives this fabric a wonderful and audacious versatility.
It was well knew by the artists who, in 1965, exposed at MoMA in New York their works of Optical Art in an exhibition entitled “The Responsive Eye“.
I refer you to this link for an interesting article in English language: The Trendmaking Eye.
The dynamism was a deception designed at “art“ (forgive me the play on words) by OP artists. The eyes of spectators ran fast, attracted by what they saw, amazed, sometimes with a sense of vertigo that the illusory movement of the lines in black and white can cause. A sense of loss that can make the optical paintings exceptionally attractive.
Fashion could not to see this movement, both in the sense of art and meaning. From canvases by Vasarely and Jeffrey Steele to the canvases of the clothes was a short step, but it helped to determine an important step in the direction of modernity.
The creators of style of the period understood the importance of the link between art and fashion and transformed their clothes in a support for three-dimensional OP works. In this way they chose to simplify the shapes to give space to the illusion of printing.
Today like yesterday the illusory game of gestald vision remains, but it’s interpreted by the designers with a more emphatic tone. The black and white don’t serves only as two-dimensional surface that tries to recreate a three-dimensional surface. The modern optical plays with volumes and enhances them, it supports their structure and makes them more lively.
In this sense we could say that the optical effect creates a almost disturbing dramatization of the volume and shape.
Applied to the simplicity it conveys the eye toward a desired direction, while used in a complicated and multilevel shape, it becomes noise generator and carrier of an overload of conflicting information.
A theatrical use that found in Gareth Pugh the forefront among the most cutting-edge designers.
Among the great classics of the ’60s there was the houndstooth. A fabric that has lived throughout history mutations, enlargements and narrowings, but that just to the classicality ambivalent of the duo white / black owes its fortune.
In the continuous return of the fashion it’s used in modern forms not more simple and linear, but light years away from the applomb of bon ton that had characterized it in the Sixties. As for the optical matrix itself, houndstooth becomes print between prints, texture that is lost in the textures.
An animated chameleon. Great interpreter of classic, Alexander McQueen gives this fabric a wonderful and audacious versatility.
