The Baton Rouge Gallery will show two surreal films Friday at 8 p.m. on the City Park lawn to raise funds for the upcoming wearable art show, Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show.
Located less than two miles from campus, the Surreal Double Feature Fundraiser will be shown picnic style under the stars to inspire the community and entrants for the Oct. 12 art show.
“People who come can’t expect a Drew Barrymore romance,” said Uncommon Thread Director Erin Rolfs, a 2006 University alumna. “They’re really, really entertaining … not so abstract that you’re bored.”
One of the features is the Master of Fine Arts thesis of 2004 University alumna Janet Rudawsky. Rudawsky defines the piece – titled “Pulse” – not as a film, but as an abstract audiovisual narrative.
“Video is very different from film because it deconstructs concepts that we are very comfortable with when we watch TV.”
She said her work “depicts humanity not as the strong rational rulers of the Earth, but instead as a tormented figure that struggles to find security in an uncertain world.”
The second film of the double feature was nominated for two Oscars, in Costume Design and Art Direction/Set Decoration. It also won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
Directed by internationally renowned filmmaker Federico Fellini, the 1965 surrealist Italian movie is named “Giulietta degli Spiriti” or “Juliet of the Spirits.”
The films were chosen because of their artistic use of costuming, Rolfs said. They will provide motivation for the self-proclaimed “performance of wearable wonders” in October.
Wearable art defines the making of individually-designed pieces of usually handmade clothing as artistic expressions, according to Rolfs.
Rolfs said she decided to bring the genre of wearable art to Baton Rouge because it is accessible to people who are not academically trained artists.
“Everybody wears clothes. Not everybody collects oil on canvas,” she said.
In this way, Rolfs said the genre levels the artistic playing field. But she said artists can still use their pieces to convey a message.
“It is an innovative way to say whatever you want and not get backlash for it,” she said.
Rolfs said that is the difference between fashion and wearable art.
“A ball gown is just there to be pretty; these pieces exist for a deeper purpose,” she said.
Christina Burns, University alumna, agrees the two genres present different challenges.
“To me, wearable art is far more difficult to conceptualize and execute than any other form of fashion,” she said.
This past summer, Burns was an intern for Suzanne Perron, who will be one of the judges for the show. Perron is a former Vera Wang designer and has also worked with designers Carolina Herrera and Anna Sui.
“In wearable art, you have any medium to choose that you can possibly find. The possibilities are limitless. In fashion, however, you have only fabric,” Burns said.
Burns heard about the show through Perron and plans to enter a piece in the contest.
Rolfs hopes Uncommon Thread will increase communication and collaboration among artists in the city.
“I think a lack of communication between artists is a too common thing in Baton Rouge,” she said.
But the entrants in the show are not limited to the city. Rolfs said she already has entrants from Georgia, Ohio, California and South Korea.
Admission to the fundraiser is $5 to help ensure that the show in October is free to the public.
Those who attend Friday’s event will have the chance to win one of two $100 gift certificates to the Co-op Bookstore.
Rolfs said she hopes to make Uncommon Thread an annual event.
—Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]