Hussein Chalayan at B-side

An exhibition I saw the other week was the work of Hussein Chalayan, his exhibition was somewhat very different to others I have been to, but in a good way. Chalayan has always been interested in presenting his work in a way where you single out moments where you might see as part of a catwalk but in the form of an exhibition where you can digest the work and think about the ideas behind it.

He exemplifies a particular way of thinking where his work crosses disciplines. He collaborates with scientists, engineers and biologists and manages to humanise technological tricks.

The B-side exhibition combines two different projects. The Anaesthetics video is based on 11 chapters about institutions and the violence behind institutions. The film itself is very disjointed, but themes that link within each scene. He remakes the props from the film into framed boxes where the audience can view them in more detail.

Inertia was a previous project Chalayan did, involving dresses frozen in movement. The exhibition it is a continuation of this, demonstrating a crash scene in mould making. They show negatives as well, the origins of where the dresses came from.

“I produce these ideas because I am excited and you share that with people. They can like it or hate it as long as there’s a response of some kind even if its dislike, I think that means something”