“Fetish”, a joint exhibition by David Lynch and Christian Louboutin in Hong Kong.
Renowned American filmmaker David Lynch and French shoe designer Christian Louboutin, each a master of his own medium, decided to pair themselves for a joint project titled “Fetish”, shown at Cat Street Gallery in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, in November. When the collection first appeared in Paris last year, the chemistry between these two talents of extreme style was received with rapture on the European scene. Finally arriving in Hong Kong, both the exhibition and Louboutin himself were greeted by fans queuing for autographs on the opening night of November 11th.
The successful collaboration did not come about by accident; the two masters met for a reason. It started when David Lynch commissioned Louboutin to make shoes for his solo exhibition “The Air is On Fire” at the Cartier Foundation in Paris, back in March 2007. In this first collaboration, Louboutin designed a series of shoes for Lynch’s creation, and, in return, Louboutin asked the filmmaker to create a scenic photographic
backdrop for his new series
of high-heel shoes,
on
display in “Fetish”.
During the
process of exchange, the two artists wasted no time not only becoming friends with each other, but also making the opportunity into a catalyst for new achievements.
With his newly created series of shoes, Louboutin surprised the audience with an extremely accurate sense of Fetishism. These pairs of “shoes”, sporting 26cm heels or, as in the Siamese collection, fused together at the heel, are not “wearable” at all in any normal way. One can hardly stand in these shoes, let alone the question of walking. However, by emphasising the visual impact of these shoes and thus turning them into “shoe-sculptures”, Louboutin has revealed the core of fashion – presented here – to be pure objects of contemplation. The idea is daring and ultimately honest. When an obsession is stripped down to the point of serving its own end, truth appears – absolute and, certainly, irresistible. But the master did not stop there. In order to explore the visual possibility of these new forms, Louboutin invited David Lynch to be the “metteur en scene” for his design objects. Taken within a span
of two days, the series
of photographs
created by
David Lynch was conceived with the utmost care to detail. From the background setting to the choice of models – from the Crazy Horse dance troupe of Paris – Lynch worked with his usual mastery over the creation of atmosphere and obsession with detail. In executing the accompanying visual background for Louboutin’s daring designs, Lynch showed no timidity in pushing his subjects to the edge of sadomasochism, which, amazingly, was shown here with a refined sense of grace and beauty.
The successful example of the Lynch-Louboutin collaboration shows us what is no less than a post-modernist legend, in which being avant-garde is just not enough. In order to reach for the ultimate nature of things, these artists are determined to walk the path until they have explored all possibilities of forms. Along the way, consumerism is just another object to be exhausted.
