Ed Ruscha Ed Ruscha Ed Ruscha - Art and Living

the art of architectureArchi-tailoredIn its latest show, Los Angeles’ Museum ofContemporary Art examines the ways inwhich architecture and fashion commingle intoday’s world By Daniella WalshThe pairing of fashion and architecture together in an art exhibition isn’tnecessarily intuitive. After all, the tailored creations of Comme desGarçons, Azzedine Alaïa and Vivienne Westwood may not exactly conjureassociations with archi-names like Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadidor Herzog & de Meuron. And yet, Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art(MOCA) has done just that with its latest show.Neil M. Denari Architects, High Line Project 23, 2005. Digital animation. Image courtesyNeil M. Denari Architects.Indeed, Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture is a pioneeringexhibition that evidences how contemporary fashion and architecture have ahand-in-glove relationship. Staged by MOCA’s Curator of Architecture andDesign Brooke Hodge, it illuminates the relationship of bones (structural framework)and skin (external surfaces) in fashions and buildings created by 46 architectsand fashion designers of the last 25 years.Hodge says that she began to conceptualize the show six years ago. “I’vethought for a long time how the two disciplines have borrowed from each otherand interact,” she says, citing as inspiration the sculptural garments of designer ReiKawakubo of Comme des Garçons and some of the more acclaimed examplesTodd Eberle, Untitled No. 1, 2003. Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles,California, 2003. Photo © Todd Eberle.of contemporary architecture.“Good fashion and good architecture are based onform and flow of line; they are timeless and not trend-based,” she explains.98 2006 Issue 4