Queer History of Fashion, International Centre for Photography and Shaun O'Connor

The morning involved a visit to the Fashion Institute of Technology for a look at the exhibition, Queer History of Fashion. While I have little interest in fashion (I'm terribly unfashionable!) I did find the talk by the curator made it far more interesting. It explained how the exhibition came about, and also how it was put together, exploring both the fashions of the LGBT community, and the creations of LGBT designers. Most interesting was how LGBT fashions became main stream through the appropriation of the trends by LGBT designers.

Next was a visit to the International Centre for Photography. Of most interest was a Zoe Strauss exhibition. Strauss has travelled America, photographing the things not often shown. The dirty, grungy, underbelly. Be it run down buildings, odd signs or someone smoking a crack pipe, she presents a warts and all view of America. Interspersed is imagery of the patriotism of Americans, when presented with the other images it begs the question, what are they so proud of? While I looked at the photos I thought of post-apocalyptic movies and I wondered, are we already there?

Another interesting exhibit was of the JFK assassination; but the bystander's view, presented in amateur photographs and film. In today's world of Instagram, digital cameras and camera phones, the bystander is becoming even more important. Governments and the media can present the story they want to tell, but the myriad of bystander images that can appear may be able to give people a truly unbiased view of events. Will we be able to see something from multiple viewpoints and remove the bias?

Finally we made our way to Brooklyn for a visit with Shaun O'Connor in his studio. While not an artist myself, it was interesting to see what happens to an artist once they get out of university. Not everyone can be a millionaire artist, but what does it mean if you're not?

Tonight in the dorm there was a discussion about what it means to be a successful artist. It was suggested Shaun wasn't successful, but what is the measure? Are you unsuccessful because you're not a millionaire, or are you successful because you're doing something you love to do? Shaun is creating art and showing art. Does it need to make him rich? I can't help but think that if he's living in a city he loves, with a studio to work in, he's doing okay. Is he making a living off his art? I guess not. But to me this does not mean he isn't successful, plus it would be naive to think that you can just turn up in New York, rent a studio and suddenly be the toast of the art world. He may yet make a living from his art, but like anything, it takes hard work and time.