Yohji Yamamoto makes waves
A giant wedding dress is turned on its head and suspended from the huge metal tanks that make up the roof of the former hydraulic power station’s boiler house, descending into a seemingly bottomless tank of water.
The black depths of the darkened space reflects the falling dress, multiplying the image of the voluminous white silk garment as the hat supported by bamboo sticks floats freely.
A boatman rows an old wooden boat gently to the centre of the stage every 15 minutes, the rippling of the water combined with the row of lights that gently illuminate the space, and the calming music, complete this meditative installation.
Yohji Making Waves is the work of scenographer and lighting designer Masao Nihei in collaboration with the Wapping Project. The exhibition is the third in a series dotted around London that celebrate the work of the avant-garde Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto and includes a retrospective at the V&A and Yohji’s Women at the Wapping Project Bankside.
Masao Nihei is a long-term collaborator of the Japanese designer. The oversized dress is a legendary one from the designer’s 1998 collection and in much the same way, this inspired installation seeks to capture something of the wit and imagination of Yohji Yamamoto whose work has helped transform our approach to fashion design.
Yohji Making Waves is at the Wapping Project until 10 July. Yohji Yamamoto a restrospective is at the V&A until 10 July and Yohji’s Women is at Wapping Project Bankside until 14 May, 2011.
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very inspiring article on a very inspiring art. So evocative. so fragile in space. so intimate.
Lost for words! Masao Nihei did an amazing job.
When I stepped out of the boat I was breathless, my heart beating, my head and heart elsewhere…
This is the most breathtaking installation I have experienced in a long time!
Introspective, dramatic, utterly beautiful and tragic… You are transposed to this outworldly venetian ambience where all you hear is the water.. The soft lights placed by the side wall and this illuminated stand alone dress falling from the ceiling in silence…
As you move closer, tragedy lies in the bottom of this dark lake – the beautiful bride, drowned, floating under the water, appearing and disappearing in waves as the boat passes by… The groom that cannot touch his bride or she dissolves in ripples like Narcissus that was in love with his own reflection..
An absolute must – the boat ride!
you mention the calming music in your review but the video you have chosen does not have the music from the installation. there are lots of videos on youtube with the right music
Thanks Billy for the comment. At the time we posted this, that was the only available video so we used it with the approval of the exhibitors. It’s been changed. Thanks for the note, Nargess