"Be reasonable - demand the impossible!"
To celebrate The Contemporary Wardrobe Collection's 30th Anniversary
The Chamber of Pop Culture is Proud To Present
"Be reasonable - demand the impossible!"
Exhibition runs from Sat 3rd May - Sat 31st May 2008
Private View Fri 2nd May 7.30
Throughout the month of May we shall be presenting a multi faceted installation featuring displays of some of the most important and rarely seen items of clothing from The Contemporary Wardrobe Collection, from Zoot Suiters to Spivs, Mods and Rockers through to Seditionaries and Chavs.
A slide show of literally hundreds of shoots in leading magazines, such as the Face, i-D, Vogue, Dazed & Confused etc, etc + Music Videos, Commercials and Movies all illustrating how the collection has been used over the last 30 years by numerous photographers, directors, stylists and designers.
Hidden away below street level, floor to ceiling racks laden with rare and exotic street fashions spanning the last sixty years, demand attention. From teenage angst and rites of passage to dreams of changing the world, these fineries were once displayed with attitude and stance, by kids who'd rebel against anything you'd got... and generations who really believed... they'd die before they got old...!
The exuberant and radical force of rebellion, protest and subversion that still permeate these clothes has consistently inspired the programming of events in The Chamber of Pop Culture since its inception, and this months impressive line up of events will continue to push the boundaries of style.
Vive le Punk
As part of the exhibition we shall be screening "Vive Le Punk" a fascinating and previously unseen documentary of The Chamber of Pop Culture's very first exhibition in 1993. The documentary features Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren talking in depth about their designs and is a valuable insight into how they broke all the rules of convention and inspired a generation. To the best of our knowledge this is the only time that they have been filmed together discussing their legacy.
Thursday 22nd May: Paul Gorman (author, The Look) will be in conversation with Roger K. Burton
Friday 23rd May: David Ellis's Rapid Response Unit in conjunction with The Horse Hospital PRESENTS Kitted out: But who gets to dress the assassins?
The exhibition also coincides with The Horse Hospital programme for The Fashion in Film Festival screenings
Monday 26th May: Zoot Suit Riots
Thursday 29th May: Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l'assassino)
Saturday 31st May: So what! Two tales of Juvenile Delinquency (The Boys, The Violent Years) curated by Roger K. Burton
And The Horse Hospital programme for All Power to the Imagination! 1968 and Its Legacies
Saturday 26th April: Flashing the Sixties + Hi Mom!
Friday 16th May: Manson + The Hippie Revolt
Wednesday 28th May: The Whole World is Watching: Weatherman 69
Vive le Punk
Screenings £5:
Sat 3rd May Doors 7:30pm
Fri 9th May, Wed 14th May, Tue 20th May and Tue 27th May, Doors 6:30pm
Thursday 22nd May 7:30pm
£5:
Paul Gorman (author, The Look) will be in conversation with Roger K. Burton about the development of The Contemporary Wardrobe Collection over the last 30 years and his contribution to image creation and his involvement in a multiplicity of projects, from PX to World's End to Nostalgia Of Mud to Quadrophenia to the Horse Hospital, via ads, videos, fashion, art and film. The talk will be accompanied by key images from the archive, inspirational artefacts and a specially styled fashion show.
Friday 23rd May 7:30pm
£5:
David Ellis's Rapid Response Unit in conjunction with The Horse Hospital PRESENTS
Kitted out: But who gets to dress the assassins?
David Ellis Writer/Performer/Curator invites Max Decharne, Writer/Musician/Cultural historian and founder of 'The Flaming Stars' to rifle through a pre-selected rail of 50 items of clothing from the Contemporary Wardrobe Collection whilst extemporizing on the bespoke and brooding deviancy of Spivs, Zazou's, Ted's, Ton-up boys, B-Girls and Jet's. (Both talks will be accompanied by
specifically chosen film extracts and vinyl)
Fashion In Film Festival
Monday 26th May Doors 7:30pm
£5/£4 members & concessions
Zoot Suit Riots
Dir Joseph Tovares - USA 2001 - Documentary - 60 min - DVD.
A documentary about Chicano wearing "Zoot suiters" whose baggy attire was condemned as unpatriotic, and those who wore it as ignorant of the war effort.
Thursday 29th May Doors 7:30pm
£7/£5 members & concessions
Blood and Black Lace (Sei donne per l'assassino)
Dir Mario Bava
Italy/Monaco/France/Germany - 1964 - 88 min With Mary Arden, Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok. Dubious secrets involving a group of nerve-wracked fashion models, and a certain red diary. Like the sumptuously baroque fashion salon, all the murder scenes are meticulously staged for a breathtakingly spectacular effect.
Saturday 31st May Doors 6:00pm
£7/£5 members & concessions
So what! Two tales of Juvenile Delinquency guest-curated by Roger K. Burton.
"The Boys" dir Sidney J. Furie - UK 1962 - 123 mins
"The Violent Years" dir William Morgan - USA 1956 - 56mins
Both 'The Violent Years' and 'The Boys' clearly illustrate the social stigma of post war youth, victimised because of the way they looked and their rebellious behaviour. However it was also a time when the public with a conscience began to re-evaluate both the teenagers voice and their dress codes. In both films as in real life, we see that it wasn't just the kids or the parents who were on trail, but society's morals and values as a whole.
All Power to the Imagination! 1968 and Its Legacies
All screenings:
Doors 7:30pm
£7/£5 members & concessions
Saturday April 26th
Flashing on the Sixties: A Tribal Document
Dir Lisa Law
USA - 1990 - 52 mins
Featuring Timothy Leary, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Allen Ginsberg and Taj Mahal among others.
This film is a look at the 60's from the inside, people helping with free kitchens at Woodstock, racing in brightly painted school buses with Wavy Gravy, living on the Commune all set to a soundtrack of the time.
+
Hi Mom!
Dir Brian De Palma
USA - 1970 - 87 mins
De Niro plays variations on a Vietnam vet returning to NY as, variously, a 'peep art' porno movie-maker, an urban guerilla, and an insurance salesman. Shot by De Palma in visceral vérité, Anarchic and very appealing.
Friday May 16th
Manson
Dir Robert Hendrickson & Laurence Merrick
USA - 1972 - 83 mins
Oscar nominated documentary on Charles Manson and his "family". Memorable song soundtrack by former Manson family members Brooks Poston and Paul Watkins: their well-crafted, mournful folk songs are a perfect backdrop for a tale of hippie ideals gone
horribly wrong.
+
The Hippie Revolt
Dir Edgar Beatty
USA - 1967 - 75 mins
A psychedelic celebration aimed at further alarming middle-class Americans about hippies, hooray!
Wednesday May 28th
The Whole World Is Watching: Weatherman '69
Dir Raymon Pettibon
USA - 1989 - 122 mins
Starring Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Raymond Pettibon, Davo Claassen, Dave Markey, Janet Hausden, Joe Cole, Joey 8 Halsman, Mark Hecht, Rich Costigan, Abby Travis, Hank Vincent, and Master Nelson Tarpenny.
Originally realised as a trashy home video shot by Raymond Pettibon and enacted by a host of friends and musicians. The text written by Pettibon makes up more than 50 pages of dialogues, slogans, song lyrics and monolithic text blocks. The text is inspired by a radical splinter group of the Students for a Democratic Society, Weatherman, who from 1969 to 1975 fought a proxy war for the rights of the nationally and internationally oppressed. Creating a cast of more than 20 half fictitious, half historic characters the text draws an image of the resistance group living in the underground. Sketches of historic events and encounters with pop celebrities like Jane Fonda and John Lennon appear along with a portrait of the daily lunacy of the subcultural existence and the longings of politicised middle-class kids.