The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, December 7, 2017 — 5B
OFF-WHITE
Off-White designer weds
fashion and architecture
Virgil Abloh draws from architectural and engineering
background in pursuit of fresh and unexpected clothing
For anyone who knows fashion,
it’s no mystery who Virgil Abloh
is. Though he is now the creator
of Off-White, Abloh’s journey to
this position was certainly less
than linear. In college, Abloh
studied structural engineering
at the University of Wisconsin—
Madison before realizing his
interest in building design. He
then went to the Illinois Institute
of Technology to receive his
master’s degree in architecture.
From there, he would soon
become a creative director for
Kanye
West’s
creative
think
tank, DONDA. He would go on
to receive a Grammy nomination
for best recording package for
the album Watch The Throne.
Most recently, and probably most
notably,
however,
Abloh
has
collaborated with Nike. Called
“The Ten,” Abloh selected ten
popular Nike shoes and added in
some of his own design ethos.
While
Abloh’s
accomplishments
and projects are difficult to count
and keep track of, Abloh gave a
lecture at the Harvard University
Graduate School of Design on
October
26,
titled
“Program
Organization,
Sequencing
Experiences,” an allusion to the
well-known branding of many
Off-White garments. Abloh was
introduced
by
Harvard
GSA
design critic Oana Stanescu,
whom Abloh has worked with on
various projects, including Kanye
West’s Yeezus tour set design and
Off-White’s Hong Kong flagship
store. Stanescu describes Abloh as
“an architect of a different scale,”
continuing “[his] work centers
around the core of creative
freedom.”
Abloh spent much of the lecture
talking about the characteristics
that define his signature and
how these values are manifested
in his designs and work. These
component pieces ranged from
his love of ready-made art and his
desire to insert humanity through
conversation to his actual design
code. He mentioned his three-
percent approach, in which he
never edits something more than
three-percent from its original
form. He has other values that
are important to him, such as the
beauty of a work in progress or
making sure that a design has a
reason to exist. He points to his
ability to know that enough is
enough and that things don’t have
to be perfect the first time.
In his words, the desire behind
the lecture was not for attendees
to see how far Abloh has come
in his 37 years (in fact, Abloh
attributes a lot of his success to
dumb luck and knowing the right
people). Instead, Abloh’s goal
was for the audience to imagine
themselves in his shoes and to put
questions to themselves: What is
your list of values? What makes
you excited, and how can you
make that thing happen?
Abloh also spent some time
during the lecture talking about
his mentors. He was quick
to admit that he has a ton of
mentors: old and young, dead and
alive. During the Q&A after the
lecture, someone asked Abloh
about his relationship with his
mentors who have passed. Abloh
responded by discussing the
value of understanding what their
reasoning was for making certain
design choices and how to apply
that same rationale back into his
own design.
From my perspective, the most
interesting aspect of the lecture
was the way in which Abloh was
able to put himself in the shoes of
the students that sat before him.
Abloh tells his own story of how
he was able to take a background
of engineering and architecture
and turn it into a career in fashion
without entirely abandoning the
things that he learned in school.
That was what made it special.
Abloh even did his best to try and
distill what he has learned over
the years into what he called his
“cheat codes,” which were aimed
to help people find their personal
creative DNA.
Through
this
entire
presentation, it became quite
clear that Virgil Abloh is not an
ordinary
person.
Sometimes,
that manifests itself in his desire
to constantly be innovating and
doing cool, new things. Other
times, it manifests itself by the
fact that it constantly seems like
he is doing a half-dozen things
at once. From collaborations
with IKEA, where he’s looking to
design the millennial’s apartment,
and his collaborations with Nike,
to the constant output of designs
for Off-White, it’s clear that Abloh
is quick to draw inspiration from
others and is often looking to
push the envelope on what he’s
allowed to do as a designer. In
the past, I’ve considered some of
Abloh’s designs to be uninspired,
but learning about the thought
process behind his designs has
helped me learn that this isn’t
quite the case.
Abloh said himself that he isn’t
a big deal, even acting confused as
to why he was at the front of the
lecture hall giving a talk. But that
all seemed to fade away as he was
rushed by a mob of kids looking for
him to sign their sneakers. Along
with the rest of Abloh’s designs,
these sneakers show the years
of hard work and commitment
to improving his own eye for
design, incorporating things that
he learned in the classroom along
with things that he’s learned in
the real world.
NARESH IYENGAR
Daily Style Editor
Spending an afternoon
wandering the UMMA
Experiencing the University through the dichotomous
architecture and genre-spanning works at the museum
It was a busy day at the
University’s Museum of Art.
Students were filing in and out
as tour guides led their groups
through the galleries. Visitors
from all ages could be seen
wandering the museum. Young
kids on tours were running
through the hallways trying
to keep up with their groups,
students were typing away at
their computers and middle aged
and elderly adults were walking
freely and admiring the art. From
my point of view, sitting at a bench
by the gift store, I could see all of
this, and I could see the students
who walked past the building on
their way to class. Some of them
walked determinedly, with their
gaze forward and at a quick pace.
Most of them, however, averted
their eyes.
The UMMA is known as Ann
Arbor’s meeting place for the
arts. It “contains a comprehensive
collection that represents more
than 150 years at the university,
with nearly 19,000 works of
art that span cultures, eras and
media.” Works by artists like
Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet
are permanently exhibited in
the museum galleries, but it
also hosts around four or five
travelling exhibitions every year.
From ancient artifacts to modern
paintings and digital media,
art in all of its mediums can be
admired in the museum. The
space provided by the UMMA is
unparalleled by other buildings
on campus. There are few other
buildings at the University that
are versatile enough to hold such
a wide array of events and attract
such a diverse group of visitors.
Despite its versatility and
prestige,
walking
through
the UMMA may seem a scary
undertaking for students and
community members who know
little about art. The UMMA has
a reputation among students as
being a place designed only for a
specific audience. When looking
at the building itself, it is not
hard to imagine that art history
majors, Stamps professors, art
amateurs and museum experts
are the intended consumers of
the art inside. On one side of the
building — the original wing —
the neoclassical style architecture
appears somber and heavy. On the
other side — the new wing — the
design is modern, sleek and has
an airy feeling given by the wall-
sized windows. The dichotomy
between
these
buildings
is
sometimes confusing and hard to
decipher for visitors.
To join into the conversation
between the two sides of the
UMMA,
it
is
important
to
understand the history and ideas
behind the creation of both wings.
On May 11, 1910, the building that
we know as the original wing of
the UMMA was inaugurated.
Then known as Alumni Memorial
Hall, this opulent building was
the product of “a desire to honor
those University men who had
fallen in the Civil War.” One
hundred years, a renovation and
an addition later, the building
stands tall on the corner of State
Street and South University. With
its four grand pillars, bronze doors
and stone exteriors, the original
building is a quintessential image
of a memorial hall.
The solemn mood exhibited by
this building can be off-putting
to many visitors, especially when
seen in contrast with the design
of the new wing. Inaugurated in
2009, the new wing of the UMMA
was created to look and function
as an art museum. The boxy,
simple architecture of the new
wing invites visitors and allows
for art to spill from within the
walls into the paths of passersby.
The distinction between the two
was not accidental or a product
of chance. According to David
Lawrence, the communications
manager at the UMMA, “when
people saw the old building they
didn’t think art museum; they
saw something more serious
and
less
approachable.”
The
UMMA addition was deliberately
designed in a more transparent,
less somber way in an attempt to
attract more visitors, to expand
gallery space and to make the
art housed in the museum more
visible and public. In addition to
the outdoor construction being
designed
in
a
contemporary
and more transparent way, the
interior of the museum, according
to Lawrence, was “built as a
wandering museum.”
The stark difference seen on
the façades of these two wings
becomes more interesting as the
wandering journey through the
museum starts. In the midst of
the chitter-chatter and flows
of people entering and exiting
the galleries, I was getting a
private tour. I was guided by a
staff member, and even though
he said that the point of entering
the museum was to wander, I
was taken on the correct route
through the UMMA. We started
at the old wing with Western
art, and we ended at the vertical
gallery — which displayed some
of the University’s biggest modern
paintings.
When we were on the highest
floor of the vertical gallery, I
could see the African art gallery,
the photography gallery and the
contemporary art gallery. Even
though I could see most of the
galleries displayed in the new
wing, the path to any of these
places wasn’t clear. My guide
effortlessly
cruised
through
and took me to every gallery
without a problem. I was kind of
disappointed that I did not get to
discover the museum by myself,
but throughout my tour I started
picking up bits and pieces of other
people’s experiences.
My
guide
was
quickly
divulging every fact about the
history, design and most famous
art pieces in the UMMA, but
the rest of the visitors did not
have
this
advantage.
Rather
than being promptly walked
by a guide, most of them stood
in front of and questioned the
art pieces for as long as they
wanted. I was getting all of
the information, but they were
getting the adventure. Quietly,
but in a determined manner, I
could see how each of the visitors
I observed were carving their
own space within the galleries.
Some were adamantly admiring
the photography, and others were
interested in the Picasso pieces.
The maze within the museum
allowed every visitor to adventure
and create their own personalized
tour of the galleries, and, in that
way, the mezzanines and four-
foot-high paintings seemed less
intimidating.
The experience of visiting
the UMMA cannot be described
without talking about the design
and
layout
of
the
building.
Walking through the galleries
and exploring is directly affected
by the layout of the space. With
the wandering museum design,
visitors at the UMMA can take
advantage of the secluded rooms
and nooks to make the space their
own and consume the art in their
own terms.
ANDREA PEREZ
Daily Arts Writer
CEREN DAG/DAILY
CEREN DAG/DAILY
In the midst
of the chitter-
chatter and flows
of people entering
and exiting the
galleries, I was
getting a private
tour.
STYLE NOTEBOOK
COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK