[ChrissyM]

The following article is from W's September 2007 issue:

Quote:

High fashion's obsession with contemporary art continues. At June's Venice Biennale, Karl Lagerfeld unveiled plans for "Mobile Art," a traveling exhibition of art inspired by Chanel's signature quilted handbags. The Kaiser has yet to announce which artists will participate, but he did let on that architect Zaha Hadid had been commissioned to create a collapsible structure in which the show will be displayed. Hadid came up with a white flying saucer-esque building with 6,000 square feet of exhibition space. "Mobile Art" will make its debut in Hong Kong in January before travelling to Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, London, Moscow and Paris. "I'm not an architect," Lagerfeld told WWD of his decision not to design the pavilion himself. "A poorly cut dress is not dangerous. A poorly built building can fall and even kill people." Those who can't wait until January to sample the fruits of Chanel's patronage should visit the brand's Rodeo Drive shop this September. After renovations, it will reopen with commissioned works by artists Johan Creten, Peter Dayton, Francois-Xavier Lalanne, Jean-Michel Othoniel and Paola Pivi.

[ChrissyM]

2modern.blogs.com:

Quote:

Architect Zaha Hadid and Karl Lagerfeld unveiled Channel's collapsible, futuristic pavilion for its "Mobile Art" exhibition that will debut in Hong Kong in February. Chanel has commissioned 15 contemporary artists to create works inspired by their most famous handbag (quilted leather, rectangular, chain handle - you know the one). The project is meant to appeal to customers, display the brand's heritage in a new way and reintroduce the iconic 1955 bag in an energizing way. Chanel is no stranger to commissioning artists to create works for their boutiques or for new jewelry lines but this collaboration trumps all. In an inspiring statement to the press, Lagerfeld said, "Architecture and fashion are like Russian dolls, one fits inside the other."

[ChrissyM]

from runway.blogs.nytimes.com

Quote:

July 25, 2007, 11:18 am Zaha, Meet Karl “I must say it was very fun,” says the architect Zaha Hadid of the mobile exhibition pavilion she designed for Chanel. The building, which is composed of continuously arching elements and calls to mind a flying wedge (or, hmm, a contemporary Chanel handbag), can be taken apart and transported. Next year, starting in Hong Kong, Chanel plans to deploy Hadid’s pavilion for an exhibition called Mobile Art. The structure will travel for two years, dropping in on Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Moscow and London. Karl Lagerfeld has asked 15 artists to create work inspired by the iconic quilted Chanel bag, which Coco Chanel first showed in 1955. Hadid’s sculptural building, started after a conversation with Lagerfeld last fall, seems to capture new geometries in design and architecture. The super-light, reflective exterior breaks down into seven-foot wide pieces for transporting. Inside the donut, there is exhibition space and a central courtyard for dinners and other events. I asked Hahid, the architect of the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati and the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, if our shopping experience needs new stimulation by architecture. She cited the example of Rem Koolhaas’s work for Prada (and its great Tokyo boutique by Herzog & de Meuron). And what about a mobile retail store? “I think it depends on the brand,” she says. “But I think it could work.”

[papa_levante]

So what exactly is that? I figured it's traveling on a bus or something, but is that what it's traveling in?

[ChrissyM]

link to video of the Chanel contemporary art container


I think this whole idea and the aims behind it are kind of interesting...
obviously they are trying to build more buzz around the brand (as if they need it) and excite their customers in new ways..

maybe this is a ploy for more inspiration?
art inspired by the bags, and then maybe some new bags inspired by the art?

i think it will be interesting to see what the artists come up with and how it relates to Chanel as a fashion brand

this just seems like another one of those give-and-take relationships between fashion and art

both the artists and Chanel will be gaining some added recognition because of this collaboration

[ChrissyM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa_levante So what exactly is that? I figured it's traveling on a bus or something, but is that what it's traveling in?

the structure is collapsible so it's definitely nothing as "crude" or common as a bus..

i don't like making this comparison but it's more like a circus tent from what i understand (or the same sort of concept at least) except that it is a building, which will then travel to the different destinations and exhibit the art.

[ilaughead]

It is a pretty cool building, but think of the costs and energy needed to build and transport it! Some pretty expensive marketing!

[ChrissyM]

^^good point!
not to mention the money they will have to pay the artists...
i'm assuming they will expect to make some sort of profit?
or could it all be for publicity?

i guess only time will tell...
i'm wondering where in these big, crowded cities this mobile building will have space to be set up...

[kissmesweet]

Oh wow, this looks incredible...

It'll debut in Hong Kong?! Wow that sounds fantastic.

[brad_tsye]

Fantastic design~~~~

[ChrissyM]

new article from brandweek.com that names some of the participants and includes some details about the exhibition:

(bolding is my own)

Quote:

The Art of Promotion: Chanel Bags and the Mobile Art Project October 09, 2007 By Eric Newman NEW YORK -- It’s the kind of otherworldly brand messaging you’d expect from a house headed by the likes of Karl Lagerfeld. But still, Chanel’s new “Mobile Art” project—a two-year tour of art installations paying homage to the French house’s iconic quilted bag, housed inside a collapsible, 7,500 square foot UFO-like pavilion designed by Zaha Hadid—is probably more out of the box than most marketers would feel comfortable going. According to WWD, the installation, expected to first hit Hong Kong in January 2008, features the work of various noted contemporary artists, including Yoko Ono, Sylvie Fleury, Tabaimo, Loris Cecchini, Subodh Gupta and Sophie Calle, among others. Though admission is free, the company will only allow groups of 15 people to tour the installation at a time, where they’ll get to interact with the brand with works such as Ono’s, which asks visitors to write a wish on a piece of rice paper, attaching them to a tree when they are finished. Definitely not your typical pop-up shop or brand communications platform, but then again, it’s the type of thing that’s bound to get consumers—fans and non-fans alike—talking. “It’s another way to communicate, to let Chanel surprise you,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion activities, told WWD. “What we want to show is that creativity is not only for a product or an advertising campaign. It’s the engine and essence of our brand.” After staying in Hong Kong for eight weeks, the exhibition is expected to hit Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, London, Moscow and Paris over the course of its world tour.

[oceanharlot]

very interesting. there have been a lot of recent crossovers like this between contemporary artists and more commercial pursuits, I just saw something at SFMoMA where an artist collaborated with BMW making a car into a piece of art. I was intrigued by it, I'd be interested in what Y.O. makes, she is incredible. I wouldnt be surprised if her version was a piece of paper on the ground that said "make mobile building, buy chanel."

[MUXU]

so...with all these fancy words around this building, 'mobile art', this is pretty much just a ship? or is it a building that travels across the sea on a ship?

this is definetly taking advertising to another level. all this trouble just for a bag...

when will this hit london?

[uberQuirkiness]

how weird....interesting
and how did he come up with this?
im gonna go see it when it comes to new york!

[BerlinRocks]

the "building" is good...
all the rest is non-sense...
this is not art... this is just s***!! I never understand...Louis Vuitton did the same some times ago... but they didn't built a nomad building... they just ask artists to think about their bag... wow wow wow...