14.5.08

dust thou art...


April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the archduke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
>> I noticed this poem taped to the side of a telephone pole while exploring Portland. Below T.S. Eliot's memorable lines was a date for a fashion show. On the other side of the card, a pale young woman posed in a tattered white dress. Above her was the word "dust".
Curious, I did some research but couldn't find anything online. Later, I discovered Seaplane, an independent design collective founded and run by Kathryn Towers and Holly Stalder, which reps 40+ designers in the Portland area. It turns out that Dust is the brainchild of Julia Blackburn, who says she is interested in creating a story through "highly textual meditations rendered in fabric". The garments in her spring collection have a deconstructed feel, many with exposed seams and ripped edges. Each piece is handmade and features unique details in the form of found objects.
In keeping with my current lust for rough edges (1, 2), this dress caught my attention... I want to wear it with long green earrings and stack heeled boots, laced up to the knee.
There is no website for Dust yet, but samples of Blackburn's work are up on flickr. I am looking forward to seeing what direction her designs take for the colder months.

9 comments:

RD said...

How I loved these lines when I was 17. And I still do. There's a very evocative recording of TSE reading these these lines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tqK5zQlCDQ

With regards,

BB

Anonymous said...

Hi! how ar eyou?! wow... I love the fabric that was used to make this dress/top! it looks really unique and oh so creative!


take care,
kyutie

la femme said...

bb: Nice to see your voice. Thank you for the link.

kyutie: I think it is a mix of silk and linen...

Anonymous said...

peace

Anonymous said...

The textures there are pretty alluring...

Yetunde said...

Deconctructed yet beautiful. Similar to life,no?

The examples of collected designs from the seaplane site were so lovely.

Kira Aderne said...

so amazing art fashion photos!

a kiss

l u c y. said...

i love seaplane.
whenever i'm in portland i make a stop in and leave inspired.

Ulla said...

Love this! Wish I lived closer...