RESTRICTIVE SILENCE

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EXAMPLES

STUBBED

At some moments your prefer being a bit ‘inward’. No expressive shapes or colours. The 2012 autumn / winter precollection by Givenchy shows what this looks like, with lots of stubbed shapes and colours.
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EVERYTHING IS OK

is a collaborative art project aimed at provoking people to more critically consider the status quo. These sceneries takes place in an everyday public environment. Very often the automatic public order is being disturbed, where, as a bystander, you’d almost expects the activist to get arrested by the police.
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VEILANCE

Arc’teryx LEAF, the clothing brand for special troops of the police force en the army bring the new camouflage colour ‘Urban Wolf’. This colour is made to blend in with urban surroundings. Because the attention from special forces increasingly moves away from mountans and jungle towards the cities we live in. Conflicts will be played out in surroundings where we shop, work and live.
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A CITIZEN’S TANK

When the pressure is increased, our taste is changing along with it. Big windows to see the scenery while you are cruising are less desired when you don’t feel at ease.
That is when you want a sheltered place. High doors and small windows is a trend you currently see in new design of cars.
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PIN DOTS

A happy dot pattern, reminds us of a shy girl that is beautiful because of her measured simplicity. At some moments you simply want to be a little introvert. The pin dot presents a solution.
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BUNKERHOUSE

‘I am not here,’ seems to be the message of this house – ‘only a lawn.’ Indeed it is like this house has pulled the lawn over its roof. A striking image in a time where freedom of speech is under pressure, and you don’t want to have too much ‘prescence’.
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HEAD DOWN

For many people, this isn’t the time to slam their fist on the table and get the management to do things differently. With jobs at stake, and financial pressure rising, we rather tend to keep our head down and out of harm’s way. We believe this not only plays out on the workfloor, but in society in general.
image source: the film Margin Call

May 3, 2012
Ever tried yelling ‘BOMB!’ on a plane? You don’t yell ‘bomb’ on a plane. Just like you don’t slam your fist on the table and tell the boss how he should be running things, in uncertain times like these. In the film ‘Margin Call’ we see an example of this in the advice of a wintered banker to his younger colleagues. ‘Keep your head down. This way, there’s a bigger chance that you’ll keep your job.’ It’s an imposed silence; not to say what you feel or think. In the Givenchy spring/summer collection of 2012, we see mouthpieces that remind us of some sort of clasps, as if the expression of the models has been restricted.
When freedom is under threat, people don’t want to get noticed too much. We’re more likely to wear blunted shapes than expressive ones, or we choose rather introvert pin dots in our clothing. Cars get smaller windows and houses in this mood may look like little bunkers. However, under a restrictive regime, there’s a tendency to explore our inner world, in order to escape these restrictions. It may be a very creative time yet.
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silence

restrictive

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ROOTS

THE MIDDLE EAST

The discussion around freedom of expression has been discussed with the middle east in mind for years on end. Wether it’s about our idea of the middle east, or about influence from there in our own surroundings. From the murder of Theo van Gogh till the contoverses around the discussion to let Hatham al-haddad into the Netherlands – in our psyche, the middle east is connected to this discussion.
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CHAOS

Protests against organisations, laws or against situations, we’re familliar with that. Usually there’s a set of demands or clear conditions that must be met. The Occupy-movement shows a whole new form. It is mainly a display of discontent, a signal that the global system is not working. There is no leadership to it, which reveals a distrust towards power. At the same time, it is a declaration of inability and dependence: ‘We, the 99%, are dependent on the leadership by the other 1%.’ These are restless times.
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