Powerhouse
Today we went to the Powerhouse Museum in Ultimo, chiefly to see an exhibition "The Cutting Edge: fashion from Japan", but also drawn by the other exhibitions including "Inspired! Design Across Time".
Cutting Edge featured Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo (of Comme des Garcons fame) amongst other Japanese designers. Highlights were Miyake's single piece of fabric and fold small creations, while the dour Kawakubo stuff from the early eighties was isnpiring in a heavy sort of way.
Inspired! tracked back design over the last three hundred years. It was in reverse chronological order which I found an effective way of drawing in interest -- as the older stuff was more interesting when the context of newer design is known. The highlights of this exhibition though were definitely the twentieth century. In particular seeing some great modern Australian design was inspiring, particularly Marc Newson's work (I'm in love with the Lockheed Lounge). A short video of Newson talking about why he designs (for the process and knowledge rather than the product) was captivating.
Across the other displays and exhibitions, the Kylie show was also worth seeing, mainly for the photography and fashion. Seeing the mannequins with her outfits highlighted just how small she is.