Revival

Abstract

The concept of borrowing from the past is nothing new. The existence of trend cycles suggests the desire for re-interpretations of former styles. In so doing we establish the continuity of cultural identity through common iconography and employ this iconography as a means of communication via common cultural understanding.

In the following chapters, I examine where the need for re-interpretation arises from, through historicism and historical revivalism in art and design. This examination has led me to two points that act as my argument. The first is that historicism, which I define in this thesis as the deliberate use of historical aesthetics, can function as shorthand for communicating complex concepts and values to the viewer through a shared understanding of historical imagery. The second point asserts that with the use of historical revivalism we investigate and develop cultural identities.

This thesis comprises three parts; background research, in which I determine the validity of my arguments, an artistic production based on my research findings where I explore the hypothesis, and a final analysis of my initial argument describing my findings.

My background research consists of a review of historicism and historical revivalism with a focus on Victorian Medievalism. Victorian Medievalism, a phenomenon that spanned the better part of a century is an umbrella term that covers Pre-Raphaelite art, The Gothic Revival, later 19th- century Dress Reform, and the Romantic and Aesthetic movements, all of which borrowed from both real and imagined medieval sources.

My artistic production, based on this background research and inspired by Victorian Medievalism is a small collection of garments, made with a focus on surface design. The composition of this collection is made up of both handmade fabrics as well as second-hand materials, which serve the purpose of translating the concept of revivalism (namely its appropriation and intertwining of the past with elements of the present) into a physical design outcome.

The objective of this thesis is to contribute to conversations about the temporality and referential nature of style, and how historicism and historical revival can contextualize style evolutions. Finally, we may conclude that the value of revisiting and reviving past styles lies in the power to give context to changeable times.