The International Center of Photography’s triennial entitled “Dress Codes” is an exploration of how contemporary photographers and videographers view fashion. Although the participants do not belong exclusively to the fashion industry, each of the thirty-four artists explore how clothing can be important in defining people personally and socially.
As a whole, “Dress Codes” addresses a large number of themes and issues including racial stereotyping and cultural identity. One of the most significant themes explored is the notion of creating a persona through what we put on. Both Cindy Sherman’s photographic series from Paris Vogue (2007) and Julika Rudelius’ video Tagged (2003) exemplify persona creation the best. Sherman is widely known for her photographs where she dresses in different guises. In this set, she critiques individuality and the world of high fashion by dressing as similarly clothed socialites. Sherman replicates her own images with only slight variations in order to criticize the fashion industry’s value of being unique. After all, if we can all own the same clothing, how different can these fashionable people be?
Rudelius’ video installation, on the other hand, uses the creation of persona as a central theme. The video features young Moroccan and Turkish men from the Netherlands discussing how their designer clothing is essential to how they are perceived. Rudelius depicts how this outward shallowness is necessary to these men’s lives. In order to cope with their cultural identities, the subjects spend extravagant amounts of money in order to set themselves apart from their given cultural background while simultaneously attempting to gain acceptance from another.
Sherman and Rudelius may only represent a small percentage of “Dress Codes”, but their ideas on constructing identity can be seen throughout the triennial. “Dress Codes” offers an introspective look at the culture of fashion. Clothing is an aspect of life that many do not think about, but the exhibition makes it clear that clothing influences who we are and how we react to the world around us. The ICP triennial brings the importance of fashion to the forefront, but whether or not we should be celebrating the industry is up for debate. The viewer is merely offered multiple viewpoints on the same subject. This exhibition does not offer a solution for or verdict on fashion, but we are given the chance to look closely at our own situations and draw conclusions.
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Since the show comes to no conclusions, the artists who left their work similarly open ended were the most successful. Since Sherman's work comes to the fashion culture pre-judged and simply lampoons it, her images becomes significantly less interesting. Rudelius depicts without judgement, and lets the viewer come to their own conclusions. Are these men shallow, are they throwing their money away? Or are they coping with being the other in a foreign society and proving their hard work through expensive clothes? Perhaps both.
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