Embryos R Us: The Art and Fashion of Birth
Some futurologists predict a world where embryos will be grown in test tubes at baby farms. Perhaps we will soon be ‘following’ the life of the celebrity embryo and foetus in advance of any such baby’s birth. Despite these prospects, in the age of the caesarian, the enduring familiarity of natural birth still excites us. Babies have become the focus of our child-centric world. Artists, designer-makers and fashion creators are even drawing inspiration from the baby in the making – aka the foetus. Formerly the preserve of medical curiosity jars, foetuses are surviving ever-shorter gestation periods, as well as becoming the subject matter of embroidered samplers and artworks.
But birth was designed to be messy. Attempts to sanitize the process are superficial – usually no more than a bed sheet raised up over the knees. There is always blood. Even the Duchess of Cambridge suffers from morning sickness. Following Helen and Kate Storey’s 1997 Primitive Streak Collection, one of the most controversial fashion designers to pay homage to the outpourings of the womb was prize-winning Central St Martin’s graduate, Arkadius. His first major collection, Lucina, O! (exclusively presented in an exhibition at our editor Susan Muncey’s former boutique, Fashion Gallery in early 2000) depicted ‘biological evolution versus mental revolution in the future of humanity.’ Leather, silk organza, cotton and wool garments were smeared with neon ‘blood,’ vintage mannequins were spray-painted in lurid colours… and CDs were inventively chopped up and recycled as giant sequins. The show’s conclusion was extraordinary – In 2014 we are still not anticipating that men will get pregnant, and, in view of the impending royal birth, we are more likely to see a boom in designer baby clothes than an attempt to re-engineer how we have babies.
More recently, others have explored the birth trend – like Estonian designer, Britt Samoson, whose heavily hand-beaded (though not sure how eco-friendly) gown bears the scars of recent birth. As one blogger commented, you wouldn’t have to worry about spilling your wine down your dress.
RCA graduates Gwen Wei (jewellery) and Weilong Xie (architecture) teamed up to produce Faetus, an intriguing artwork, embellished with baroque pearls, artifical tridacnas and mother of pearl. Its dainty appearance contrasts with the somewhat morbid theme (referring as it does to a partly formed embryo face). The pair describe their creation as “an inside out universe, which looks chaotic, but contains everything.”
Babies are much cuter. Wendy Meyer’s doll-like sculptures, featured in Visuology Issue 2 (see photo above top), are uncannily life-like. Of course, the robot child of the future is another disturbing possibility. If you are fascinated by this concept, the London Design Festival has a special screening of the film, Artificial Intelligence, on 20th September at the V&A. Scary.