This immersive experience seeks to unnerve and challenge the public
The RHA X series begins this weekend with an exclusive collaboration between world-renowned fashion designer Roland Mouret and Irish-based visual artist, Dragana Jurišić.
Irish Country Magazine got to preview the experience and sit down with the artists afterwards to delve into the inspirations behind this unique work.
“This is the first time in my life that I’m using my creative mind purely as a creative and not a fashion designer. The journey is very exciting,” Roland says.
“This experience is as much about the journey for us, the artists, as it is for you. Each person that walks through is a different story,” he says. “I am a big voyeur, I look at people all the time in the street, and it is so interesting to do it in a museum and to really make a subject of the person.”
“It’s amazing for us to see the different expressions on people’s faces and how everyone looks uncomfortable,” Dragana says. “The idea was to make people uneasy. It is quite a terrifying experience.”
Without giving too much away, the experience is all about putting the participant under scrutiny, rather than allowing them to passively observe, Dragana says. “When you’re an artist, you put yourself out there, and you’re terrified of the audience. In this experience, why not have you feel as terrified as I am?”
The experience involves recordings and Dragana may create something from them. “Our data is being used all the time. I have your data now, I have your likeness, and do you trust me as an artist to do good with it? We give things so often now without actually thinking about what will happen.”
While social media springs to mind, Roland points out that this lack of control is also something we encounter when we travel. “Every time that we travel we are so vulnerable, we are passively doing what we are told and giving up control. The experience we had in the 90s is something we took for granted and it is so different now,” Roland says. “Even the books and films we watch now that deal with society and dystopia are so close to reality, it isn’t fiction anymore.”
RHA X is open to the public with free admission on Saturday, 16 November from 11am to 5pm, and on Sunday 17 November from 12pm-5pm.
