dekadens och återhållsamhet

From the project brief: "Reflecting on the current economic global situation, the plight of the Euro and constant concern for environmental issues, the national mood is downbeat, austerity-focused and activist. Cutting back and saving for the future is on the agenda. Design activism is responsive and forward-thinking."

My thoughts immediately went to The Rake's Progress by Hogarth, where we follow Tom Rakewell in a series of eight oil paintings depicting his journey from coming into his inheritance, through a path of indulgence and decandence, to finally ending up in prison and eventually Bedlam. A story of much decadence and indulgence - with a moral to it. (It is thought that when Sir John Soane aquired the paintings, it was in the hope that they would have a pedagogical effect on his sons, who apparently left something to be desired when it came to applying themselves to work...)

I thought about the contrasts, or perhaps the connections, between decadance and austerity. I looked to dress and fashion, in Tom Rakewell's time and my own. I thought about how one would make indulgent, beautiful things from humble materials. I imagined Tom in Bedlam, having lost everything - but perhaps not quite his vanity? How would one go about adorning oneself in a place like that? There are many wonderful examples of things people have created, often in secrecy, whilst imprisoned or institutionalised - it appears that creativity, and the human desire for adornment, will survive the harshest conditions.