DW23 ASCENT: INTERVIEW WITH THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

ALLEGRA TENENBAUM ON HILMA AF KLINT, AGNES PELTON, AND HER CREATIVE PROCESS FOR DW23 — IN CONVERSATION WITH MILA HAMM-FRENCH

SWAN NO 1. (1915) BY HILMA AF KLINT.

MILA: HI, HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?

ALLEGRA: I’M DOING WELL! ON THE SIX WEEK COUNTDOWN TO THE SHOW — LOTS OF PLANNING HAPPENING AND THE EXCITEMENT IS DEFINITELY PICKING UP NOW.

SO YOU’RE THE ‘CREATIVE DIRECTOR’ OF DONT WALK 2023, WHAT DOES THIS ROLE ENTAIL?

THE CREATIVE TEAM IS THE LARGEST TEAM ON DW, SO FOR ME THIS ROLE IS ALL ABOUT WORKING WITH PEOPLE. I’VE BEEN ON DW SINCE MY SECOND YEAR AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I’VE REALLY BEEN ABLE TO WATCH SO MANY PARTS COME TOGETHER. THE TEAM HAS SUCH GREAT ENERGY THIS YEAR AND I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO REHEARSALS AND MEETINGS WITH DIFFERENT TEAM MEMBERS; WE’RE REALLY ALL SUCH GREAT FRIENDS.

I SPEND MY TIME DEVELOPING AND MAINTAINING THE CREATIVE VISION, PLANNING AND EXECUTING PHOTOSHOOTS, ATTENDING MODEL REHEARSALS, COORDINATING WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHERS, CHOREOGRAPHERS, THE MUSIC TEAM, THE FASHION TEAM, THE MODELS, AND OUR MAKEUP ARTIST. I ALSO DO A LOT OF BRAINSTORMING AND STRATEGIZING WITH AMELIA (OUR COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR) FOR SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT AND GRAPHICS FOR MARKETING MATERIAL.

WHO INSPIRES YOU?

MY MOM INSPIRES ME A LOT. SHE HAS ALWAYS VALUED BEING CREATIVE AND PURSUING ARTISTIC PASSIONS. SHE IS A JEWELRY DESIGNER, SO SHE’S ALWAYS BEEN OBSESSED WITH THE LITTLE DETAILS — A TRAIT I HAVE DEFINITELY INHERITED!

AND WHAT WAS THE LAST THING THAT INSPIRED YOU?

I ALWAYS FEEL THE MSOT INSPIRED IN THE MOMENTS DURING AND AFTER A PHOTOSHOOT. LAST SUNDAY, I HAD SIX MODELS AND ALMOST MY ENTIRE TEAM CRAMMED INTO MY LIVING ROOM, FINALLY EXECUTING AN IDEA THAT I’VE HAD SINCE SPRING. THERE WAS NO PRESSURE — WE WERE ALL JUST EXPLORING AND PLAYING WITH THE MATERIALS, FABRICS, AND LIGHT. I THINK THE FREER MOMENTS IN PHOTOSHOOTS LEAD TO THE BEST OUTCOME AS THE CONTENT EMERGES NATURALLY AND NOTHING FEELS FORCED. I ALWAYS STRIVE TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT LIKE THAT DURING A SHOOT, IT’S TRULY INSPIRING TO WATCH WHAT EVERYONE CAN PRODUCE IN THAT KIND OF SETTING.

YOU STUDY ART HISTORY, HAS THAT INFLUENCED THIS YEAR’S CREATIVE VISION?

DEFINITELY. BUT I’D ACTUALLY SAY IT’S LESS MY DEGREE THAT HAS INFLUENCED ME AND MORE MY PERSONAL INTERESTS IN ART AND DESIGN. I’VE HAD A FASCINATION WITH HILMA AF KLINT SINCE HER 2018 RETROSPECTIVE AT THE GUGGENHEIM, BUT ONLY RECENTLY DID I DEVELOP A SPECIFIC INTRIGUE WITH OTHER FEMALE ARTISTS OF OCCULT SPIRITUALITY. I SAW WORKS BY AGNES PELTON FOR THE FIRST TIME AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM AND NOW I ACTUALLY FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO HER PIECES THAN AF KLINT’S. PELTON’S TREATMENT OF COLOUR AND LIGHT IS VERY UNIQUE — SHE’S ONE OF THOSE ARTISTS THAT HAS WORKS THAT YOU BENEFIT FROM VIEWING IN PERSON.

GROUP IV, THE TEN LARGEST, NO. 7, ADULTHOOD (1907) BY HILMA AF KLINT

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORK FROM THE ARTISTS YOU ARE INSPIRED BY?

HILMA AF KLINT, GROUP IV, THE TEN LARGEST, NO. 7, ADULTHOOD (1907).

THIS YEAR’S SHOW IS TITLED ASCENT, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?

AS I SAID, MY ARTISTIC INTERESTS HAVE DRIVEN ALL ASPECTS OF THE CREATIVE VISION. WHILE BRAINSTORMING, I READ EXTENSIVELY ON THE FEMALE ARTISTS OF THE SPIRITUAL ABSTRACTION AND TRANSCENDENTAL ART, MAINLY HILMA AF KLINT AND AGNES PELTON. THESE ARTISTS LOOKED FOR ALTERNATIVE REALITIES AS THEY BASED THEIR WORKS ON OCCULT SPIRITUALITY AND A FASCINATION WITH COLOUR, LIGHT, AND AN AIR OF THE BEYOND.

SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 2001, DW HAS ALWAYS PRIORITISED CREATIVE EXPRESSION AND PUSHING BOUNDARIES. I BELIEVE PARTS OF AF KLINT’S UNIQUE PRACTICE, ESPECIALLY HOW SHE STAYED TRUE TO HER BELIEFS DESPITE THE RESISTANCE SHE FACED, RESONATES WITH OUR MISSION.

AF KLINT’S RISE TO POPULARITY LARGELY COINCIDES WITH A RECENT INTEREST IN POPULAR CULTURE IN THE SPIRITUAL AESTHETIC, WHICH INCLUDES ACTIVITIES DEEMED ‘WITCHY’ SUCH AS TAROT, CRYSTALS, ASTROLOGY, FORTUNE TELLING, ETC. EVEN FOLLOWING HER LARGE 2018 EXHIBITION, AF KLINT REMAINS DISMISSED INTO A CATEGORY WHERE HER ARTISTIC PRACTICE AND HER BELIEFS ARE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

IN TERMS OF THE SHOW TITLE, ASCENT FREQUENTLY EMERGES IN LITERATURE ON BOTH PELTON AND AF KLINT AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL ABSTRACT ART MORE BROADLY. AFTER OUR COMEBACK FROM COVID LAST YEAR — OUR ‘REVELATION’, I LIKE THE UPWARDS MOTION ASSOCIATED WITH ASCENT; IT EXEMPLIFIES OUR TRAJECTORY AS A BRAND, BUT OF COURSE ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SPIRITUALITY AND THE ‘BEYOND’.

AND SO, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE SHOW?

I KEEP REVISITING PELTON’S QUOTE: “ALL OF MY ABSTRACTIONS HAVE TO DO WITH LIGHT, FOR LIGHT IS REALLY ALL LIFE”. A NOTICEABLE THEME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR HAS BEEN LIGHT AND I THINK THE GUESTS WILL SEE THAT COME TOGETHER FOR THE SHOW

IF DW23 WAS AN ITEM OF CLOTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

THE ALTUZARRA DRESS THAT HAS BEEN USED IN ALL THE SHOW PROMO. IT WASN’T THE CENTRAL PIECE FOR NO REASON!

THE MOST GLAMOROUS THING ABOUT THE FASHION SHOW?

I THINK NOTHING IS GLAMOROUS ABOUT DW! MAYBE SOMEONE WILL DISAGREE WITH ME, BUT I THINK MY TEAM WOULD ALL SAY THE SAME.

THE WAY DW CONDUCTS ITSELF IS ON CONSTANT SHOW IN THE STUDENT COMMUNITY, IS THERE ANYTHING ABOUT DW THAT WOULD SURPRISE US TO KNOW?

I THINK IT WOULD SURPRISE PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT THE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES WE GAIN FROM DW REALLY CAN INFORM OUR PATHES IN LIFE. SPEAKING TO ALUMNI, I REALIZE HOW MANY FUTURES ARE SHAPED BY IT, I THINK MANY OF US HAVE DISCOVERED AND NOURISHED CREATIVE ABILITIES THROUGH DW THAT WE WILL CARRY THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES.

A DW MOMENT TO REMEMBER?

DURING REHEARSALS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE LAUNCH, THERE WAS A BEAUTIFUL GLOWING, ORANGE FULL MOON VISIBLE FROM THE WINDOW OF THE VENUE — IT FELT LIKE A PIECE OF REASSURANCE THAT THINGS WERE LINING UP WELL FOR US.

IS THERE A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL MOST CREATIVE?

I AM DEFINITELY MY MOST CREATIVE AT NIGHT SITTING AT MY DESK. I FEEL LIKE DURING THE DAY THERE IS ALWAYS THE PRESSURE OF TIME, SO IT IS NOT UNTIL IT’S NIGHT THAT I CAN TRULY BE RELAXED TO BRAINSTORM AND EXPERIMENT.

WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL CREATIVE PASSION?

GROWING UP, I ALWAYS HAD A PASSION FOR MAKING ART — BOTH AT SCHOOL AND IN MY FREE TIME. AT THE END OF HIGH SCHOOL, MY LOVE FOR PAINTING AND DRAWING TRANSFORMED INTO DIGITAL WORK, I SAW IT AS A NEW WAY OF ART-MAKING THAT WAS PORTABLE AND ALLOWED FOR NEW TECHNIQUES THAT COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED ON PAPER. I FIND IT SO THERAPEUTIC AND IT KEEPS MY MIND THINKING ARTISTICALLY AND CREATIVELY AND WHEN I JOINED DW IN MY SECOND YEAR I BEGAN TO TRANSFORM THIS ARTISTIC HOBBY INTO LEARNING GRAPHIC DESIGN.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO TELL THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR FOR NEXT YEAR?

TRUST YOURSELF, TAKE RISKS, AND DON’T PLAY IT SAFE. IT’S OKAY IF THINGS DON’T GO AS PLANNED. KEEP THE MISSION AND FOUNDING VALUES OF DW CLOSE. APPRECIATE YOUR TEAM AND HEAR THEIR OPINIONS AND IDEAS — YOU ARE ALL WORKING TOWARD ONE COMMON GOAL!