OIRA and Self

Takahashi Yuhi

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患上了傷風感冒,大約需要一星期來恢復。失去日夜陪伴的寵物,那份悲痛大概會維持六個月,或是更長。與日本藝術家高橋飛雄(Takahashi Yuhi)談及近況,他說他的黑貓Nero,在去年9月去世了。「從前與他甘苦與共,如今日夜悲傷,終日鬱鬱寡歡,做什麼也提不起勁。」隨著時日流逝,高橋也逐漸好了起來,開始著手製作客人訂製的服裝,也忙著準備展覽的作品。「接下來的展覽,我將會作新的嘗試。我找來一位朋友合作,他在銀座一間歷史悠久的裁縫店工作,而我將會與裁縫店共同創作幾件西裝外套。」

去年的12月,高橋在東京的藝廊Poubelle辦了場展覽《exhibition oira》,展示了他的品牌OIRA的秋冬系列。一直以來,他都避免製作易於被理解的黑色的衣服,但如今,他的黑貓去世了,他不能停止想著黑色衣服。他設計了兩件黑色的羊毛西裝外套,內裡使用了紅色的真絲布,表達了對階級主義的思考。「根據五行思想,黑色是屬於冬天的。黑色既是中國秦朝皇室的顏色,也是罪人的顏色。在西方,工業革命前一直使用天然染料,如核桃煙灰染色;直至工業革命後發明了合成黑色染料,才出現真正的黑色;在英國成為了工人階級衣服的顏色,後來更成為了正式西裝常用的顏色。而日本也像其他的民族一樣,黑色的象徵意義同樣不斷的改變,如漁民身上的黑色紋身、農奴的黑、代表階級的黑、武士的黑和喪服的黑。」對於一件黑色衣服,高橋熱烈談論他的想法,這會是因為他深愛的黑貓嗎?

關於高橋飛雄的創作,難以作單一的分類。他製作衣服,也會做一些雕塑;還有隨心地拍些短片、辦展覽,隨著創作欲望,作品自然而然地發生。他的作品存在著一種曖昧不明的狀態,風格隨意又帶點神秘感,讓人想靠近一點來看過究竟。「若要創作完全嶄新的設計,在現代的時裝設計來說,是非常困難的事,對於電影、音樂和美術等其他的藝術形式而言,也是一樣。若然以一個構圖或主題來創作的話,很容易地淪為模仿和抄襲。但是,若是以5或10個構圖或主題來創作,便可視為原創。」大概是這個原因,高橋形容自己的藝術風格是「蒙太奇」。抹去時地人,每一件作品、每一次創作都是一個短鏡頭,透過一系列不同地點、角度、距離或是拍攝手法,組合成一個故事、讓人著迷的電影。

在日本兵庫縣的鄉郊長大的高橋飛雄,小時候只能透過家裡的一部小電視來認識外面的世界。透過那小小的屏幕,發現了電影世界的魅力,他經常坐在電視前,看得雙眼發亮。「直至現時,我依舊喜歡電影,而電影也成為我的救贖,教曉我很多東西。從1890年起的電影歷史長河,是我的靈感泉源,包括各種各樣的時裝構圖或主題、裝飾、文化和歷史。」1938年的《按摩と女》、1972年的《Fellini Roma》和2015年的《葉問3》都是他喜愛的電影、創作的靈感泉源。對電影喜愛既深且闊,難怪他拍的衣服造型照和短片都是滿滿的電影感。「要數我喜歡的藝術家和電影導演的話,實在是數之不盡。我也會經常觀察身邊熟識的人,從他們的身體,以至姿勢、動作和內心,同樣地給予我很多靈感。我認為隨著身體的動作,服裝不斷地改變身體輪廓,假如眼睛看到這一瞬間,就與雕塑的抽象形狀有相近之處吧。」

OIRA的衣服由高橋一件一件親手製作,而且用手縫製的部分很多,所以很多服裝都相當花時間製作。然而,他並不想強調人手製作這一點。「現代的時裝模式和大量的生產模式只有數十年的歷史,我並不認為現時自己的生產模式是一種優勢。我向來會考量時裝系列中的整體平衡,以及各服裝本身的平衡。因此,我會很留神地避免整體上做得太過火。」現時OIRA的衣服近乎是非常限量,高橋卻沒有執著於此。「相反地,我希望能夠大量生產一些精選的物件,另外,我也想辦一個類近古典舞台劇的時裝展呢。」

高橋說OIRA的成立沒有特別的原因,也沒有什麼理念,然而,品牌OIRA的命名是有緣由的。「我想以自己的姓名以外,但又跟『自分』(英文的I,日文解自己)相關的名字來命名。 昔日東京有江戶方言,而江戶方言中,OIRA就是解作自己。加上,我出生的關西地區的方言,會以『自分』來稱呼對方。例如說:『自分、何してるん?』(關西地區解作:你在做什麽?)這就是說,將對方看成是自己,並以言語表達出來,感覺很有日文這個語言本身的特色。假如穿著OIRA的服裝能夠成為一種看清事物和自己本質的行為,則是非常幸福的事。  」

It takes around a week to recover from a cold and the flu. The pain of losing a pet which has accompanied you day and night can linger for six months or even longer. While talking about his recent developments, Japanese artist Takahashi Yuhi mentioned his black cat Nero, which passed away last September. “We used to share weal and woe, and then I have mourned him night and day, being plunged into deep sadness and failing to find the motivation to do anything.” With the passage of time, Takahashi gradually got back on his feet and began to design custom-made clothes for clients while busy coming up with pieces for his next exhibition. “I’m going to experiment with something new in the upcoming exhibition. I’m collaborating with a friend who works at a long-standing tailor’s shop, with which I’m co-designing a few suit jackets.” 

Last December, Takahashi organized an exhibition titled exhibition oira at Poubelle, an arts gallery in Tokyo, in which he showcased his brand OIRA’s autumn and winter collections. Until then, he has refrained from designing clothes in black, which can be easily interpreted. However, now that his black cat is gone, he cannot stop thinking about black clothes. He has designed two wool suit jackets in black with red silk lining fabric, which conveys his thoughts about classism. “Based on the theory of the five elements, black belongs to the winter season.  Black is not only the representative colour of the Qin Dynasty in China but also of criminals. In the Western world, prior to the Industrial Revolution, natural dye had been used all along, including walnut coal dye. It was not until after the Industrial Revolution that synthetic black dye was invented, thereby giving birth to the real black colour. In Britain, it became the colour of clothes worn by the working class, and went on to become the frequent choice of colour for formal suits. In Japan, like elsewhere, the symbolic meaning of black has evolved over time, from the black on fishermen’s tattoos, serfdom’s black, the black representing class, samurai’s black to mourning dress’s black.” Perhaps the enthusiasm with which Takahashi spoke about a piece of black clothing can be traced back to his beloved black cat.

It is difficult to put Takahashi Yuhi’s creations into one single basket. Apart from designing clothes, he also creates sculptures. He follows his heart’s desire, making short videos and organizing exhibitions, with his creative desire naturally bringing creations to fruition. There is a touch of ambiguity in his creations, which boast a free spirit and carry a dose of mystery, beckoning others to examine them up close. “As far as contemporary fashion design goes, it is difficult to come up with completely new designs. The same goes for other art forms, including movies, music and art. If one designs with one single theme or motif, it can be easily interpreted as imitation or plagiarism. However, if five or ten motifs are used instead, it can be regarded as original.” Perhaps this explains why Takahashi Yuhi describes his art style as “montage”. Stripping away the elements of time, place and people, every single creation or creation process resembles a short shot, which together combines to form a story or an engrossing film through a series of spots, angles, distances or filming techniques. 

Growing up in the countryside of Hyogo prefecture in Japan, Takahashi Yuhi could only gain an understanding of the outside world through a tiny television at home. Through this tiny screen, he discovered the charm of the movie world. Oftentimes he would be glued to the television screen, his pair of eyes shining in wonder.  “I still love movies, like I did before. Movies have also become my savoir and taught me a great deal. The long stream of movie history from 1890 has served as my source of inspiration, including various fashion motifs, themes, decorations, culture and history.” Among his favorite movies feeding his inspiration are The Masseurs and a Woman (1938), Fellini Roma (1972) and Ip Man 3 (2015).  Thanks to his profound and broad interests in movies, it is little wonder that photoshoots featuring his clothes and his short videos always bear the hallmarks of a movie.  “If I have to list my favourite artists and movie directors, the list will go on and on. Also, I often observe those around me, and I manage to derive a lot of inspiration from their body, postures, movements and inner world. I think clothes will alter our body silhouette in accordance with our body movements. If we are able to capture this moment with our eyes, I can say that it is somehow similar to the abstract shape of sculptures.” 

Takahashi handcrafts OIRA’s each and every item, the process of which involves a great deal of hand weaving. That is why the production of many of his clothes is considerably time-consuming. Nevertheless, handcrafted quality is not something he intends to highlight. “The current mode of modern fashion and mass production boasts only a few decades of history, and I don’t regard my production style as an advantage. I always take into consideration the overall balance of my fashion collection as well as the balance of each item in itself. Therefore, I take care not to go too over the top.” While currently almost all of OIRA’s fashion items are produced in very limited quantities, Takahashi does not consider it as absolutely necessary. “Quite the opposite, I hope to be able to cherry-pick a number of items for mass production. In addition, I’d also like to organize a fashion show reminiscent of classical theatre. 

Takahashi admitted that he did not establish OIRA for any particular reason, nor is there a concept behind it. However, there is a story behind the brand name.  “I want to name my brand after something related to Jibun (自分), which means ‘I’ in Japanese, without using my own name. There used to be an Edo dialect spoken in Tokyo in which OIRA means ‘I’. Also, in the Kansai region, where I’m originally from, Jibun is being used to address the other party. For example, ‘Jibun, nani shiterun?’ means ‘What are you doing?’ in Kansai. In other words, Kansai people see the other party as their own selves, and express this through language. This appears to be a very distinct characteristic of the Japanese language. If by wearing OIRA’s clothes one can gain a clear understanding of things and their own selves, that will bring me lots of happiness.”

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