[Lady Art] Recycle Group’s Georgy Kuznetsov and Andrey Blokhin Talk Hacking Reality for Dior Lady Art

Welcome to the Dior Talks series themed around the 5th edition of Dior Lady Art and hosted by Paris-based journalist Katya Foreman. For this year’s event, ten artists and collectives from around the world have participated in a game of metamorphosis by rendering the iconic Lady Dior handbag as a unique piece of art. “Hacking reality” is the motto of Recycle Group’s Georgy Kuznetsov and Andrey Blokhin, who in this episode discuss transposing the Lady Dior into the digital era. The Russian artistic duo is known for deconstructing pillars of artistic culture, like a statue from antiquity or in this case the Lady Dior bag, and bringing them back to life in the virtual world, juxtaposing classical and contemporary iconography. Longtime collaborators of Dior, the fusional creatives have been friends since they were kids, hanging out in their parents’ art studios in early post-Soviet artist residencies. In their new interpretation of the House icon, the bag’s classical quilted cannage motif is distorted into a hypnotic trompe-l’œil vortex and waves recalling glitches or a Snapchat filter, and the letter charms are morphed and twisted.  The eyelets are also altered, and the charms appear to be entirely swallowed by the whirlwind forms, seemingly projecting the bag into the digital realm. “We liked the idea of combining two realities,” explains Blokhin of a fascinating creative vision positioned on reality’s final frontiers. Discover Chris Soal’s creations : https://youtu.be/K5shObQUjoA

Om Podcasten

Step inside the contemporary Dior mind with ‘Dior Talks’, a series of podcasts aimed at bringing together both the people who directly shape the creative direction of the House and those whose artistic, cultural or intellectual impact influence its narrative. The sixth series, ‘Feminism’, focuses on the women who have inspired Maria Grazia Chiuri, both professionally and personally, and who have been involved in the bold collaborations with the House that the Creative Director of Women’s collections has orchestrated and championed since her arrival in 2016. These podcasts provide a stimulating outlet for the voices of these influential and empowered figures, who talk openly and honestly about their lives, their motivations, the challenges they’ve overcome and their hopes for the future. The series is hosted by Justine Picardie, the London-based journalist and biographer.