The exhibit itself performs much like a handbag: it is functional, portable, and the contents are very personal, changing for every venue. This is life in a handbag, with things hidden inside pockets, or slipped in between your gloves. Some parts of it are open to light, and some hold secrets, like that earring you thought you had lost.
The textural interior of the handbag becomes part of the impression of the installation from the very first step you take within it. Led by the seductive voice of Jeanne Moreau on your personal MP3 player, you step into another dimension. Far from The Outer Limits, the flow of the exhibition is not suspended reality but reflective of the world around us.

The floor in the first segment, or “room”, is a quilt of 65,000 tiles, a changeling floral pattern that shifts visually as you walk. Languid pacing allows, actually no, enforces absorption of each art work as the soothing tones of Ms. Moreau’s voice guide and instruct you into a collective, yet individual participation. Quilted walls, pavestones, even the sectional construction of the module itself lend texture to a seemingly smooth, modern surface. That smoothness adds calm and provides transition on a subliminal level. According to the voice in our ears, “Life is defined by forms” and so the symmetry, harmony and rhythm of this contained world succeed in conveying this very concept.

If fashion is part of life, and life is absorbed by osmosis, lived through experience, and felt through emotion, then fashion indeed works in the same way. The art moment conceived by Mr. Lagerfeld, realized by Zaha Hadid and interpreted by a stable of contributing artists, comes at a moment of flux in our world. It spans the turn of the century, and glories in an international environment. In Central Park, surrounded by a halo of autumn leaves and stark branches, the Mobile Art ‘container’ sits for its last day of reflection and meditation. It will then be on to Moscow and London, and Paris. With its white walls and converging compartments, this entire installation only adds to the mystery and the magic of the Chanel brand.

Top image courtesy of Theburnlab.blogspot.com

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