Everything's Funked Up

The Age

Wednesday February 3, 1999

MYFANWY WARHURST

Think about the term funk. What images does it evoke? Probably, memories of stepping out in a pair of high-waisted, pelvis-hugging flares and a garish bodyshirt, complemented by an oversized hairstyle.

Funk embodies fun. In hindsight, it was exceptionally tacky and intrinsically linked to the "70s, with elements of the style recurring through to the present. According to curator Murray White, funk as it appears in visual art and design is equally as fluid, but is not restrained by being part of a particular movement or decade.

``Funk is not a recognised style," White says of the term that inspired the exhibition Funk-de-Siecle, ``but definitely a lot of it comes out of popular culture. It's a way of life, it's a thing, it's a feeling, it's a trend, it's a fashion. So that's why, in a way, I loosely summarise it as a culture. It's certainly a style, but it's just not one of those `isms' of art history."

So what constitutes funk in the arts? It's about exaggeration, extreme forms, work that is curvaceous and organic, and is probably more clearly visible in mainstream arts.

Funk-de-Siecle will showcase funk in all its forms, from the furniture design work of Marc Newson to the aerosol art of Howard Arkley. Funk, it seems, is contemporary, with key moments evident in the "60s though to the present, and Funk-de-Siecle embraces this diversity.

The title of the exhibition is a play on the term fin-de-siecle, or end of the century, which also creates a link to the end of the 19th century. This allows White to make historical references with funk that go beyond the contemporary period.

``I thought it was a catchy end-of-the-century idea to do a show. Funk-de-Siecle is just a play on words that translates literally to `funk of the century' and that enables me to go back a little bit more. It has also enabled the historical pretext - or I like that suggestion in the title," he admits. ``The reference to the close of last century, although not specifically to that period, enables me to look at the iconography or how funk in contemporary work has developed.

``Talking about it as a style or influence in art," White continues, ``there are aspects of funk in art from many movements. It can be in minimalism, there's aspects of it in surrealism. Jean (Hans) Arp's original European surrealist sculptures were very organic and simple and abstract. In form, I still think there are traces of that in Mark Newson's furniture."

But White is not attempting to claim that the origins of funk have an unrecognised theoretical basis. Instead, he sees the style of funk as emerging mostly from popular, mainstream culture. ``Funk comes out of the everyday, fashion design and lifestyle."

In the visual arts, ``the key movement that defines funk, I think, is pop art," White says. ``It's most prevalent in pop art and I think that, in a way, helps to define it."

The exhibition will be housed in the John and Sunday Reed gallery at Heide. The building that was once the Reeds' home was completed in 1969 and is minimal, sleek and stylish. The space epitomises cool, and White saw it as a perfect venue for an exhibition that would focus primarily on design - design that could be contextualised by visual art and visual documentation such as photography and film. In fact, Funk-de-Siecle will see the house completely refurbished for the duration of the exhibition.

The famed conversation pit, with its rough woollen couch and carpet, will be transformed when covered in bright, colored material. Visuals will be screened in this room, including films by Andy Warhol.

``I always wanted to do a design furniture/architecture show in the Reed galleries," White says, ``to refurnish the house, so to speak. I'd always wanted to put furniture in there because it is the ideal location, and it would be in an exemplary architectural context. It's just superb architecture."

This exhibition also recognises the original role of the museum to showcase design. The museum was originally located in the city, from 1958-66, and was known as the Museum of Modern Art and Design of Australia. ``Design was dropped from the name," says White, ``and it's something that we haven't looked at very often, and usually only retrospectively."

It seems Funk-de Siecle is more about what looks funky, as opposed to an in-depth extrapolation of what constitutes funk as a style. ``I'm looking at just a small moment in international and local design history," White says of his curatorial premise. ``It is a small space, so it isn't a big show and it won't be a comprehensive survey of funk.

``I look at it as a fragile display of a few moments and aspects of contemporary style and taste."

By using the term fragile, White does not mean delicate. Funk was anything but. Rather, the exhibition is also about offering snapshots of historical, funky moments in the museum's history, rather than an extensive overview. One of White's favorite shots in the exhibition is from the museum's opening in 1981.

``There's a photo of the previous director, Maudie Palmer, looking very Charlie's Angels," White says with a chortle. So when it comes to funk, maybe it really is about tight pants and big hair after all.

Funk-de-Siecle is at the Museum of Modern Art at Heide from Saturday until 4 April, as part of the Melbourne Fashion Festival.