Studio International

Published 05/06/2007

Vivienne Westwood's re-entry into the multi-media arena is welcome as much as it is stimulating. Typically, she was quoted as saying, at the Guardian Hay festival 'In visual art, I don't believe that anything is happening at the moment.' Her definition of 'culture' was typically succinct: 'Culture is not peripheral and local, it's what is representative of human nature, and universal, and timeless.' She advocated total commitment, 'incredible discipline'. Her manifesto as presented at Hay included a wide-ranging discourse between Aristotle, Diogenes' 'The Cynic', Alice, and the Mad Hatter, and Pinocchio. She criticised the conceptual movement engendered by Marcel Duchamp, no less. Many of those in the audience were disappointed, however, that she didn't otherwise reveal much else. She has much in common with Tracey Emin, but their friendship may not survive. Vivienne would certainly shake up the British Pavilion at Venice but Emin will do so anyway.