Swide Magazine by Dolce&Gabbana

Debra Franses Bean's ARTbags have been delighting art lovers with a twist of fashion thrown in for those who "get" her work and I thought it was about time that we got to know her a little bit better. I was lucky enough to bag (excuse the pun) an interview with her and let her do the talking. So, without any hesitation, I introduce Debra Franses Bean...

What kick started the concept of ARTbag?

It was one of those happy accidents with a little dark humour twist...revenge, transgression, frivolity. 
I was studying for my fine art degree at Central Saint Martin’s in 2002 and we were asked to cast an object. 
Most people were casual or comical and I thought about what object was the most significant for me.

 "To have and not to hold"

I chose a handbag as my father's business since I could remember was all about fashion accessories and most significantly 
he supplied fittings to all the top luxury brands, their logos on zip pulls and padlocks. From the age of 6 I was given an array of 
beautiful designer handbags to play with and so the love affair began. This particular bag was a disgustingly expensive, 
but with a rather irritating design as you couldn’t fit more than a few crucial items in it. It is rather befitting now as the work has evolved over the past 9 years that it now contains a small selection of found significant objects like a cabinet of curiosities, Wunderkammer (wonder- room) or mini museum. Initially I cast it in Plaster and then covered the handle in Drawing Pins. 

I made a text object of a title to accompany the work. It was a comment on marriage. “To have and to hold". So this was the birth of the slightly twisted psychological pieces of fine art sculptures that made reference to fashion, image, beauty, vanity, surface, gloss and each piece references this and has some additional personal significance for me. Whether it is a statement about how I feel about something, some sort of poetry, like the two butterflies dancing, or the NYLON piece which carries 2 pocket watches, one set on the time in New York and the other the simultaneous time in London,

"NYLON"

referencing the gap in space and time between the two economic fashion political cultural cites - both speak English but are worlds apart.

The latest bag I’ve set the time to stop at 08.46 EDT (a significant time for me, a moment when my own time stopped on 9/11) There is a story behind each piece.

This is important for me and some people who like to read into things or project their own meanings upon a piece.  

That’s the thing about art that I learned at Saint Martins, my brilliant school in London, famous of course for fashion as well as art. McQueen, Williamson, Stella McCartney. The list goes on. We learned that it doesn’t really matter about your intention with your work. Once you have made it and put it out there in the public realm as a piece of aesthetic culture it can be consumed in many ways. I see it as a strength in the work that both men and women enjoy it and it is not seen as a feminist piece but has raised above gender politics into the glossy and sleazy competitive world of money, taste and art fashion design.

 

It is however totally aesthetic and serves no real function other than beauty. I added the illuminated base to spotlight the perfectness of the finish and illuminate the previously hidden contents. 

You also do commissions. Do requests infringe on your creativity or do you find that you are able to bring spontaneity to these projects? 

I have undertaken quite a few commissions and I treat them as creatively as my own artbag ideas. I’m a very intuitive person and often have an overwhelming creative urge to respond to the request. 
I feel that the people who want to commission me do so because they "get it" the "it " being my whole concept. The concept for the commission comes out of a conversation with the client about what they are looking for,

 "because i'm worth it"

 "Marinella loves Horses"

then, because these pieces have a personal significance but a rather universal aesthetic they don’t infringe on my creativity. Ask an architect, when they are designing a building, it is around a "need" to express some form of individuality, something "strong”. In this way it is something to push on with my own creative strength. Interesting and sometimes provocative, there has to be a certain amount of give on the client side, otherwise it wouldn’t be interesting.

What would be in your ARTbag?

My artbag's are made...many of them!! I indulge all of my feelings into these creations. One of my latest pieces is rather bitter sweet. Its called "Apothecary" A bag full of beautifully coloured pills and syringes filled with brightly coloured serums.

  

I was rather ill this last year and had to administer many pills, liquids and potions into my body. The medicines in this bag were all part of my armoury this last 12 months, happily Im almost at the other side of it now.

And last but not least, if you were to create an ARTbag with Dolce&Gabbana in mind, what would it contain?

If I was to make something for D&G it would have to contain the elements of 
Italian & sex ! I have a few ideas.

 

So, there you have it, a fantastic introduction into the inner workings of an ARTbag from the wonderful Debra Franses Bean. For more from Debra and her ARTbags, please click below. 

Debra will be exhibiting her work alongside those of Walter Raes in London. For more information, click here.

Interviewed by Ben Taylor 

TAGS: dolce&gabbana d&g dolce & gabbana d & g debra franses bean artbag london accessories fashion art NYLON because i'm worth it gallery london design week walter raes