‘Zeigarnik Effect’ on the Ramp
In the late 1920s Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik noticed café waiters remembered complex unfinished orders better than those that were completed and paid. Her curiosity led her further to research which showed that the human brain develops what is called ‘cognitive tension’ when something is ‘left on’ or in an open loop without resolution. In the film and entertainment world this cognitive tension is exploited with ‘cliffhangers’ where an episode ends with an unresolved plot twist. In the digital world cognitive tension creates clickbaits where people want to find out what’s below the headline. This is known as the ‘Zeigarnik Effect’ where the mind is left in suspended wonderment.
Many artists also use the Zeigarnik Effect creating works that seem unreal or too impossible to be realised. Think of all the great works of art that come to your mind—Michelangelo’s ‘David’, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ or the Chola ‘Nataraj’—they all seem too perfect to be true. Rahul Mishra’s latest collection ‘Devi’ also has the same ability to make you question your cognition. Since the time I saw the first images and videos of his Paris Fashion Week launch I have been unable to get them out of my head. And today, it struck me as to why this was happening.
We Indians have seen temple carvings since we were in school, either in textbooks or postcards or on visits to the temples of Khajuraho, Ajanta, Konark, Belur-Halebidu or in museums in Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and other Indian cities. But what Rahul has done is that he has made those stone sculptures walk, LITERALLY WALK THE RAMP. For me especially because I am an artist and an autodidact scholar of the arts, his creations are referencing some very famous works such as the Didarganj Yakshi, whose scale and magnificence I have seen face-to-face in Patna. And then to see the Yakshi move and walk in the likeness of Cardi B. was truly a feat of imagination.
Rahul’s latest collection ‘Devi’ has once again proved to me that he’s not just designer-costumier but a great artist who has some very deep and well-thought-out ideas that are changing the world of fashion—bit by bit, show-by-show, collection-by-collection.
I was so impressed that I also fished out a picture of mine where am wearing a T-shirt with a stone sculpture just to twin with his phenomenal art!
Many artists also use the Zeigarnik Effect creating works that seem unreal or too impossible to be realised. Think of all the great works of art that come to your mind—Michelangelo’s ‘David’, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ or the Chola ‘Nataraj’—they all seem too perfect to be true. Rahul Mishra’s latest collection ‘Devi’ also has the same ability to make you question your cognition. Since the time I saw the first images and videos of his Paris Fashion Week launch I have been unable to get them out of my head. And today, it struck me as to why this was happening.
We Indians have seen temple carvings since we were in school, either in textbooks or postcards or on visits to the temples of Khajuraho, Ajanta, Konark, Belur-Halebidu or in museums in Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and other Indian cities. But what Rahul has done is that he has made those stone sculptures walk, LITERALLY WALK THE RAMP. For me especially because I am an artist and an autodidact scholar of the arts, his creations are referencing some very famous works such as the Didarganj Yakshi, whose scale and magnificence I have seen face-to-face in Patna. And then to see the Yakshi move and walk in the likeness of Cardi B. was truly a feat of imagination.
Rahul’s latest collection ‘Devi’ has once again proved to me that he’s not just designer-costumier but a great artist who has some very deep and well-thought-out ideas that are changing the world of fashion—bit by bit, show-by-show, collection-by-collection.
I was so impressed that I also fished out a picture of mine where am wearing a T-shirt with a stone sculpture just to twin with his phenomenal art!
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