The Weather Diaries was an exhibition of striking, photographic artworks linked with one-of-a-kind gallery installations hosted by ASI in 2017.  This book makes the perfect gift for someone in your life who is interested in fashion, and has a particular interest in the influence of Nordic culture in fashion.  Additionally, if you missed this spectacular exhibit, or want to familiarize yourself with it again and again ~ pick up a copy for yourself.

Bruce Karstadt,  ASI President/CEO, commented on  The Weather Diaries saying, “We are privileged to host The Weather Diaries, a fascinating examination of the powerful influences nature and geography can have in shaping cultural identity as expressed in fashion and art. This is a phenomenon Minnesotans well understand.  As ASI continues its 2017 Migration, Identity and Belonging programming, we welcome the exhibition as an opportunity to spark meaningful dialogue about how exploring our roots can positively impact today’s local and global community.”

The Weather Diaries book highlights the exhibition and probes the roots of West Nordic fashion, exploring the inescapable impact of nature and weather in developing a centuries deep cultural identity in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. 

The Weather Diaries book features the mesmerizing creations of the artistic duo Cooper & Gorfer.  Sarah Cooper (U.S., 1974) and Nina Gorfer (Austria, 1979), who now live and work in Gothenburg, Sweden and Berlin, Germany, travelled throughout Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands on assignment from exhibition producer The Nordic House in Reykjavik.  Their resulting large-scale, painting-like pieces were constructed with advanced collage techniques that combine photographs of work by some of the most gifted artists and designers of the West Nordic region.  The accompanying installations displayed a 55-pound beaded collar, knitted garments, tulle and feathers, bone fragments and full-sized mannequins in tailored suits.

Cooper & Gorfer are photographers in origin, but they strive away from realistic representation and are known for their painterly aesthetics and poetic hybrid image collages.  Their work often revolves around issues of cultural identity and the connections among people, story and place.  Informed by comprehensive research travel and close collaborations, the duo carefully directs their productions, distorting proportions, shifting time and space, and using stylized poses as part of an enigmatic ensemble.  They describe their work in the context of art history’s Mannerists, Pre-Raphaelites or Surrealists, straining observable reality through a complex psychological filter of dreams, moods, fears and wounds, interpreting present-day identities by crossing genres from centuries of visual culture.