Overview
July 19, 2019
Mandy Harris Williams’s Couture Critiques (2021) is an adaptation of academic Edward Said’s writings on the intellectual, presented in the visual language of MTV’s hit show House of Style (1989–2000). The film oscillates between HD and 1990s granular with a cut-and-paste editing technique that doesn’t shy away from sound effects. With Couture Critiques and its accompanying booklet, Harris Williams asks: who captures our attention, who sifts through the swamp of information we navigate for truth, and is it time for a style upgrade?