Beca Lipscombe and Lucy McKenzie examine the world of mannequins and retail display. This book looks at radical thinkers and makers who dissolved the line between fine art and commercial display, and pieces together a compelling narrative that encompasses ethnography, statuary, dolls, the world fairs and our digital future. Their project Atelier E.B: Passer-by examines an essential facet of the fashion industry: the use of mannequins and retail display. Since the surrealists took them up in the early twentieth century, the idealised features and silhouettes of the mannequin have been an enduring motif within fine art. Additionally, the border between commercial display and exhibition-making has also been shown to be debatable. This is a meticulous and idosyncratic study of the hierarchies which have historically separated the spheres of art and design.

Beca Lipscombe, Lucy McKenzie

Koenig Books, 2020

30.5 X 24.5, 244 pages