Wax works ... Kylie's costumes may dazzle but is it art?
Whether the dungarees will be hung next to, say, a Ming dynasty vase or a medieval tapestry is, as yet, unconfirmed, but news that the noble Victoria and Albert museum in London is excitedly planning their Kylie: An Exhibition next year raises many other questions.
One that the museum has definitively answered, however, is just how low curators will bend their spinal cords to reach the masses and how far they'll go from their general remit - in the V&A's case, to celebrate the decorative arts - to get in the punters.
A desire for commercial success is, of course, no bad thing and quite a good thing, in fact, in terms of museums if it means that they can remain open. But, to put the matter in a Sex and the City kinda way, I couldn't help but wonder if there is any point in museums staying open if they are little more than Madame Tussauds without the redeeming factor of the delightful waxen "likenesses".
The museum attempts to justify this Kylie shebang by claiming that it is "particularly interested [in the way] she has quite self-consciously crafted an image through her wardrobe."
Well, stone the crows, who'd have thought - a celebrity who uses clothes to make an image. I mean, golly, isn't it just amazing how Will Young now wears tight designer T-shirts instead of badly made jumpers? Amazing! Give that boy an exhibition space!
If the museum really wanted to show how Kylie's image had changed, though, one can't help but wonder why they decided to focus just on the frocks. What about a hair show, looking at how Kylie's barnet has gone from unruly curls, to sleek locks to the much-celebrated boy crop today? Or maybe one of her fingernails, from grubby mechanic to glamorous French lady? Or her shoes? Or - hey, let's go crazy here! - what about her music? Mind you, I guess standing around listening to Can't Get You Out of My Head wouldn't make for such media-grabbing photos as pictures of Kylie in a skin-tight mini.
