Clothing Sculpture: Drift, 2011

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The clothing is sorted by color and arranged in the order of the spectrum. The piece starts and ends with blue, which forms the bottom and top layer, visible from inside the gallery. The clothing is rolled into whorls and layered, forming colorful striations viewable from the street. Both exposed cross-sections hover 12 inches before the storefront window. The design is inspired by the cross-section of various natural forms including snow drifts, swelling waves and rock faces.

This piece was created as a special project for the show: ”No Waste” at Columbia College, Chicago, IL. It would have never happened without the persistence of the curator Arti Sandhu and the gallery director Jennifer Murray. We had some hoops to jump through, one of them being the sourcing of 2.5 tons of clothing. USAgain, a national textile recycling company, rose to the occasion. Thanks to Rasham Grewal for believing in the project. Once we had the 2.5 tons, Columbia sent over an engineer and a fire warden. In the end, we got the green light, but not before they reinforced the gallery floor from w/in the basement. 4 days and about 50 helpers later (thanks Caroline Ross and Nicole Kurily!), the piece was done.

We created a companion piece together. You can see that here.

Approximate Size:
8.5′ x 17′ x 8.5′ (H x W x D)

Materials:
5,000 pounds of second-hand clothing, wood & hardware