Audience

Wider public. Better fit for festival audience (they are more likely to re-return with donated garments, as they naturally re-return for other festival events nearby). 

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Space

The garments can be places outside on racks, can take up various amounts of space inside.

Very flexible for size in the space, flexible in installation arrangements, can accomodate whatever size needed. Can be scaled back,  sometimes put in a back room making space for other events if need be. May need back room temp storage for any clothing overflow. 

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An attended desk may be useful for people to donate or receive clothing. 

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Development

PREVIOUS

This work has been exhibited once before in 2019 as a set of garments the audience can take. 

 

COLLECTION SYSTEMS

Previously, far too many people in the audience wanted the items for the amount we could offer. For a following show, there needs to be both a number of garments with sewn tags ready for display prior to the exhibition start date, and then a system for exchange afterwards. I could sit at a desk and the audience could receive an item of clothing by donating clothing, so there is enough for others for the entire show. People could come to the desk, fill out a form, donate an item/s and then they could pick up an item from the rack in return. People can even donate on-hand items like sunglasses or socks in the moment to swap for a garment they want on display. Tokens could be given to those who donate, if they have additional tokens, they can choose to leave a number of tokens there for others or choose to keep some to give to their friends. The number of tokens they receive depends on the number of garments donated. This is a potential idea for new system to keep a flow of donated items and items on display and available for audiences but open to other possibilities, other methods to make this flow of donated and collected garments workable in the space. 

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Potential to expand beyond clothes to other donated items.  

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LIMITED EDITIONS

I want to make limited editions of these garments where I will (with private embroidery machine) embroider scenes from the life of the previous owner of the garment, in golden thread, into selected items of clothing. These items of clothing with embroidered images (as well as the sewn in omen tags) will be highlight items, kept to the end of the show on display and form a special collection within the wider collection. These limited items within the collection may be for sale, to cover costs of embroidery time, equipment and materials, the others garments are not for sale for any monetary value.  

 

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Benefits

- Media-enticing spectacle with the unexpected weirdness of turning AGWA into a giant OPSHOP (while still being a serious take home artwork) with omens and different kind of community connection. 

- Opshopping is a part Australian arts culture. Artists tend to be big opshoppers here, not just because of the cheapness of the clothes, but also because artists can hunt to find unique items, while donating to charity and recycling. Ticking many boxes. 

- Looking closely into the worn clothing of Perth people is also looking closely into a slice of Perth's collective personal identity. 

- Highly engaged work, direct interaction with the community. 

- Audiences can get free art and clothes from a place that represents high art, a place that collects artwork most people could not afford to buy. Taking something home for free from such a place as AGWA is reaching out from the community back to the community with recycled gifts. When audiences can take and wear something from such a place, this gives AGWA a chance to reconnect with the community in an intimate way. These clothes can kept and worn for years and whenever worn, can serve as a reminder not only of the previous owner of the clothing but also reconnection with AGWA and this connection can help foster ongoing connection for future AGWA audiences. 

- It's a work that the "general public" may connect with physically and psychologically without an elaborate knowledge of art history. 

- It encourages recycling. 

- Relevance, may highlight WA border closure, and Perth community becoming closer (literally wearing portraits of each-other and cursed/blessed to become each-other). 

- It pushes us to rethink transference in handling and wearing belongings of others. 

- Possibility for racks of clothes to be displayed outside the front of the gallery, further enticing viewers passing by and surprise them as they may first assume this may be a traditional items for sale (which they are not, or not quite). 

- 40-ish or so, limited editions with omen tags and embroidered gold thread scenes from the previous person's life on the clothing. 

- Install style and size of work (how many items on display and where) is highly flexible and can be expanded or reduced depending on other installations and events in the space. 

 

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Challenges

- System for donating and collecting to be negotiated. 

- Image rights on tag to be put into signed contract by participant. 

- Verification of authenticity - confirming this garment was previously owned by this person. Could be in the form signed by participants as they donate their garments. 

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Accomodations for Covid 

- A selection of these garments could be found and ordered online. 

- Well photographed online catalogue of garments (with portrait tags in view) and perhaps also some pages with images of the people who bought them (with consent). 

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