you might just wear your secondhand clothing, but sculptor derick melander uses clothing cast-offs as an artistic medium, wherein the clothing itself is both a metaphor for people/individuals/society in general, and a means to create substantial structures with which one can react to and interact with. they very powerful pieces, visually, as well.
Into The Fold, Brooklyn Borough Hall from Derick Melander on Vimeo.
says he, in his own words, about his work:
"I create large geometric configurations from carefully folded and stacked second-hand clothing. These structures take the form of wedges, columns, walls and enclosures, typically weighing between five hundred pounds and two tons. Smaller pieces directly interact with the surrounding architecture. Larger works create discrete environments.
As clothing wears, fades, stains and stretches it becomes an intimate record of our physical presence. It traces the edge of the body, defining the boundary between the individual and the outside world."
i love the statement he makes toward the end of the little film, above:
"who are the people who wore this [clothing]?"
something i constantly think about, since so much of what i wear and have worn, lovingly, over the years, has been secondhand.
i love to ponder where my clothing has been, where it came from, who made it, who wore it, what they did in that clothing, why they decided to part with it. so many things to ponder...it can make for quite a nice reverie, when the mind has an idle moment.
what about you? do you ponder where your things have been? is that aspect of wearing secondhand clothing attractive to you? why or why not?