bits and bobbins

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.

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:

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?

right now, most any “fashionista” who’s worth her stylish salt is likely rocking a pair of (most likely black) strappy sky high platform stilettos (say that 12 times fast!).

but, being i am not really amongst those ranks these days, i’m content to don something lower and decidedly more comfortable. like these perforated monochromatic tennies by rubber duck. who seem to make some damn cute tennis shoes in general, wouldn’t you know it?

just one more crazy, colorful example of why i like to go and will persistently against the grain. that, and i don’t want to break my neck or back for the sake of “style” (especially one i kind of loathe) but that’s probably a whole other post…

sorry for the absence for much of the past week, taking care of some person business, aka, looking for a home in connecticut, where i’ll be moving (hopefully permanently!) next month.

hope to return to my semi-regular/normal/somewhat erratic posting schedule this week and beyond.