Clothes have a hierarchy, are a hierarchy.
This is critical to society because this is how society distinguishes between its members.
The uniform is a visual sign of distinction, a difference causing a diffidence, deference, or a defiance.But not any uniform… An apron, a lanyard, a polyester shirt with embroidered logo, a hairnet, a pinny, hospital clogs, a high-viz, … A synthetic surface, 100% viscose, strong and versatile, highly flexible and pliable, great ease of manipulation, man-made for manual work, cheap and non-recyclable, to be replaced regularly. Tokens of low status, these are the uniforms that interest me. Because of those that wear those uniforms, those at the bottom of the pyramid, those that have no choice… The nobodies. I am searching for their form, their poetics. The theory of the Abject, the concept of Arendt’s ‘Excluded’, Agamben’s ‘the People’ and Fanon’s ‘Les Damnés de la Terre’ enrich my understanding.
It’s a question of power imbalance, what structure does to a body and the violence we do to each other.
This series speaks subtly of complicated issues about agency, status, marginalisation, emotion, and humanity.The ambition is for the uniform to convey a humanity on its surface, on its fabric via the corporal frame, the postures that can trigger an ‘emotional contagion’ in the viewer
