What do you wear that makes you feel powerful? That question is the heart of the project Trappings by the artist collaboration Two Girls Working: Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki. Since 2001, they have been conducting Trappings interview sessions in each region of the United States. More than 500 women have participated in Trappings. Their installation at the Nashville International Airport features women from Tennessee whom the artists met in the fall of 2002.
Although the artists ask only one question relating to clothing, the project is not about fashion, and to a large extent not even about clothing. The project is about exploring the complicated landscape of power and identity. Trappings challenges the preconceived set of ideas individuals create based on other’s personal appearance and offers a platform for viewers and participants to explore their definitions of and relationship to power.
Trappings has initiated a range of dialogues: simple descriptions of an outfit’s comfort and practicality as a tool for power, complex analysis of an individual’s movement through class and social strata, the use of sex as strategy in business and social settings, and the use of clothing as a way to connect with cultural or personal history as power sources.
Visit www.twogirlsworking.com to listen to participant’s responses, see images of the artist’s past exhibitions, and to learn about upcoming project events.
|
