To perform my object, I walked around the fountain several times wearing the trash dress.
Space/Materiality, Performative Object: Time, Site, Relation
Trash Dress
December 15th, 2019
30 in by 14 in
Materials: thrifted dress I owned, plastic bags, satin fabric, thread
Site: Fountain at Washington Square Park
Duration of performance: 30 minutes
Video: https://vimeo.com/379798254
I performed the piece by wearing the dress and walking around the fountain in circles.
Reflection:
The materials we use in the manufacturing of mass-produced, everyday objects have a direct impact on the environment we occupy. Plastic is one of the leading materials used in packaging and distributing goods; the plastic industry is projected to value at $1.2 trillion and the market is growing at a 3% rate. It has one of the worst impacts on the environment because a plastic bag takes roughly 1000 years to decompose. This versatile material poses a threat to society because how frequently and widely used it is. Approximately 8 million metric tons of plastics collects in the ocean each year, leaving marine organisms at risk for eating, choking on, or getting strangled by different plastic objects and dying.
When I did my site visit, I witnessed lots of trash flying out of the trash can and blowing around the park with the wind. This made me contemplate the waste management of trash cans in the city as well as the overuse of plastic in everyday life. I decided to create a garment that contains multiple trash bags hand-sewn throughout the fabric and shows the physical process of the wind blowing by attached fabric scrap strips. I performed the dress by wearing the dress and circling the fountain located in the center of Washington square park. I chose this method of activating the piece because I wanted to make a statement on how America has adopted this consumer mindset where materials such as plastic are so frequently accumulated and discarded. I see this mindset as a way of worshipping materialism and being blind to the harmful effects on the environment. The walking gesture was inspired by the spiritual tradition of circumnavigation practiced in religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. I also wanted to show how my performance utilizes the process of recycling by reworking a basic material generally seen as trash and transforming them into something more aesthetic and eye-catching.
I was very anxious and cold when I started to perform my piece. It took several walks around the fountain for anyone to talk to me; most people were ignoring me or just looking but not inquiring about it. I was freezing and was about to leave when a girl finally asked me about it. She seemed genuinely interested in what I was wearing and doing and we had a nice conversation about the surplus of plastic waste in the world. Doing this performance pushed me out of my comfort zone because I would never have done this if it wasn’t assigned to me.
