T-shirt art comes in many forms. Sometimes a canvas to screenprint, sometimes a raw material to cut and slash, sometimes a medium to appreciate in mass quantity. New York artist Derick Melander collects already worn clothing (including T-shirts, of course) and uniformly folds and stacks the garments to create Andy Goldsworthy-an sculpture.
Like Goldsworthy, Melander uses materials already existing in the landscape around him–he uses his hands to fold the discarded textiles and thus carve and cultivate our secondhand landscape. From floor-to-ceiling towers (I wonder how much floor-to-ceiling space my current collection takes up!), to blended color studies in columns. In one, parts of the shirts even appear to drip, as paint would.
The crisp folds imposed upon an inherently soft material give new architecture to garments otherwise cherished for their flexibility. On the other hand, folded clothing is not an uncommon — it’s a process we go through every time we do the laundry!– and yet Melander’s interpretation makes the subject and process far less ordinary.
Watch the video below to get “into the fold” and learn how Melander puts one of these sculptures together. From Melander’s website: “This [particular] event, hosted by the Office of Recycling Outreach and Education, was part of the 5th Annual Green Brooklyn…Green City Fair and Symposium at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Columbus Park.” The 5′ by 7′ sculpture was made using (gulp!) 3615 pounds of recycled clothing, which represents the amount of textile waste that is thrown away every five minutes in New York City.
Into The Fold, Brooklyn Borough Hall from Derick Melander on Vimeo.
[ Posted on May 27th, 2010 ]
Those are really cool T-shirt sculptures. The layers of color look like layers of bedrock, like a cross-section of earth. Reminds me of when I did some soil samples the summer I worked up in Alaska. Thank you for sharing, Megan.