T-Shirts as Public Art
09.16.05Cultural Reflections and Project Propositions
I've been thinking about t-shirts lately and about creating a line of them. They would of course be highly political in nature. Living in the suburbs exposes one to a lot of imagery worn on the body in the form of this medium. I was really prompted when I was doing a little research and came across a variety of extremist right-wing imagery.
This site immediately caught my eye: thoseshirts.com. T-shirts such as 'Celebrate Diversity' and 'Pro-War' I found to be particularly disturbing. I started to think about the imagery that could be on a t-shirt that I found was missing from the American wearable discourse. For example we could easily tolerate an image of an American flag on a shirt, we would rejoice at the love and patriotism that one shows for the county. It is easy to self embrace ones one ideology, to back it us and reinforce ones own thinking, but what would happen if we suddenly introduce other imagery that we normally would not see on a persons body? For instance the Iraq border being displayed as HIP line graphic: What about an upside down flag? The World Trade Center collapsing? George Bush's face and others from his administration sporting Hitler mustaches (I'm sure this has already been done)? But what other imagery can we wear to create dialogue? Is dialogue dead and would we see the consequences of actions and images that are considered taboo, wearable imagery that forces public onlookers to reconsider the meaning of t-shirts? Is a t-shirt not a public work of art? Subtle yet different even in its POP-ness? It should be understood and redefined, the idea of popular imagery as a subversive force in generating discussion and external opinion. I think that is where this projected is headed for me. An exploration of images, wearable images, which have not been thought about or used in this manner before.
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