CBS Chicago on Garment Work

"I think people will engage a little bit more in their unconscious fashion choices and start to think through the processes by which their clothing is made. I’m pretty lucky to have been able to meet some of the people that make your Gap or Old Navy or H&M jeans, your Puma or Adidas or Nike sports bra or whatever, and I can tell you first hand what their lives are like, and what you can do to support the super adorable ladies who make your cheap snappy clothes. Or, maybe they won’t and they’ll just get excited about the process of deconstructing jeans. ... One of the things about it is that it is really taxing. The dye gets everywhere; the denim fibers get into your lungs. You can pretty easily start to see how difficult the material is to work with, how tough the women’s lives are that do it all day long. It’s important, I think, to appreciate that. I wear jeans."

From the interview with Amy Cavenaugh, Anne Elizabeth Moore: Garment Work « CBS Chicago

Garment Work at the MCA

My 12 x 12 exhibition at the MCA, Garment Work, opened Friday. People seemed to really enjoy themselves, and the labor.

In fact, the 15-minute opening performance, which was supposed to be quick and painless, lasted for over two hours. Eventually, we had to ask people to put the jeans down and walk away from the art.

It wasn't actually all that painless, either: these jeans have a little bit of something call "elastane" in them, which made them really difficult to tear apart (but probably have wonderful slimming effects on the wearer).

I had an open wound by the close of the show. But around 35 people wandered in and out, helping me destroy throughout the evening, about a third of a pair of pants.