Here is the photo of the dress I have made out of my used make-up wipes. Once I had finished it, I realised it reminded me of the artist Jana Sterbek and her piece ‘Meat Dress’ (‘Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic’). Her work is inspiring but at the same time grotesque and shocking. ‘Meat Dress’ is so shocking at the sight of raw meat just hung on the mannequin, or on herself (when in performance.) We are used to seeing meat on a dinner plate or in a super market not being used as material for clothing.
Although my dress I made is disgusting in a way with these ‘dirty’ wipes they will not rot over time like the meat will. She has used a collection of pieces of raw meat, whereas I have a collection of wipes. I feel by using a collection of abject or unusual material it gives the viewer a abject feeling towards the dress or even a confused reaction as to why. This something that I am keen to explore. My dress is not as shocking or abject as Sterbek’s is, it draws the viewer in wondering what the mark makings are, before staring them in the face it is make-up. Perhaps even making them retract away as a natural defence to this abject material.
