Our clothes have a lot of character. Take a look inside someone’s closet. It can truly tell a story about that person and their life.
When asked where he got the idea for creating sculptures out of second hand clothing, artist Derick Melander said, “When I come across a dress with a hand-sewn repair, or a coat with a name written inside the collar, the work starts to feel like a collective portrait.”
Derick even organized an event called “Into The Fold” where he and volunteers created a 5 x 7 foot tall sculpture from 3,615 pounds of used clothing, which they meticulously folded. 3,615 pounds represents the amount of textile waste created by New Yorkers every 5 minutes. Wow! You can see the specifics of this event in the video below.
Since I work very closely on a weekly basis with the homeless here in Atlanta, I am very familiar with the task of clothing everyone. It’s especially challenging to find the right size clothes at the right time for someone that is homeless yet has finally landed a job interview. This artwork is very inspiring to me.
Into The Fold, Brooklyn Borough Hall from Derick Melander on Vimeo.
[via eco-chick]
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