During her workshop dedicated to the production of participatory outfits, St. Petersburg based artist Lera Lerner will demonstrate how to expand the functionality of everyday clothing using 3D embroidery, and engage in the performative exploration of spontaneous communication in a public environment.
Together with the group of participants, the artist will transform clothes into modern-day urban suits of armor, featuring four levels of protection:
– the body positive level: the embroidered elements will emphasize the “disadvantages” of one’s body by, paradoxically enough, diverting attention therefrom and thus helping to accept them
– escaping objectifying gazes by diverting them to the saving distance of humor
– the level of a boosting effect arising from spontaneous communication in an urban environment: in our Northern land, a wild-ish look will give you confidence and make you more powerful; this look is ambiguous: it has the potential to both attract and repel prospective interlocutors
– protection of freedom of self-expression level: advantages of various deviations as well as joys of a disobedient body will become available to you.
Together with the artist, the group will discuss such topics as the limits of the norm, body acceptance, and the power of an unplanned dialogue through the prism of wearing clothes
