The State of Project Minima

Sculpture by Kiki Smith

It's been just about 4 months since I started Project Minima as a concentrated effort to reduce my consumption in the clothes industry to zero.  So far, so good.  I haven't even wanted to buy anything apparel-wise.  Once I switched consciousness and started to see my existing wardrobe of ill-fitting, unwanted stuff as potential supplies for reconstructing clothing I liked, I was off to the races! 

I started off slowly, spending a few minutes (15 or so) a day to gather, collect and sort

 my stuff.  Gradually my studio rearranged itself to accommodate sewing more than art-making.  All my fabrics, embellishments, sewing notions and implements were organized and at hand.  And my potential clothes-in-waiting, i.e., my old wardrobe, were in my dressing room and out of storage and arranged by color, fabric and type like in a thrift store.  My 15 minutes a day eventually gave way to all my studio time pretty much every day.

I see making clothes or reconstructing them as creative as any art-making I've done.  Thinking, reacting, experimenting, considering...looking at shape, color, texture, form, line, etc.   And still being true to myself and the fact that I'm going to be wearing them in public!

The fact that I'm not going to buy any clothes (even at thrift stores), shoes, underwear, socks, coats, jewelry, bags, scarves, hats - anything that can be considered apparel - for a year, seems very exciting to me.  Actually the thought of buying any of those things seems disgusting after seeing all the stuff I had once I went through the closets and storage.  I mean how much do you really want?!  Especially now that I see all the raw material I have on hand to make anything my heart desires.