Closet Case
Bags of donated clothing started filling MK Guth’s apartment soon after the artist announced she needed clothing cast offs. As the opening date approached for her new exhibition, “This Fable is Intended for You: A Work-Energy Principle,” she realized she’d have to take her search for clothing handouts public. So Guth is now inviting New Yorkers to clean out their closets and provide her material for the conceptual work.
“When people hand you a bag of materials, it tells you something about them,” Guth said. “Maybe they have kids. Maybe they’re into dyeing clothing. Maybe
One man’s trash is MK Guth’s treasure.
they work with fabric. Maybe they collect T-shirts. It tells you something about them, which is interesting.”
Guth encourages people to bring unwanted materials—sweaters, socks, sheets, yarn, rags or any unusable fabrics—to her temporary studio at an empty, retail storefront at One New York Plaza—corner of Water and Whitehall streets, where donations will be accepted through early December. “It’s an unusual place to make art,” Guth said. “It’s an old, retail space in Lower Manhattan. This isn’t the hub of the art world in any way, and that’s interesting to me that this place that’s not known as a hub for art can become activated. And art can be a device to connect the narratives of the people in the neighborhood.”
The Portland, Ore.-based artist will take apart the donated material and reconfigure it into braids, ropes and cords, which will become an integral part of her exhibition and performance art piece, which is sponsored by arts World Financial Center and will be presented as part of the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival in January at the World Financial Center.
While the area’s anemic environment is not often associated with artistry, Guth sees the potential for transformation in the space.
“It’s in a very particular environment,” Guth said. “I see that not as a deficit, but something that can add to the content of the work and what happens. It animates a retail space in a very different way than it would normally be about. It’s not about commerce, it’s about a barter system, and it’s about being in a vitrine. Your work, your labor is in a vitrine in a sense. Where one works is suddenly on display.”
Guth typically works in video, photography, sculpture and performance, and her last piece, “Ties of Protection and Safe Keeping,” was showcased at the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Guth explained public participation will largely influence the look of her latest project.
“If I only end up with the few bags I have right now, something could be made,” Guth said. “If we get piles and piles of things, that will have a completely different persona. That’s the nature of the work-energy principle.”
She plans to donate unused materials from the project to organizations like Housing Works. Guth, who understands the “trash-to-treasure” element of the artwork, said she is also considering holding a clothing swap at the studio.
