Pink Apron Day
An American icon, the apron represents more than just an article of clothing tied around the waist. This garment has a long past with a variety of use. Housewives would use them carrying hot plates to the table, drying a saddened child’s tear, or crafts men would wear aprons to protect their clothes from harmful and/or messy materials. Some aprons were simply worn for their look.
Personally I am in interested in the object referencing the wearer, and the adornment on these objects whether or not they are intentional. Currently residing in an artist’s community I wanted to create one hundred aprons to see what became of them not just throughout the course of a day, but for the remainder of the spring class at Penland School of Crafts. What would people do to personalize their own apron, or what meaning would the apron pick up on its own through the wearers actions?
The color pink has been part of a palette I am deeply fascinated with because of the many connotations. I find that pink represents a sort of popular culture as well as sexuality, sweets, and gender. Pink being a color I am fond of I wanted to know how those wearing the aprons were going to respond to it?
.....
April 16th, 2009 at 6:30 am 100 aprons were on display in the Dining Hall of Penland School of Crafts. The majority of the aprons hung above students, instructors, and staff of the school as they ate their breakfast. At 8:30 am students made their way out to begin studio work and aprons were taken down from the clothesline and tied on.
What I did not expect to happen was how they were worn, used, and the duration of time worn. Many students wore them on their heads, as capes, as smocks for haircutting, and cut them up and used them for other projects. A few people personally decorated their aprons. The majority of the school stopped wearing their aprons: they thought it was a day event, it gathered substances that needed to be cleaned prior to further wear, pink wasn’t their color, or they had different intentions for their aprons. Many students didn’t realize that the aprons now belonged to them and several people were scared to get them dirty.
While tearing apart old sheets and finishing each apron edge with a sewing machine I realized more of the history of aprons and recycling materials, and how housewives were creative in accounts of recycling materials to save money. It took much longer to create these aprons than it did for the course of time I desired for them to be worn. Overall this installation was a success with the feedback obtained and information gathered.
.....
Thank you Beth Schaible, Jessica Heikes, and Tai Rogers for your help it was greatly appreciated!
Personally I am in interested in the object referencing the wearer, and the adornment on these objects whether or not they are intentional. Currently residing in an artist’s community I wanted to create one hundred aprons to see what became of them not just throughout the course of a day, but for the remainder of the spring class at Penland School of Crafts. What would people do to personalize their own apron, or what meaning would the apron pick up on its own through the wearers actions?
The color pink has been part of a palette I am deeply fascinated with because of the many connotations. I find that pink represents a sort of popular culture as well as sexuality, sweets, and gender. Pink being a color I am fond of I wanted to know how those wearing the aprons were going to respond to it?
.....
April 16th, 2009 at 6:30 am 100 aprons were on display in the Dining Hall of Penland School of Crafts. The majority of the aprons hung above students, instructors, and staff of the school as they ate their breakfast. At 8:30 am students made their way out to begin studio work and aprons were taken down from the clothesline and tied on.
What I did not expect to happen was how they were worn, used, and the duration of time worn. Many students wore them on their heads, as capes, as smocks for haircutting, and cut them up and used them for other projects. A few people personally decorated their aprons. The majority of the school stopped wearing their aprons: they thought it was a day event, it gathered substances that needed to be cleaned prior to further wear, pink wasn’t their color, or they had different intentions for their aprons. Many students didn’t realize that the aprons now belonged to them and several people were scared to get them dirty.
While tearing apart old sheets and finishing each apron edge with a sewing machine I realized more of the history of aprons and recycling materials, and how housewives were creative in accounts of recycling materials to save money. It took much longer to create these aprons than it did for the course of time I desired for them to be worn. Overall this installation was a success with the feedback obtained and information gathered.
.....
Thank you Beth Schaible, Jessica Heikes, and Tai Rogers for your help it was greatly appreciated!
