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Exploring the Depths … A Lingerie Story

I am interested in using book making, installation, and costume design to examine how clothing is used to bind women and how this physical confinement metaphorically relates to the social and mental restraints of women during both the 1850’s and today. During the nineteenth century, women’s clothing was used to bind their bodies, their movements, and their social interactions with garments such as the corset, the hoop skirt, and the pessary. All young females including children and pregnant women were expected to wear corsets if they were to be respected in society. It has since been discovered that wearing a tightly laced corset in attempt to reduce waist size, actually compresses and displaces internal organs causing difficulty breathing, poor nutrition, underdeveloped organs, limited disease resistance, severe uterine damage, and immense pain. To correct for the uterine damage caused by the corset, the pessary, a rod shaped device ranging from 1-5 inches, and made from rubber, silver, boxwood, or even horsehair, was inserted into the vagina and left there until removal or disintegration (Summers 115). Unfortunately, this supposed ‘cure’ caused more problems such as “infections, ulcerations, and fistulas of the vagina, cervix, uterus, and bowel.” (Summers 116) The hoop skirt was the least physically damaging garment of this period as it only affected walking and sitting due to its cumbersome size.

Fortunately, these garments have since gone out of style but the body type,including a thin waist, large bust, and wide hips, remains fashionable. While todaycorrective garments are not used to obtain ideal proportions, many women instead turn to surgery to alter their figures. If one can’t afford surgery, they can resort to a variety of products sold, which promise women larger breasts or a reduction of inches within just days. Today undergarments may not always be used to restructure the body, but they do serve as decoration to an already altered body. Contemporary styles in underwear reflect the current ideals of feminine beauty and proportion. Through my work I aim to show that women are still pressured by society to go to immense, often unhealthy efforts to physically maintain or alter themselves in the name of beauty.

I have chosen to educate people about female fashion trends specifically during the mid-nineteen hundreds because it was then that corsets were worn tightest, hoop skirts had reached their fullest, and pessaries were beginning to be used. It is my purpose to raise the consciousness of viewers about the negative effects of female fashion both now and in the past, in hopes that they will reevaluate their personal ideal of beauty and the means they choose in order to obtain it.

In order to reach this point in my work, I initially experimented with a variety of mediums beginning with photography. My two major artistic influences for this work were Robert ParkeHarrison and Cindy Sherman. ParkeHarrison creates timeless, fantastical environments using props, a static character, and various photographic devices including tinting, painting, and paper choice, which all function to give his narratives a dream-like quality. In his photographs, ParkeHarrison creates narratives that include elements of the past with contemporary ideas as he intends for his "mythic images [to] mirror our world" (Amison 29). Although his images are fantastical, the characters and narratives that he creates are understood to be addressing issues from the existing world because photographic references to reality such a humans, trees, and other various props are used in each image. Similarly, my photographs from last semester have a constructed fantastical quality while still being associated with the past and present existing world. Another artist who creates similar narratives is Cindy Sherman.

Sherman uses costumes and make-up to create believable characters which are based somewhere in the viewers understanding of reality. In one series of photographs, which comment on famous art historical portrait paintings, she dresses herself up and creates a modern day interpretation of the sitter depicted in the original. In another series, she creates film stills depicting a woman situated in an environment in such a way that references the portrayal of women in black and white films from the 1950’s (Krauss 19). Although the viewer places Sherman's photographs in the context of movies from the fifties or famous portraiture, her pictures are not mistaken for being authentic because she adds elements associated with her own time period; for example, in her portraiture series, the viewer recognizes the photographic medium, intensity of color, and inclusion of plastic breasts as evidence that the work is not historically authentic. Within each photograph, elements of the new are added to recognizable historical fashion in such a way that takes the image out of the context of the present reality.

Similarly, my photographs from last semester, which depict a female figure, clothed in leaves and bark, instilled in most viewers an association with the past due to the figure’s organic, primitive costume; as well as, a reference to modern times due to the inclusion of rusted kitchenware. The inclusion of multiple time references was done in an attempt to give the narrative an overall sense of timelessness and a dream-like quality. My later photographs also make reference to different eras in attempt to create a timeless atmosphere to be questioned by the viewer.

While the environmental theme of my earlier work did not continue throughout the year; these photographs held elements that I continued experimenting with such as portrayal of the female form, feminine fashion, and combinations of historical facts with aspects of the present. I also became very interested in viewer interaction with works of art. In creating my images, it was important to me that the viewer define the identity of the character and the tasks she was performing. I found that in order for the viewer to experience the photographs in the correct order and attribute meaning to them, the space in which they were presented need to be controlled.

I began to work using installations, as they have the ability to create an intensive atmosphere and can be used to control the mood and movements of viewers in a specific way that other forms of art cannot. I arranged my photographs within an eight by eight by three foot box, in such a way that viewers had to look through peepholes in order to view the work. The peepholes were arranged at various levels on the box and each photograph was visible in its own small, internal box, which was lit from beneath through a sheet of leaf-covered paper. The holes were hidden from the viewer behind a mass of leaves, which hung about three feet from the front of the box and ran from the wall to the outer side of the box. Once viewers noticed and approached the peepholes, they had to bend over or stand on their toes in order to examine the hidden images; and once they had reached the last hole, they turned around to realize that they were trapped behind a wall of leaves. The hanging leaves functioned to control the order in which viewers looked at the images, to obscure the peepholes from view, to reinforce the theme of the photographs, to be aesthetically pleasing, to control the viewers movements and to give the them a feeling of entrapment. All of these affects added tremendously to the interpretation and atmosphere of the hidden photographic narrative. The level of viewer interaction generated by this piece inspired me to continue working with installation.

My piece, “Lingerie Tunnel” (2002) is a vaginally shaped, walk through installation constructed out of contemporary women’s undergarments. The exterior opening of the tunnel looks interesting and enticing to the viewer, while the interior is constructed in a narrow, compressing fashion in order to make the viewer feel stifled, constricted, and uncomfortable as they walk through it. A variety of overwhelming odors and perfumes will add to this feeling of discomfort and possibly invoke nausea. When the viewer reaches the end of the tunnel, they realize that the only way out is back through the front, which can feel entrapping if anyone else is in the tunnel behind them. The viewer is meant to feel trapped, constricted, and even claustrophobic just as many women do while wearing undergarments or trying to squeeze into them. Their interaction and relationship to this piece is important in order for them to relate or understand on some level, the severity of how women’s fashion has affected feminine body image and self-consciousness.

To further reinforce the effect of fashion on women, the interior of the construction includes pieces of advertisements for products, which encourage weight loss, breast enlargement, wrinkle reduction, and more; all of which were appropriated from female magazines. These advertisements describe the physical qualities that many modern day women are taught to admire and hope to achieve in order to look beautiful. Many of the ‘natural’ products displayed; however, are problematic because their long-term effects on health are oftentimes not studied or even tested by the FDA, yet they are marketed as being safe and women continue to buy them. Purchases continue because women feel that they must conform to societies ideal image of beauty, which can sometimes only be obtained by using these questionable products, regardless of how they are affected physically or emotionally by having to purchase them.

The advertisements used in “Lingerie Tunnel” relate to my other piece “Constriction” (2002) in which a costume is surrounded by a shower curtain printed with nineteenth century advertisements for corsets. All shapes and styles are included, ranging from ‘Dr. Scott’s Electric Corset,’ to ‘Festa’s Maternity Corset,’ to the ‘Good Sense Corset,’ designed for children to wear. The curtain has several peepholes cut into it so that viewers can see the costume hidden inside. The costume illustrates both the appeal and discomfort of corsets and hoopskirts, as it includes both of these elements in its design.

Both “Constriction” and “Lingerie Tunnel” utilize images from the media to illustrate to the viewer how a product can be normalized into society by mass repetition. After repeatedly reading about diet pills, breast enlargement creams, and liposuction in everyday magazines, these once controversial items become normalized into society and forgotten about. The consumer eventually becomes desensitized to these images. Another artist who is very famous for showing repeated images from pop culture is Andy Warhol.

Warhol, one of the main figures from the Pop Art movement during the 1960’s, repeatedly silk-screened images from popular culture, usually advertisements or pictures of celebrities, onto huge, overwhelming canvases. Most Pop artists used images taken directly from the media, such as advertisements, comic strips, and newspaper clippings, and collaged them, printed them, or recycled them in other ways. The purposes of doing this varied but generally it was done to question ‘high art’ as well as popular culture, consumerism, and fame (Fineberg 246-7). Warhol was interested in all of these possibilities. In his piece “Marilyn Monroe” (1962), he silk-screens her image repeatedly until it begins to lose shape and disintegrates towards the bottom of the canvas. This repetition makes her image seem superficial, yet it also forces viewers to remember her. Seeing Marilyn’s image repeated so many times in newspapers and tabloids after her death, desensitized viewers to her existence; a process, which this piece emulates, while simultaneously memorializing her. The repetition of advertisements in my own work functions similarly to remind viewers of the past, while also commenting on the normalization of various beauty products due to their repetition in the media. Another artistic movement dealing with mass media and societies image of women was the Feminist Art Movement.

The Feminist Art Movement of the 1970’s has been very influential to my work. The ideals held by most of the women artists during this time period focused around defining sexuality and gender according to their own terms, as opposed to a mans. This was an important step towards female empowerment, as gender roles had previously only been defined by males. Artists celebrated the female body and explored societies views of it, often using the vagina to represent women’s power (Broude and Garrand 24). The “decorative arts” including quilting and sewing were utilized by many artists as these techniques were often associated with women and therefore considered not to be ‘high art’ (Fineberg 381).

One of the most prominent feminist artists during this time period was Judy Chicago, who is perhaps most famous for her piece, “The Dinner Party” (1974-9). This piece consists of a triangular shaped table, which is situated on a tile floor with 999 women’s names written on it. The tabletop includes 39 place settings with sculpted plates, chalices, and placemats; all dedicated to legendary and historic women. The triangular table as well as the plates is sculpted abstractly to resemble vaginas, which was done in order to glorify being female. The piece was made as a collaborative effort involving over 400 people. (Broude and Garrand 228). Chicago created this piece “as a reinterpretation of the Last Supper from the point of view of women, who, throughout history, had prepared meals and set the table” except she intended for women to be the guests of honor at her table ( 228 Broude & Garrard). The piece was meant to serve as a reminder of the women who had been forgotten or marginalized in history books.

Chicago’s installation has many parallels to my own work, which is also designed to promote awareness of women’s history. Each of my pieces aims to educate viewers about women’s fashion in hopes of forcing people to remember the past treatment of women and to avoid similar abuses in contemporary society. My work, “Lingerie Tunnel” was constructed using several collaborators and it was sewn together in such a way that references quilting, the “decorative art” generally associated with being women’s work. The tunnel takes the abstract form of a giant vagina and also alludes to the vagina through the presence of the underwear itself. In this piece, each pair of underwear represents a woman, though her name is not mentioned. The identities of the women get lost within the tunnel and come together to represent the idea of woman as she exists in society today.

In order to form a better understanding of women’s fashion and its affects on women both today and in the past, I decided to construct my own version of the corset and hoop skirt. In designing this costume, which is now part of the piece “Constriction,” I was greatly influenced by the artist, Rebecca Horn, whose work, which is primarily documented on video, involves the creation of costumes which restrict movement and bind the human form. While she is not particularly interested in fashion history, her costumes perform a similar function to corsets; they often resemble bandages and are used to make movement difficult. She makes videotapes and photographs of people trying to accomplish simple tasks, like picking up a sheet of paper in her piece “Arm Extensions” (1968) while wearing a costume composed of five rods about three feet long extending from each finger, which makes the activity almost impossible (Horn 27). Like Horn, I am very interested in creating restrictive clothing and examining how it can be used specifically to bind women.

In doing further research on costuming and female fashion, I came across an exhibition which proved to be greatly influential at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, titled “Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed,” and curated by Harold Koda (2001). In the show, current female fashion traditions were presented alongside of historical garments with textual explanations, describing how the original garments had been worn and how they had adversely affected women’s health. The exhibition explored five different parts of the body including: neck and shoulders, bust, waist, hips, and feet; it "concentrated on the way differing times and cultures achieve variations from the ostensibly normative condition of the naked body, with clothing as the mechanism for the reformation of the body" (Koda 11). Extreme, sometimes controversial fashions were shown alongside of textual and photographic (including x-rays) information depicting in gruesome detail, the effects of each practice on its female wearers. This show was installed in a manner that invited viewers to experience the space in such a way that educated them about female fashion, past and present. While the subject matter of this exhibit was very similar to that of my work, I rely on a different format to engage my viewers.

Instead of juxtaposing actual artifacts from history with modern day costumes and text, I choose to address the topic of women’s beauty by combining book art and installation to create fictional narratives with historically based text. My book, “Proper Disposition” (2002) includes a photographic narrative depicting a woman wearing clothing adapted from fashions worn during the mid-nineteen hundreds, and text taken from etiquette books circa 1850. Using staged photographic images alongside of factual text, instead of placing actual artifacts alongside of the text, as was done in the “Extreme Beauty” show, is important to my work because it allows the viewer to have a greater dialogue with the text and images. This dialogue is imperative in order for the viewer to assign meaning and validity to the work. When people view and understand text as being purely factual, they tend to absorb it without questioning its validity; however, when text is presented in an uncertain context, alongside of images which are not discernibly fact or fiction, the viewer becomes engaged with it and is forced to examine its truthfulness. Juxtaposing a book with my other pieces relates the historical aspects of “Constricted” to the contemporary issues presented in “Lingerie Tunnel.” It forces the viewer to make connections between body alteration inflicted by fashion from the eighteenth century and today.

My work is heavily concerned with engaging the viewer and encouraging their interaction both mentally and physically with my work. I want the audience to interact with my work and question its meaning in the context of women’s fashion history, so that they become interested in the subject and hopefully work to alter their ideas about feminine beauty, its attainment, and its affects on the female body and mind. While my piece does not overtly demand societal change, it encourages the viewer to re-examine historical and modern day practices involving the beautification of women.

Works Cited

Amison, Peggy Sue. “Interview with Robert ParkeHarrison.” Photo Metro. 16 (1998) 26-29.

Broude, Norma and Mary D. Garrard. The Power of Feminist Art: The American
Movement of the 1970’s, History and Impact. New York: Harry N. Abrams,
Inc., 1994.

Fineberg, Jonathan. Art Since 1940: Strategies of Being. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.

Horn, Rebecca. Rebecca Horn. New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
1993.

Koda, Harold. Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.

Krauss, Rosalind. Cindy Sherman: 1975-1993. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1993.

Summers, Leigh. Bound to Please: A History of the Victorian Closet. Oxford: Berg, 2001.

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