Dress Up Dress Down (2007)

Dress Up Dress Down is an installation, designed for the Medicine Factory, of videos, objects, and audio that investigates the transgression of the physical body despite attempts to mold it. The videos in the installation progress through a series of physical activities with no recognizable purpose or resolution. Throughout the piece a female figure is dressed in either in a white dress or suit. These costumes serve as multiple personalities, each attempting to achieve a goal that is gender specific. The actions begin as absurd even playful. As the piece progresses these gender divides break down, as does the white facade of clothing, skin is revealed, fluids are spilled, and gender is blurred. There is a final attempt to control the transgression of the body, but the result is erasure of the individual and inevitably the demise of the self.