The Scarecrow

Opening Date: 2006-Jul-01
Closing Date: 2006-Sep-17
'The Scarecrow' was the theme for specially commissioned art pieces for the festival organized by the Evanglos Averoff-Tossizza Foundation and presented at the Art Biennale in Greece. The theme embraced the emblematic nature of the scarecrow in contemporary society; as the expression of a powerless symbol repelling fear and as a sign of the uncanny. The 'Rook Dress' responds to the brief by demonstrating the figure in the landscape, and the ways in which the subject becomes vulnerable to the forces of nature. Clothing is perceived to be a protective shell, shielding the wearer from the elements and from potential threat; yet clothing is merely a layer, a surface, which offers the wearer the illusion of armour. The 'Rook Dress' investigates and reveals the susceptibility and threat inherent in the natural environment, and the defencelessness of the wearer. The dress, which is tailored to the human figure and scaled up to larger dimensions, faithfully recreates and demonstrates couture processes, whilst articulating a sense of the uncanny through scale dimension, location and display.