Body Politic was a group exhibition of near-future and absurd wearable technology solutions to problems in society. Body Politic featured works from Ani Liu, Ayo Okunseinde, Azra Aksamija, Emmeline Franklin, Brittany Cohen, Lauren McCarthy, Manisha Mohan, Pedro Oliveira, Sophia Brueckner, Wiena Lin, Xuedi Chen, and was guest curated by Laura Zittrain.
What we wear transforms us. From hats and jackets to perfumes and dresses, we envelop ourselves intimately. The world knows us first through the regalia we choose to offer. And in turn, our habits and self-perceptions are conditioned by our garments.
Our artists have produced speculative fictions, ritualistic artifacts, and “technology solutions.” Together they encourage us to reclaim a sense of power that the world appears at times intent on denying us.
Still: we trust objects at our peril. Body Politic reminds us there are no shortcuts to disrupting the status quo or remedying feelings of loneliness. Our responsibility is to recognize that temptation, and build inclusive communities through civics rather than gadget-making alone.
— Laura Zittrain For Body Politic, 2017OPEN is pleased to premiere Body Politic, a group show featuring works by eleven artists from five countries including Ani Liu, Ayodamola Okunseinde, Azra Aksamija, Emmeline Franklin, Brittany Cohen, Lauren McCarthy, Manisha Mohan, Pedro Oliveira, Sophia Brueckner, Wiena Lin, and Xuedi Chen. Body Politic is guest curated by Laura Zittrain.
The artists in Body Politic deploy wearable objects to resist power structures. Sculptures, dresses, devices, and a spacesuit depict alternate visions of a tech-enabled, inclusive future.
Consisting of speculative objects designed for the body, this collection expresses the artists’ ideas about safety and inclusion. The works contend with a future which has already arrived: a hat that pokes the wearer should they stop smiling, a “secure” dress that only unfastens itself with the wearer’s fingerprint, a portable Faraday cage, shamanistic communication devices, and letterman jackets that transform and connect into a quilt.
These objects fall somewhere between the everyday and the uncanny. They're familiar at first glance: a lipstick, an amulet, a fragrance. But something is unsettling: the lipstick attracts plants, the amulet harvests attention, and the fragrance terminates sex drive.
In an age of political authoritarianism, runaway tech, and expanding intersectional diversity, the works in Body Politic provide a window into what social justice technology can look like.
Guest curator Laura Zittrain works as a designer and curator at the intersection of fashion and technology. Previously she was the Harvard University Wheatland Curatorial Fellow in the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments. Zittrain holds a A.M. in the History of Science from Harvard University, B.S. from Georgetown University.
Special thanks to Rory Bledsoe, Laura Powell, Claire Rittenhouse, Rosie Weinberg, and Bob Wilson.