Grown Pockets
Grown Pockets, 2015
Street business, 7' x 2' x 10'
Fabric, sewing machine, table, clothing rack
New York
Grown Pockets is a custom tailoring service in the form of pocket extensions and additions to women’s outerwear. Women’s clothing is often designed with small or fake pockets which hinders women’s flexibility while navigating the world. I offer the free pocket extensions in an attempt to help women feel more in control while in public space.
What is of interest to me are the psychological forces around this gesture and its form in providing a product that could offer an exponentially beneficial effect. The concept of the container in psychoanalytic theory and cognitive science is an established model of how people construct meaning in relationship to the container of the body. Psychiatrists Rosenbaum and Garfield write in Metaphor and Psychoanalysis that our psychic beings are made from three realities: sensory, fantasy, and socio-interactive dimensions. The portability and contained parameters of the project allows for the socio-interactive dimension of narrative to manifest. The interaction could spark conversations about what we should expect from our clothing, and generate dialogue about unpacking oppressive mechanisms. The advertising language surrounding the project presumes that the container of the body has inherent value stating, "Increase you private space in public" and "Keep your valuables close to the vest" treating the pocket as bonus space for the mind and body to fill.
Notes: Rosenbaum, Bent, and Garfield, David. "Metaphor and Psychoanalysis: Containers, Mental Space, and Psychodynamics." PsyArt. December 01, 2001.
