An Unmaking

During the summer of 2020 I piloted my first “community unmaking” event. The reality of Covid made social engagement projects challenging but this project worked! The “Unmaking” involved gathering my neighbors to each take apart a shirt and then discussing the experience together. I taught everyone how to use a seam ripper and then gave one to everyone. We spent an hour socially distanced, sitting on the avenue of my block taking our shirts apart. Afterwards we laid the pieces out on the grass and talked about what the experience made them think about. Spending time to physically engage with taking apart something so personal and yet so global was an illuminating experience for the participants and I look forward to continuing to build this event as a tool that can engage with the public in meaningful ways.