THE PROCESS OF PEACE
HANNAH BRANCATO
Power Suit Project
Participatory Installation
2011
POWER SUIT is a collaborative quilt and documentary video about the relationship between power and the clothes we wear. It is a combination sociological study, journalistic investigation, and art project, in which I invite people to explain the significance of their choices in clothing through writing, interviews, and art-making.
Each participant selects a garment that represents their Power Suit, and sews it to the collaborative quilt. Participants then write about their choice on a tag that is attached to their "power suit,", addressing these prompts: In what situation would the garment be worn? Why does this garment make you feel powerful? Is there a particular time when you felt powerful in a garment like this one? Workshop participants are also invited to share personal stories that describe the impact of popular culture and fashion on their experience of the world on camera.
In order to begin the process of peace, people need time and space to reflect on how they effect (and are effected by) their surroundings. In order for use to become agents of change, we need to recognize that we matter, that we are powerful, and that our experience of the world is deeply significant. POWER SUIT provides a space for that reflection, and demonstrates how our choices in clothing are connected to our sense of agency and our place in the world.