In recent years increased attention has been placed on the relationship between clothing and the built environment. Clothes, like the spaces we build, fulfills vital functions for the human body—they insulate, protect and modulate temperature.
Interestingly, modern advancements in environmental control systems have empowered the fashion industry to disregard the more functional aspects of clothing and focus on the ephemeral—signifying wealth, taste and status. This transformation is what gives the art work shown here its intrigue and authority.
Sung Jae Lee’s series, entitled Her Real Secret, are deconstructions of women is lingerie. The process of painstakingly disassembling and hanging layers of this cloth transform what initially appears to be a two-dimensional composition into a dynamic spatial experience. Lee discusses the time consuming and exhausting process of removing tiny threads and tying knots that open up spaces in the sensual fabrics. Lingerie is not like everyday undergarments intended to keep you warm, protect your body and perhaps provide a sense of modesty.
Lingerie is supposed to be beautiful, feel luxurious against your skin, attract, arouse and ultimately alter the mindset regarding our bodies and sex.
Lee observed people shopping for lingerie in malls who he describes as “seeking spiritual peace, just like those who confess their sins in a church.” He traces the roots of our habitual consumption to a twisted Puritan influence. The following prayer appears in one of his works: “I sin. Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it, never be content with myself … ” He is suggesting that this relentless guilt and shame drives our desire to purchase items that temporarily reframe the perceptions we have of ourselves. Lee also suggests that this constructed mindset intentionally builds systemic pipelines that power capitalism, and ultimately assault our basic human dignity.