Because I receive an endless supply of office shirts at no cost, I began wondering what I could do with them. One woman in Moria explained to me that black clothes are particularly helpful while fleeing to safety, since you can hide better by night. The form was intended to depict a life vest, the quintessential symbol of flight over the Mediterranean Sea. I colored the shirts black, so that the fabric could serve as the starting point for vests. Because I used a plant-based dye, the result was more purple than black. As it happens, purple as a symbolic color for transformation proved an even more appropriate theatrical statement for this project. Seamstress Inessa Reifschneider sewed an initial version of the vest to serve as a prototype.
Those interested in taking part in serial production of purple life vests are invited to bring dyed, pre-worn office shirts to the studio. You are naturally welcome to perform the dyeing yourself (please use only plant-based dyes). Experience dictates that used shirts can be found in any second-hand store.
Irene Schüller, initiator of the project