THE EXCHANGE PROJECT 2001/2007 installation project, dimensions variable
2001 Como, Italy
2003 Budapest, Hungary
2003 Vienna, Austria
2005 Hasselt, Belgium
2007 New York City, USA
This project is based on the idea of exchange as an element of communication. T-shirts are exhibited as an installation and are made available as items of trade to the public: if a visitor decides to participate, he/she can leave her own t-shirt behind and take one from the exhibition.
Thus each participant’s personal contribution becomes part of the project and keeps the installation in constant flux for its duration. At the end, the remaining clothes are donated to the Red Cross.
Political symbols were printed on the t-shirts. These vary depending on the context of the exhibition. The symbols usually represent political or religious beliefs, some of which are restricted in public spaces (for example the ‘red star’ is a forbidden power symbol in Hungary). Therefore, the selections of the installation’s participants become political statements upon their exit from the exhibition space.