Anathema n, a thing devoted and later accursed, from Latin anatithemi to set up; a detested thing or cursed person; ecclesiastical Latin = excommunicated or to denounce a doctrine

The fashion industry has carefully constructed a seasonal anathema. Its' purpose is to effectively interrupt a more natural formation of identity with endless consumption. Each spring, summer, fall and winter clothing edicts are declared "in " or "out". These proclamations are carried out by the sheer force of social law on the authority of sound business practice. Although fashion is a seemingly harmless display of herd instinct, its' very insistence leads us to choose between cult following or cognitive dissonance.

Our Lady of the Perpetual Mall
In Anathema I will create a fully articulated cement mannequin. The surface of the concrete mannequin will have the texture of a shopping bag. Strangely embedded with wrinkles, yet as shiny and smooth as the thin plastic bags garbaged daily, this mannequin dons the skin of consumerism. This concrete mannequin visually confounds. Almost glass-like, yet fossilized, the surface reflects a true epidemic. She is the anathema. She has denounced the doctrine of consumer demand. She is excommunicated from the place of consumer worship, the mall. She is doomed to endlessly wander the streets naked, symbolically testifying to the complex social factors leading us to purchase. She appears only at night when all the stores are closed. I will follow her in this self-imposed exile and photograph her.