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An artist’s two-year journey of wearing as many self-made clothes as possible culminates in a powerful performance exploring the boundaries of fashion and the human form.Staten Island Today
Over the past two years, artist Camilla Carper has been on a unique durational performance art project where they aimed to wear as many self-made clothes as possible every single day. This culminated in a final performance at Freshkills Park in Staten Island, where Carper slowly removed layer after layer of their elaborate, 80-pound outfit in front of a crowd. The project evolved from an initial exploration of wearing the smallest amount of clothing to the grandest, most ornate, and heaviest outfits Carper could create.
Why it matters
Carper’s project challenged traditional notions of fashion, sustainability, and the relationship between clothing and the body. By taking the idea of minimalist dressing to an extreme, they highlighted the contradictions and complexities within the ethical fashion movement. The performance also explored how clothing can shape one’s perception, experience, and relationship to the world.
The details
For the final performance, Carper wore an elaborate outfit weighing around 80 pounds, with layers of fabric forming a large, sculptural headpiece and obscuring their figure. Over 45 minutes, they slowly removed the garments one by one, accompanied by a soundtrack of classical music, recorded outfit descriptions, and the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme. Carper initially studied fashion design but became more interested in the conceptual aspects of dressing. They lived at Andrea Zittel’s AZ West compound, which helped them develop their artistic practice around clothing.
Carper’s ‘As Little Clothing as Possible’ project ran from June to September 2024.Carper’s ‘As Much Clothing as Possible’ project began in December 2024 and was originally planned to end in March, but they extended it to fully realize their vision.
The players
Camilla Carper
An artist who has been exploring the conceptual and performative aspects of clothing through two-year durational projects of wearing the smallest and largest amounts of self-made garments possible.
Zoe Latta
The co-founder of fashion label Eckhaus Latta, who encouraged Carper to pursue their artistic expression around clothing as performance art.
Andrea Zittel
An artist whose AZ West compound in Joshua Tree provided Carper with a space to focus on developing their artistic practice around experimental and sustainable modes of living, including clothing.
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What they’re saying
“I had a heart to heart with Zoe [Latta] and what I was doing and she was like, ‘I think you’re doing performance art, and you should go to AZ West and figure stuff out’.”
— Camilla Carper, Artist
“The task of making the smallest garment is a lot easier to achieve than the grandest, the biggest, the heaviest.”
— Camilla Carper, Artist
“I am also interested in setting up these kinds of contradictions. I’m trying to be excessive, but I’m putting my excessive labor into these garments, and I’m accumulating at a mass scale; but I’m proposing it is for one body and it is to be worn all at once.”
— Camilla Carper, Artist
What’s next
Carper is unsure what their first outfit will be after the project ends, as most of their clothes are in storage and they don’t want to wear anything they’ve made before due to the loaded meaning behind each piece.
The takeaway
Carper’s ambitious durational project challenged conventional notions of fashion, sustainability, and the relationship between clothing and the body. By exploring the extremes of minimal and maximal dressing, they highlighted the complexities and contradictions within the ethical fashion movement and how clothing can shape one’s perception and experience of the world.