TABEA MATHERN

THELOSTSOCKPROJECT

The project was brought to life by observing a trivial everyday phenomenon: the famous yet inexplicably sudden disappearance of socks. What happens to all of those lonely socks that were meant to exist together and kind of lost their way? The thought of experiencing that question in a playful yet collective way gave birth to the idea of collecting all the sock orphans and creating something new out of them. Along with the socks the individual stories behind them and their various owners should be collected and be linked into a new story, manifested in a unique and precious textile object. A great deal of great people participated and spread the idea. In the end of the project 292 socks in various colours and sizes had been collected.

THE CAPE

The result is a cape. A cape to meet under; a deceleration of real, mutual communication with one another and the idea of creating something special together; a cloak, that provides shelter and warmth; an intimate space; a sumptuous robe woven out of precious stories by precious people; an exotic, dazzling, colourful stole, an accurately elaborated royal cloak, elegant and unique; a soft chorus producing harmony from abandonment. The cape is entirely handmade. All submitted socks were processed by being sewn and interwoven together to form a unit without completely losing their own shape. The garment broaches the issue of the ever-fragmenting connections amongst human beings and between human beings and their environment. It invites us to stand against the vicissitudes and alienation of our social reality and encourages us to listen, look closer and engage with one another and our environment with compassion and wonder.