New Model Army
- Year2016
- MaterialMannequin on metal stand, nylon, leather, padding
- Dimensions164 x 24 cm
- Year of acquisition2018
- Inventory numberUAB 1105
- On viewCurrently not exhibited
More about the artwork
Four headless mannequins are arranged in a rank-and-file formation. The title promises a “New Model Army,” but the figures rather resemble a rag army. Parts of used motorcycle clothing have been sewn directly onto the plastic bodies with stuffing material and silk pantyhose. Abrasions from accidents on the motorcycle gear, as well as the manual seams that hold the materials together, look like scars on this second, supposedly protective skin. Recycling used materials is a constant in Bircken’s œuvre, who worked as a fashion designer before turning to the visual arts in the early 2000s. And thus clothing and its significance to our self-concept continues to play a major role in her work. Bircken’s “army” becomes a symbol of the “damaged” yet resistant subject that does not radiate with immaculate perfection, but rather displays the traces of what it has experienced, for all to see.
