While some women may cringe at the idea of someone handling their dirty knickers, another is on the hunt for them with a new project, aptly named, “Cunt Quilts”.
In December 2016, New York architect-turned-artist, Coralina Meyer, called upon the women of America to send their disused drawers to her. This political call-to-action, named the Old Glory Underwear Audit, is a survey of citizenship in the aftermath of Trump’s election. Working under the name Lambastic, Meyer is curating a series of four “Cunt Quilts” that will piece together underwear from the nation – bodily fluids, stains and wear-and-tear welcome – to create, as she says, “a shameless anecdotal patchwork of the soft, digital self, and the stern body product”.
The first quilt in the project will be put together during a “Stitch 'n' Bitch” and is set to be raised before president-elect Donald Trump, as part of the Women’s March on Washington on 21 January – a mass demonstration the day after Trump's inauguration in the name of women’s rights, with more than 200,000 expected participants. The march will also feature the pink knitted pussyhats of the Pussyhat Project.
Meyer published her call-to-arms on her Facebook page, where she also asked contributors to share anecdotes that consider identity and citizenship. So far, the artist has received 72 pairs.
Speaking to Hyperallergic, Meyer explained: “My artwork is a ménage a trois between public trauma, intimate memory, and consumer history.
“Our generation is uniquely positioned as consumers whose political exhaustion from tactical trauma can be transgressed with matrilineal armor. As an artist, it is my job to make hidden histories accessible. The project has multiple phases: the Underwear Audit accounts for our bodies, the Stitch ‘n’ Bitch airs our grievances, and the Cunt Quilt is an association formed.”
The quilts are part of Meyer’s ongoing project, City of Today for Feminine Urbanism, a dystopian project on identity politics that combines the history of cities with the history of feminism.
Got a spare pair of dirty pants? The project will be ongoing for the next four years – more information here.
