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Jeffrey Gibson, WITHOUT YOU I'M NOTHING, 2018, polyester satin, neoprene, polyester, acrylic felt, canvas, acrylic paint,
assorted glass, plastic, stone, and bone beads, brass grommets, acrylic yarn, batting, polyester laces, artificial sinew, and tipi poles
, 121 × 74 1⁄4 × 7 1⁄2 in. (307.3 × 188.6 × 19.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.5.3, © 2019, Jeffrey Gibson
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Artwork Details
- Title
- WITHOUT YOU I’M NOTHING
- Artist
- Date
- 2018
- Location
- Dimensions
- 121 × 74 1⁄4 × 7 1⁄2 in. (307.3 × 188.6 × 19.1 cm)
- Copyright
- © 2019, Jeffrey Gibson
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums Description
- polyester satin, neoprene, polyester, acrylic felt, canvas, acrylic paint, assorted glass, plastic, stone, and bone beads, brass grommets, acrylic yarn, batting, polyester laces, artificial sinew, and tipi poles
- Highlights
- Keywords
- Dress — ceremonial
- Object Number
- 2020.5.3
Artwork Description
Jeffrey Gibson based these oversized tunics on the Ghost Shirts worn by members of the nineteenth-century Sioux Lakota Tribe, who believed they could summon ancestral spirits and deflect bullets. Of Indigenous heritage himself, Gibson was drawn to the idea of a garment that transformed its wearer. He saw parallels to the way people approach clothing today: putting on a uniform, dressing in drag, or donning a special outfit to go out dancing.
Resting across tipi poles, the garments are adorned with sequins and jingles and emblazoned with the lyrics of pop songs. For Gibson, each element represents a building block of identity--a public marker of how others see us and how we come to know ourselves. As the title of one garment proclaims, "without you I'm nothing."