A NYC Artist Formed Roses Out of Ralph Lauren Shirts and Planted Them in a Polluted Canal in the City

An artist took discarded Ralph Lauren dress shirts and turned them into roses.

All images via Daily Mail

Brooklyn-based artist Carlton Sturgill spent the past several months scouring thrift shops and eBay looking for Ralph Lauren shirts. While this is common for many of the borough's trendy residents, it's what he did with them that's pretty interesting. Sturgill took the purple, red, and green XXXL shirts he found and turned them into "rose bushes."

Sturgill was inspired by waste left around in Brooklyn, as well as the idea that people's persona differ from who they actually are. "I’m drawn to these pre-owned materials because they've served as a barrier between someone’s body and the outside world," he said. Ralph Lauren shirts in particular were desirable because the designer, who changed his last name from Lifshitz to Lauren, "is the ultimate symbol of persona," he added. 

Sturgill ironed the shirts before cutting them up and using wire, duck tape, and fabric glue to form each flower.

The installation made in collaboration with Arts Gowanus and the Department of Transportation, took four months to complete and uses 20 shirts for 200 roses. It's intended to make the Gowanus Canal, a polluted canal in the city, look better. 

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[via Daily Mail]

 

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