One and Three Shirts was motivated by a conceptual piece created in 1965 by Joseph Kosuth entitled One and Three Chairs. Kosuth’s piece consisted of a chair, a photograph of a chair, and an enlarged printed definition of the word “chair”. The installer at the gallery was instructed to pick out any chair and display it in the gallery. Hung above and to the right of the chair would be the printed definition, and to the left would be a life-sized photo of the chair. In the case of this shirt, the highlights of a photograph of a shirt are depicted so that the image can take on the underlying color of the actual fabric. The piece is meant to highlight the relation between language, pictures and objects. Are there three shirts depicted here or just one? Are the three elements the same or totally different? Although the image of a shirt and the definition of a shirt are just signs to communicate the concept of the actual shirt, one could argue that the definition is more essential than the shirt itself because without the explanation of the word “shirt” one would not know what the object is.
1 and 3 Shirts


one

 

1 and 3 Shirts
Kamea Hadar
2008
screen print on textile