A Pick Gallery hosts the first photographic speed date YOU AS ME / In someone else’s shoes

A photographic speed date by Irene Pittatore
With reflections by Isabelle Demangeat

A Pick Gallery
Via Bernardino Galliari 15/C, Turin (Italy)
Saturday 11 June 2022, 3 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.

This fabric slips on my skin. I struggle to understand how to wear this blouse. Where do these trousers fasten? The buttons are reversed… What happens to me when my legs move through the air differently, when I step into another person’s clothes?

An experiment that stays joyful although it is less innocent than it seems. A game that makes one smile, sometimes laugh, and raises numerous questions.

Does wearing another person’s clothes allow us to step into their skin?
What do I offer of myself to the other person by choosing this colour, this fabric?
What image of me do I see reflected through the camera?
What limits does this unfamiliar garment reveal? What possibilities does it suggest?
How does the body respond when it comes into contact with these unusual sensations?
What makes me feel authorised or prevents me from going out with these clothes on?
What roles do these clothes tell me about?
What can we discover about ourselves, about our relationships, in these snapshots?
What, slowly, does the Polaroid reveal about you, about us, about me?

On Saturday 11 June 2022, 20 people participated in a photographic speed-dating event at A Pick Gallery, under the gaze of Irene Pittatore and her Polaroid camera. 10 Duo. Ephemeral duos: mother-daughter, friends and companions, but also strangers who tried to question codes related to gender, age, individuality, aesthetic sense.

The YOU AS ME / In someone else’s shoes project that Irene Pittatore started in 2017 has found another form of expression and opened up to new explorations. A selection of the 120 Polaroid photographs created will be on display at A Pick Gallery from 13 to 25 June 2022, as part of the group exhibition Body frame.

Backstage photographs: Isabelle Demangeat and Irene Pittatore

Questions posed to participants
What traits of the person whose clothes you have chosen to wear would you like to take with you?
What remains of you in the clothes you proposed the other person to wear?

 

 

 

Comfort and joy
Verena and Pedro (mother and son)

“With Pedro’s shirt, I would like to take his embrace with me, which is the best place in the world to be. In my shorts, which Pedro has chosen to wear, he carries a piece of my joy: Mummy laughs!”

Welding and memory
Maura and Pier (couple)

“For me, the welding suit represents solidity: welding things, holding them together. I want to carry Pier’s solidity with me, intertwined with his wonderful lightness. The suit Pier has chosen to wear feels like a nest to me, embodying my listening, my fragility, and my security.”

“Maura has always impressed me with her balance, determination, and delicacy—three qualities I want to carry with me, felt on the skin beneath the suit I wear. The welding suit is my everyday life, my armor, my habitat—a place where I feel at home, even when it is not home.”

 

 

Care and lightness
Bibi and Carolina (friends)

“Bibi’s clothes, like her, speak to me of care for every detail. I would like to carry with me the idea of being a slightly more thoughtful person, someone who considers the consequences more deeply. Bibi conveys a sense of organization and calm to me.”

“Carolina is a friend who always puts me at ease. Even her clothes evoke a sense of ease and comfort. I would like to carry with me her ability to simplify the complex and approach life with a lighter spirit.”

 

 

Culture and Joy
Paola and Daniela (friends)

“I chose to exchange clothes with Daniela because we’ve been friends for many years, though in the last ten, we’ve somewhat drifted apart. I knew she might appreciate this idea. I brought her an orange duster—a garment I love for its fabric, cut, and color. Along with it, I included a shopper from my Mots_valise project and several large, colorful accessories to break up the total black look that often defines me. What I admire about Daniela—and hope to absorb through her clothes—is her cheerfulness, positivity, and optimism. She has a contagious laugh, one that erupts mid-conversation and pulls everyone along in its wake. Her fou rire.”

“To Paola, I proposed exchanging my everyday clothes: a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, in which I always feel at ease. Listening to her talk about herself, I sometimes sense that she has a slightly distorted perception of her body, one I wish she could let go of. What I deeply value in Paola is her curiosity, her vast culture, and the traces of it that I hope will remain with me. Even so, I’m stepping out of my comfort zone with the orange—a color I’m not used to wearing!”

A frown and Independence
Alessandra and Carolina (mother and daughter)

“Carolina and I are very similar. We live together, and I often recognize myself in her—in past times, in the same spaces. If I close my eyes and think of Carolina, I see her dressed like this: chains, amphibians, T-shirt. I would like her frown to remain with me, her presence, her way of standing tall in life with her head held high. I suggested she wear a dress I love, for its shape, fabric, and color.”

“I immediately accepted my mother’s proposal, especially because this project interests me. I chose clothes and accessories for her that best represent me—those I feel most myself in and wear every day. I have a lot of respect for my mother, for her independence both as a woman and as a mother, and for the way she handles things and faces challenges. She raised me with principles and ways of doing things that I deeply admire. She knows everything about me. She is a version of me, only larger. What I think, she has already thought. Wearing her dress isn’t easy for me—I feel exposed, not entirely comfortable.”

 

 

Trace and Difference
Greta and Silvano (couple)

“When I take off Silvano’s clothes, I want to keep the lightness with which he sometimes walks around. My clothes, which he has chosen to wear, suggest that I am a bit vintage and a bit serious—searching for uniqueness.”

“In recent years, I’ve often tried to put myself in Greta’s shoes. Today, I wanted to do it concretely by wearing her clothes. From the YOU AS ME experience, I take away that Greta’s clothes, while comfortable, are not as comfortable as I had imagined from her stories. They are comfortable for her, but not so much for me. I realize that Greta is different from me in ways I sometimes don’t understand. And that’s fortunate. Greta, in turn, has chosen to wear the clothes that represent me most intimately: informal, simple, few, and vaguely curious. That’s how I like to be.”

Gratitude and Disintegration
Irene and Silvia (blind date)

“When Silvia chose to participate in YOU AS ME, I thought her blind date would be with me. I have a great respect for her work as an anthropologist and lecturer, as well as for her soft, thoughtful, complex, and solution-oriented approach to things. In this time of transformation and vulnerability, I wish I could ease her fatigue, lighten her burden, and accompany her through her discoveries and revelations. At the same time, I wanted us to have a bubble of listening, an interstice into which I was sure a great deal of silent, mutual attention would be transferred. The clothes I suggested she wear are part of my everyday life: a simple black double top, almost a uniform for me, paired with a transparent veil that softens its sobriety a bit, and a little girl’s skirt full of golden stars—the first purchase at the Bordighera market after confinement.”

“I had wanted to take part in the YOU AS ME project for a long time, and finally, I got the dress I wanted to wear: the nightgown that—exactly one month ago—I wore after giving birth, and in the days that followed. It’s a garment I’d never worn before. It belongs to a friend who has a one-year-old child and who, along with her partner, played an instrumental role in our pregnancy journey. Childbirth, and the days that followed, were an unimaginable experience, even though I thought I was prepared… The image that emerges is one of disintegration—a falling apart in every sense. I’ve never been so ‘body.’ Even on an emotional, personal, and life level, there was an attempt to piece together a mosaic that was falling apart, only to realize that what was being assembled, what was being drawn, was no longer what it had been before. A transformation still in progress, which finally allows me to see the somewhat traumatic experience as something very strong, something I would choose to experience again. As for Irene’s clothes, I would like the grace and care that I find in her way of speaking, creating, and being to remain with me.”

 

Revelations and Asterisks
Elena and Roberta (blind date)

“The experience of YOU AS ME touched me in unexpected ways. Seeing the clothes I had brought lying on the floor, before making the exchange, gave me a picture of myself without my body. It was a view from above, a representation of different versions of me. There is a before and an after. A pleasant surprise, a map of change. Today, I am more playful and ironic than I was yesterday. Even when Roberta wore those clothes, I liked them very much. The dress I would not have worn before, the Indian bodice, I can wear today; it has become an object/gift that has become habitable again.”

“Has the look or the body changed?“

“Both, or perhaps more the look. The relationship between me and my body has reassembled.”

“In Roberta’s clothes, I felt distance from my usual attitudes. Or rather, only in the T-shirt, and not because of the writing, but because of the fit—it was too loose for how I usually dress. It’s surprising how the same garment fits similarly built people in different ways. The character of a person, not just their body, fills the garment.”

“I chose these clothes, a pair of black trousers and a coloured T-shirt with the words ‘Fuck patriarchy,’ because they represent me. I wear them daily; they are comfortable and versatile. Since I didn’t know the person who would be exchanging clothes with me, I chose these because they are inclusive. They can be worn in different sizes, and especially the trousers, depending on the combination, can either look elegant or sporty. Black is the colour I wear most, and I paired it with a colourful T-shirt to express my evolving approach to colour and my attitude towards experimenting. The inscription, with asterisks replacing part of the word “patriarchy,” reflects my daily commitment to these issues.”

 

 

Depth and Body
Melina and Irene (blind date)

“I brought, for my blind date, a lurex dress. Because we are all always in trousers… and because of its light, so un-Turin-like. I wanted to propose a departure from the conformism of this city, but within the rigor that belongs to me. What I appreciate most about Irene is her depth. I am very curious and superficial; I tend to stay on the crest of the wave, like a butterfly. Irene is also always on the side of women, and now is the time to fight tooth and nail. People like her teach me. I never feel completely equal, but I know that she appreciates me, and that gives us the opportunity to confront each other.”

“I have only recently gotten to know Melina up close, but I’ve been following her work for a long time, especially the projects she’s created for artists, particularly female artists. I’m struck by her ability to give life to forms and structures—works of art, clothes that have strength and autonomy. She gives a body, a stamp, and an identity to fabric. I’m proposing a girl’s skirt, with the same idea of eccentricity and lightness—my first purchase after confinement—and a double black top, with a subtle departure from sobriety.”

Honesty and Linearity
Gaetano and Anna (couple)

“I would like to take Anna’s honesty with me, her conscious choice to be pure and sincere, despite the consequences. We come from different families and backgrounds, and we have different ways of dealing with life’s stumbling blocks. At many junctures, I wish I could cover myself with her in order to overcome them. When I look over at Anna, I see myself as pyramidal. In the privacy of our home, we have played at swapping clothes, but until now, we had never done it in a different place. She wears the clothes I usually use for exhibitions, my battle clothes. I see myself as active and happy in what I do.”

“I would like to take Gaetano’s linearity with me. Despite the volumes, I always find him dry and essential. This linearity is what I miss most in my body, in my appearance, and I would like to make it mine—at least in his shoes. The dress that Gaetano has chosen to wear screams my personality: there is a lot of black, my colour, all in a very worn, tight, and somewhat uncomfortable sweater that we can both wear. There is also the skirt I rarely wear, but promise myself each time I will use more. I asked him to put on the necklace he made for me, a complement to the sweater, on every occasion. He is all himself, and in many ways, he is all me.”