“What Were You Wearing?” Installation
Created by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert at the University of Arkansas in 2013, the project was inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, "What I Was Wearing".
Read the PoemOn May 24, 2013, Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Jen Brockman attended a conference hosted by the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Little Rock, Arkansas. The conference packet included the poem “What I was Wearing”. Dr. Mary Simmerling wrote the poem in the early 2000s and received a registered copyright in 2005.
Deeply moved by the poem, Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman began to brainstorm ways to create a visual representation of the poem during a break at the conference. Throughout June 2013, Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman conceptualized and developed the framework for the Installation. Ms. Brockman contacted Dr. Simmerling during the summer of 2013 and was given permission to utilize her poem in connection with the Installation.
In September 2013, the Student Union Connections Lounge at the University of Arkansas was reserved to host the first “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation for Sexual Assault Awareness Month to be held April 2014. From September 2013 and onward, student-survivors at the University of Arkansas voluntarily shared brief descriptions of what they were wearing when they experienced sexual violence via personal interviews with Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman. These descriptions were used to recreate the outfits worn during the assaults. Clothing for the Installation was donated by Peace At Home Thrift Store in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The first “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation was displayed at the University of Arkansas from March 31 - April 4th, 2014.
More information about the first installation can be found here.
Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman had worked as sexual violence and intimate partner violence survivor advocates for over a decade when the Installation was created. The Installation was born out of an advocacy lens. The question, “what were you wearing?” was pervasive for most survivors.
Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman wanted to create a project that would place the work of bearing witness to this question’s answer back on the shoulders of the community and humanize the survivor in the answer. To ask the question, “what were you wearing?” cost the questioner nothing, there is no labor in making this statement. However, the survivor must pay dearly in not only their answer but also, in the burden of self-blame.
The Installation challenges participants to engage with the universal connection we have with clothing and reflect on what gives this specific rape culture myth so much power. To put clothing on is so basic and common, to take that action and conflate it with pain and suffering taints not only the individual outfit for the survivor; but also, calls into question all simplistic and normal behaviors as dangerous.
The Installation asks participants to understand that it was never about the clothing and the act of shedding those clothes is never enough to bring peace or comfort to survivors. The violation is not simply woven into the fabric of the material, it is a part of the survivor's new narrative. If only ending sexual violence was as easy as changing our clothes. Instead, it requires all of us to evaluate what enabled us as individuals and as a society to ask, “what were you wearing?” in the first place.
The poem "What I Was Wearing" inspired this Installation, but it did not give voice to the question, “what were you wearing?” This myth is one of may pervasive narratives utilized to blame survivors and justify perpetrators. The Installation was not the first or the last to address this specific issues. There are multiple other projects that have addressed this common rape myth.
Recent individuals and projects include, but are not limited to:
On May 24, 2013, Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Jen Brockman attended a conference hosted by the Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault in Little Rock, Arkansas. The conference packet included the poem “What I was Wearing”. Dr. Mary Simmerling wrote the poem in the early 2000s and received a registered copyright in 2005.
Deeply moved by the poem, Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman began to brainstorm ways to create a visual representation of the poem during a break at the conference. Throughout June 2013, Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman conceptualized and developed the framework for the Installation. Ms. Brockman contacted Dr. Simmerling during the summer of 2013 and was given permission to utilize her poem in connection with the Installation.
In September 2013, the Student Union Connections Lounge at the University of Arkansas was reserved to host the first “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation for Sexual Assault Awareness Month to be held April 2014. From September 2013 and onward, student-survivors at the University of Arkansas voluntarily shared brief descriptions of what they were wearing when they experienced sexual violence via personal interviews with Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman. These descriptions were used to recreate the outfits worn during the assaults. Clothing for the Installation was donated by Peace At Home Thrift Store in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The first “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation was displayed at the University of Arkansas from March 31 - April 4th, 2014.
More information about the first installation can be found here.
Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman had worked as sexual violence and intimate partner violence survivor advocates for over a decade when the Installation was created. The Installation was born out of an advocacy lens. The question, “what were you wearing?” was pervasive for most survivors.
Dr. Wyandt-Hiebert and Ms. Brockman wanted to create a project that would place the work of bearing witness to this question’s answer back on the shoulders of the community and humanize the survivor in the answer. To ask the question, “what were you wearing?” cost the questioner nothing, there is no labor in making this statement. However, the survivor must pay dearly in not only their answer but also, in the burden of self-blame.
The Installation challenges participants to engage with the universal connection we have with clothing and reflect on what gives this specific rape culture myth so much power. To put clothing on is so basic and common, to take that action and conflate it with pain and suffering taints not only the individual outfit for the survivor; but also, calls into question all simplistic and normal behaviors as dangerous.
The Installation asks participants to understand that it was never about the clothing and the act of shedding those clothes is never enough to bring peace or comfort to survivors. The violation is not simply woven into the fabric of the material, it is a part of the survivor's new narrative. If only ending sexual violence was as easy as changing our clothes. Instead, it requires all of us to evaluate what enabled us as individuals and as a society to ask, “what were you wearing?” in the first place.
The poem "What I Was Wearing" inspired this Installation, but it did not give voice to the question, “what were you wearing?” This myth is one of may pervasive narratives utilized to blame survivors and justify perpetrators. The Installation was not the first or the last to address this specific issues. There are multiple other projects that have addressed this common rape myth.
Recent individuals and projects include, but are not limited to:
Bring the Installation to Your Community
If you are interested in bringing the “What Were You Wearing?” Student-Survivor Art Installation to your campus or community, please fill out our Installation Request form below.
There is no cost associated with the Installation Packet; however, we do require a partnership with your campus victim/survivor advocacy program or a local victim/survivor advocacy center to host the Installation and give credit to the Installation origin.