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[This Just In]

CABIN FEVER
Rag time

BY NINA WILLDORF

Walk into Louis Boston as of this weekend, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by clothes that couldn’t even find a home on the racks at the Salvation Army or Goodwill.

The upscale store certainly hasn’t lowered its standards. But assembled in the center of its main floor will be a massive clothing-constructed teepee, made out of 1500 pounds of castaway garments. Call it Art.

The exhibit, "Cabinessence," is the work of Justin Lowe, the 25-year-old younger brother of actors Rob and Chad. It includes the structure, which Lowe describes as a "hive-like dome" that he estimates will neatly house up to six people on plush carpets. A 65-minute mix tape of nostalgic ’60s music will tickle the ears of any spectators who pop their heads in.

Lowe pulled himself away from his mad last-minute assembly tasks on a recent evening to explain his work, which showed in New York’s Puck building as part of the GenArt exhibit in July. "You’re crawling in this soft space," he imagines. "It’s a nice break. The politics here are pretty much all concerned with pleasure."

Of course, Lowe sees the irony of juxtaposing, say, $1500 Helmut Lang pants with sliced and diced buck-a-pound denim. He chuckles lightly. "It’s made of old dirty clothing," he laughs. "This isn’t even stuff that made it into Salvation Army. Then to be put together in Louis as an art piece, it’s sort of doing that twist."

More important, he says, crawling into the pleasure dome will invoke feelings of nostalgia. Sit back, take a deep breath, peek at all of the pieces of clothing, think about who wore them, when, and where, tune into songs on the tape by Yoko Ono, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, and the like, and then ... come out to the present, snatch up some clothes, and reinvigorate the economy already.

Catch a whiff of Lowe’s art after next Thursday, December 13. The exhibit will remain up through the end of the year at Louis Boston, 234 Berkeley Street.

Issue Date: December 6 - 13, 2001

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