Exquisite Corpse Clothing Store
Exquisite Corpse Clothing Store
East 53rd Street
New York, NY
1997
A clothing store is a redolent breeding ground for daily enactments of the game of exquisite corpse. Following the logic of the division of the body, the store is split into four linked shops: shoes, pants, shirts/jackets, hats. Each is entered through an oversized, 30-foot wide, perpetually revolving door that blurs window shopping, browsing, and entry into a seductive mix. A spiral staircase in the center of the door spins continuously, allowing one to circulate vertically without changing location in plan: an updated Archimedean screw. The changing rooms at the mezzanine level are cantilevered over the street, allowing customers to test public reactions to selected clothing. Tri-vision signs on the outside of these changing rooms rotate, creating an oscillation between a wall of clothing-specific advertising and a screen of vertical slots allowing momentary glimpses into the interior of the rooms.