What to Wear?

Medium Specificity

T-Shirts are at the bottom of the page

     The choice to be able to use any medium we desire is a thrill. I was sitting back in my school chair pondering all of the mediums that were coming to mind, film, painting, photography, maybe even interpretive dance. Then, the idea came to me like a fireball hitting Mt. Doom. I would make my own t-shirt. The medium that contains cotton and ink. Now as I was struck with that idea I overheard Dhane Taylor, a student from my TMA 112 class, speaking with a friend telling her that he was going to make a shirt. I thought he must have been hit with same fireball. Well if we were both targeted and hit, then we should collaborate and make TWO t-shirts. We collaborated and we decided to make one t-shirt, my t-shirt, say, "Since when did this (a picture of a man with a mustache) become more attractive than...". His t-shirt says, "This (with a picture of a man who has a beard). Here at BYU, there are many men who have a mustache. I personally think that if those men want to have the stache they can however when girls sometimes say that they think its attractive it boggles my mind. So, we wanted to bring our thoughts out onto t-shirts in a fun way.

     T-shirts as a medium is a very unique medium for many reasons. For example, you are wearing it on your body. Paintings or photographs can be displayed in exhibits or on walls perhaps but the viewer see them if they are located in those places. However with t-shirts, the viewer could be walking to class, the bathroom, or home and they could have the chance in seeing the shirt. Also,  t-shirts can be a literal representation or figurative representation of an item. They can help companies with advertisements. There is a specific type  fit. If the shirt is worn tight, then the body will be more displayed and noticed. If the fit is very loose, then that could possibly reflect the consumer's personality being laid back. Also, what is very interesting is who is wearing this medium. Is Kanye West wearing this shirt or is the guy next door? If a celebrity is wearing a type of shirt then the demographic of people who will consider buying the shirt will be larger. I know personally for me, I love shirts that are in movies. For example, I have a Team Rod shirt from the film Hot Rod (2007). I knew people that have seen the movie would recognize it and I thought the shirts played a great role.

     Referring to the reading of the comic strip "Setting the Record Straight", I learned how each medium has interesting specifics that only pertain to that certain medium. Having read the comic strip, it helped me thinking that comics provide the viewer with multiple images and text at once. I think at least a t-shirt can be similar to the reading of a comic strip because they both can contain text and images. Within the comic, a lesson of the history of comics is taught and it enlightened me of how long they have existed. T-shirts have also been around for centuries if you consider a t-shirt can be considered a linen cloth or even armor on the chest.

     In reference to an example of making t-shirts, what comes to mind is the film Forrest Gump (1994). In this film, there is a scene where the protagonist, Forrest, is running for a very long time. As he is running one day, a man who had lost all of his money in the t-shirt business asks him for anything. A semi truck comes and sprays mud on both of them. The man gives a yellow shirt to Forrest to wipe his face off and it leaves a smiley face on the shirt. As we know, the yellow shirt that has a smiley face which states have a nice day has made millions of money. The t-shirt medium is expressed through wardrobe in films, tv, photographs, and can be even in paintings.

     I know I will be wearing my shirt not only in my apartment but out in public. I am curious to see people's reactions with the shirt. My shirt can still stand on its own with out the other shirt because the viewer can fill in the rest. My intention is to not offend any men who have a mustache however. Creating this t-shirt was a great learning experience for me in thinking of how many mediums of art there are.

My T-Shirt is on top and Dhane Taylor's is on the bottom.