E.A. 1/1 S.V. Menswear Shop #1
2004
Medium:
Wooden construction, paper, fluorescent tubes, textile, pins, metal pipes, water irrigation system, glass, surveillance cameras
Variable dimensions
Installation view:
VN Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia, 2004
Work Description:
E.A. 1/1 S.V. Menswear Shop #1 transforms the gallery into a hybrid space between a functioning fashion boutique and a conceptual installation. For the project, Vujičić altered the façade of the gallery and publicly announced the opening of a new menswear store, inviting both fashion and art audiences through local media channels. Inside, he constructed a fully equipped retail environment—complete with lighting, display racks, mirrors, price tags, and an online store interface—yet every detail served to destabilize the logic of commerce, consumption, and gendered presentation.
The garments on display, produced under Vujičić’s label E.A. 1/1 S.V., were made from paper, pins, and fused textiles. Purposefully unwearable, they hung on metal structures, pierced and literally chained to hangers. Some were subjected to a dripping irrigation system that stained and corroded their surfaces, transforming the pristine retail setting into a site of controlled decay. Surveillance cameras continuously recorded visitors’ movements and reactions, turning spectators into unwitting performers within this silent, staffless “store” located on one of Zagreb’s busiest streets.
Through this choreography of display, Vujičić dismantles fashion’s seductions—the spectacle of branding, the fetish of the object, and the promise of transformation—exposing instead the tension between desire and deterioration. E.A. 1/1 S.V. Menswear Shop #1 becomes both artwork and anti-store: a performative critique of capitalist ritual that merges the aesthetics of retail with the fragility of the body. The visitor is at once consumer and witness, confronted with the physical, ethical, and emotional costs embedded in production, possession, and beauty.
Photo credits:
Studio Silvio Vujičić
