The Body Adorned

Client: Horniman Museum
Production company: The Light Surgeons

‘The Body Adorned’ at the Horniman Museum considers how the movement of people, objects and ideas influenced London dress in the past and explores body adornment in today’s world city of London. The brief for the installation was to create a piece that made the visitor reflect on how we navigate London; how we choose what we wear and how we respond to other people.

We filmed a series of portraits across 4 contrasting areas of London: The City, Chelsea, Brick Lane and Peckham, asking each person why they dress as they do. We then invited everyone featured to watch all the other portraits online and give their impressions of what they saw. From the resulting recordings, we created a surround sound installation that brings to life the internal dialogue we all share as we navigate the streets of London.

The installation represents an anthropology of dress in London that sits at the heart of the exhibition.