The Prison Industrial Complex maintains its power, in part, through obscurity. Despite the fact that there are about 2 million people incarcerated in the United States, their lived realities are concealed from the broader public. By revealing the material conditions behind bars, however, the humanity of those living within these carceral structures can come to the fore – and strike against the prison’s structural power.

Clothing Inside: Addressing American Prisons seeks to do just that. The items included here fall into three different categories: they are items of bodily adornment that are mandated by the state, clothing items that offer opportunity for self-expression and protection, and items of dress used to protest conditions of confinement. While each included object grants power to a different entity – either the prison itself or those within the prison – every object relates back to fashioning the body and engages with the logic of the prison. While the realities of prison may feel far-removed from the general public, clothing is an everyday material that is universally felt and seen. Consider your body as you walk through this space. Can you put yourself in another’s shoes? What would it feel like to wear the items on display? What would it feel like to live in them, day after day? What function does this material experience serve? Can you imagine a new world, beyond prisons? How would it look? How would it feel?