Janelle Abbott (JRAT)

“One of our first tasks upon signing the lease of a former Bed, Bath and Beyond was removing the Bed, Bath and Beyond from the building. This included 10,000 pounds of horizontal merchandizing rack that adorned every wall and column. We preserved one wall, anticipating that a variety of artists would find new ways to employ the wall and hanger system to create art installations suspended or hanging from display hangers. Artist and fashion designer Janelle Abbott is our first commissioned artist, continuing their conversation around sustainability, fast fashion, and upcycled garments.

Of the 100 billion garments manufactured annually, 2 billion are cotton t-shirts. They’re made for 5K fun-runs to
volunteer opportunities, worn once then discarded. Cotton is a thirsty crop: just one cotton t-shirt requires 712 gallons
of water to manufacture. Each t-shirts in 149,520 Gallons is composed of three reclaimed t-shirts that have been reworked through JRAT’s “3T” methodology and represents 3 years of
drinking water. The installation illustrates 205 years of drinking water in t-shirt form.”