96 Alternatives
Hans Eijkelboom
1978
96 Alternatives
96 Alternatives
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Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited ...
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96 Alternatives
Hans Eijkelboom
1978
Arnhem: Self-published
Unpaginated [8 pages]
30.3 × 22 cm

Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited visitors to choose garments they thought would suit him, which he then wore for a photograph taken with the person who had made the choice. The resulting 96 photographic vignettes document the process, turning the fitting room into a stage where identity is defined by the choices of others. The script for this performance is printed on the cover:


 


“In a room there are 200 different articles of clothing among which also hats, shawls, some pairs of shoes and other things. I stand, dressed in white shorts in the middle of the room. When a visitor enters the room, I invite him to look at me and to choose from the clothes that he or she thinks will suit me best. When the choice has been made I put on those clothes. Then a photograph is taken of me together with the person who has selected the clothes.”


 


Self-published, the book wittily probes the fundamental motivations behind clothing, examining dress as an intricate tool for individual expression and social integration. By submitting himself to the sartorial choices of others, Eijkelboom embodies their tastes and, in turn, the other, decentring his own identity to become another “I”.


 


Three decades later, Eijkelboom extended his exploration of the complex relationship between human behaviour and the clothes we wear into a more observational and anthropological study of street life. This developed into a prolific body of “anti-sartorial” photographs, culminating in People of the Twenty-First Century, published on a large scale by Phaidon.

Arnhem: Self-published
Unpaginated [8 pages]
30.3 × 22 cm

Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited visitors to choose garments they thought would suit him, which he then wore for a photograph taken with the person who had made the choice. The resulting 96 photographic vignettes document the process, turning the fitting room into a stage where identity is defined by the choices of others. The script for this performance is printed on the cover:

 

“In a room there are 200 different articles of clothing among which also hats, shawls, some pairs of shoes and other things. I stand, dressed in white shorts in the middle of the room. When a visitor enters the room, I invite him to look at me and to choose from the clothes that he or she thinks will suit me best. When the choice has been made I put on those clothes. Then a photograph is taken of me together with the person who has selected the clothes.”

 

Self-published, the book wittily probes the fundamental motivations behind clothing, examining dress as an intricate tool for individual expression and social integration. By submitting himself to the sartorial choices of others, Eijkelboom embodies their tastes and, in turn, the other, decentring his own identity to become another “I”.

 

Three decades later, Eijkelboom extended his exploration of the complex relationship between human behaviour and the clothes we wear into a more observational and anthropological study of street life. This developed into a prolific body of “anti-sartorial” photographs, culminating in People of the Twenty-First Century, published on a large scale by Phaidon.

DESCRIPTION

Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited visitors to choose garments they thought would suit him, which he then wore for a photograph taken with the person who had made the choice. The resulting 96 photographic vignettes document the process, turning the fitting room into a stage where identity is defined by the choices of others. The script for this performance is printed on the cover:

 

“In a room there are 200 different articles of clothing among which also hats, shawls, some pairs of shoes and other things. I stand, dressed in white shorts in the middle of the room. When a visitor enters the room, I invite him to look at me and to choose from the clothes that he or she thinks will suit me best. When the choice has been made I put on those clothes. Then a photograph is taken of me together with the person who has selected the clothes.”

 

Self-published, the book wittily probes the fundamental motivations behind clothing, examining dress as an intricate tool for individual expression and social integration. By submitting himself to the sartorial choices of others, Eijkelboom embodies their tastes and, in turn, the other, decentring his own identity to become another “I”.

 

Three decades later, Eijkelboom extended his exploration of the complex relationship between human behaviour and the clothes we wear into a more observational and anthropological study of street life. This developed into a prolific body of “anti-sartorial” photographs, culminating in People of the Twenty-First Century, published on a large scale by Phaidon.

Arnhem: Self-published
Unpaginated [8 pages]
30.3 × 22 cm

Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited visitors to choose garments they thought would suit him, which he then wore for a photograph taken with the person who had made the choice. The resulting 96 photographic vignettes document the process, turning the fitting room into a stage where identity is defined by the choices of others. The script for this performance is printed on the cover:

 

“In a room there are 200 different articles of clothing among which also hats, shawls, some pairs of shoes and other things. I stand, dressed in white shorts in the middle of the room. When a visitor enters the room, I invite him to look at me and to choose from the clothes that he or she thinks will suit me best. When the choice has been made I put on those clothes. Then a photograph is taken of me together with the person who has selected the clothes.”

 

Self-published, the book wittily probes the fundamental motivations behind clothing, examining dress as an intricate tool for individual expression and social integration. By submitting himself to the sartorial choices of others, Eijkelboom embodies their tastes and, in turn, the other, decentring his own identity to become another “I”.

 

Three decades later, Eijkelboom extended his exploration of the complex relationship between human behaviour and the clothes we wear into a more observational and anthropological study of street life. This developed into a prolific body of “anti-sartorial” photographs, culminating in People of the Twenty-First Century, published on a large scale by Phaidon.

MORE BOOKS

Conceived during an experimental programme called Behaviour Workshop, held in Arnhem in 1978, this performative artist’s book distills Hans Eijkelboom’s interest in photography and the cult of the self to their essence. The artist invited visitors to choose garments they thought would suit him, which he then wore for a photograph taken with the person who had made the choice. The resulting 96 photographic vignettes document the process, turning the fitting room into a stage where identity is defined by the choices of others. The script for this performance is printed on the cover:

 

“In a room there are 200 different articles of clothing among which also hats, shawls, some pairs of shoes and other things. I stand, dressed in white shorts in the middle of the room. When a visitor enters the room, I invite him to look at me and to choose from the clothes that he or she thinks will suit me best. When the choice has been made I put on those clothes. Then a photograph is taken of me together with the person who has selected the clothes.”

 

Self-published, the book wittily probes the fundamental motivations behind clothing, examining dress as an intricate tool for individual expression and social integration. By submitting himself to the sartorial choices of others, Eijkelboom embodies their tastes and, in turn, the other, decentring his own identity to become another “I”.

 

Three decades later, Eijkelboom extended his exploration of the complex relationship between human behaviour and the clothes we wear into a more observational and anthropological study of street life. This developed into a prolific body of “anti-sartorial” photographs, culminating in People of the Twenty-First Century, published on a large scale by Phaidon.

MORE BOOKS