I also make clothing …
As the founder of Extra Medium, I believe that stains, holes, and tears in clothing are great opportunities to tell stories.
If you’ve ever met me, you probably noticed my collection of handkerchiefs that I use every day. In 2020, I visited my aunts and grandparents in Mexico for the first time in 20 years, and it was the first time I realized that the use of handkerchiefs was a legacy in my family. My aunts teased me for carrying on the “tradition” of using a handkerchief like my dad, and my grandad too.
When I was 16, my father gave me my first two handkerchiefs. It wasn’t until 16 years later that I realized how valuable these pieces of cloth would be to me. Today, I still have the two original small cotton squares my dad gave me, which are unfortunately torn on the corners and in poor condition.We all have that one garment or accessory that needs repair, either to continue to be used or to keep it in good condition for the memories it holds.
Extra Medium values above all the sharing of stories and knowledge by focusing on raising people’s awareness of their relationship with clothing. Every garment has a story, but how can we keep track of these stories if our clothes only last one season?
Extra Medium offers a tailoring service to help you care for your new and used clothes properly, and give them the long life they were designed for. The service includes the repair and refurbishment of all clothes.
If you have a project in mind...
WHO IS MANNY MANSTER?
I’m an HIV+ (poz) artist living in Brussels, born in Mexico in 1988 and raised in Chicago in the USA. As the product of a lower-class immigrant household, I grew skeptical of the white institutionalized art world and questioned my position in society. Working toward the "American Dream," I received a B.A. in Studio Art from NEIU and a Master’s in Urban Planning from UIC while exhibiting my work at various galleries around Chicago. Soon after my studies, I left to join my partner and continue my career in Brussels.
My work is about personal social anxiety within an urban environment reflecting reality's imperfect, chaotic nature. While questioning the spectacle of perfection as performed by individuals and the norms I inherited as a part of my social conditioning, I explore the decolonization of my practice, ideals, and presentation within the Western world.
Building community is part of my practice. I make participatory and performative work about personal and collective identities, that actively engage the viewer with a mix of sexuality, gender, (de)colonization, and Mexican-American folklore.
