clothinG mountain
From Textile Waste
to Collective Creation
What happens when the invisible side of fashion becomes visible?
Clothing Mountain is a participatory artistic project developed by BRAINSHOT that transforms the crisis of textile overconsumption into a powerful visual and collective experience in public space.
At the centre of the project stands a symbolic installation: a mountain of discarded clothes. This mountain represents the millions of tons of garments that are buried or burned every year across the world. Instead of hiding this reality, Clothing Mountain brings it into the public eye, inviting audiences to reflect on the life cycle of clothing and the environmental impact of fashion.
Rather than presenting waste as an endpoint, the project reimagines it as the beginning of a process of transformation, regeneration and collective creativity.
The Experience
Clothing Mountain unfolds as a participatory environment where installation, performance and public interaction coexist.
Visitors encounter the mountain of garments as both sculpture and invitation. The clothes—collected through community contributions and collaborations—become the raw material of a shared artistic process.
Participants are invited to interact with the installation, transforming fabrics through colour, movement and collaborative making. What begins as a pile of discarded garments gradually evolves into a living artwork shaped by the gestures of the community.
Artistic Process
The project unfolds through three interconnected elements: colour, sound and collective creation.
Participants create natural pigments using materials derived from nature—roots, plants, fruits, soil and everyday organic elements. These pigments are then used to dye fabrics and garments from the installation, giving new life to textiles that were once considered waste.
At the same time, contact microphones placed on fabrics and objects capture the sounds of the creative process—brush strokes, drops of water, movements and textures.
These sounds are integrated into a live sound performance, transforming the act of making into a dynamic sonic landscape. The installation becomes a living organism where colour, sound and human presence continuously reshape the artwork.
Gradually, dyed fabrics are combined into a collective textile composition, created collaboratively by artists and participants.
Public Participation
Public participation lies at the heart of Clothing Mountain.
Visitors are invited to bring garments for donation or exchange, contributing directly to the growing installation. Through workshops and collaborative activities, participants learn techniques of natural dyeing, creative reuse and textile transformation.
Rather than remaining spectators, audiences become active collaborators in the creation of the artwork.
Impact
Clothing Mountain raises awareness about the environmental impact of the fashion industry while promoting practices of sustainability, care and creative reuse.
Through participatory learning and artistic experimentation, the project encourages audiences to rethink their relationship with clothing and consumption. It highlights how discarded materials can be transformed into new forms of beauty, meaning and community connection.
Artistic Team
Concept & Artistic Direction
– Elisavet Latsiou
Natural Colour Creation Workshop & Performance
– Eva Manaridou
Sound Performance
– Dimitra Kousteridou
Production support: BRAINSHOT team
The project was first presented in Piraeus during OpenArtLink 2025, as a participatory workshop and live performance within the BRAINSHOT Festival: Transformations.
This pilot presentation demonstrated the strong potential of the project to activate audiences and spark dialogue around sustainability, fashion and collective creativity.
Clothing Mountain is currently evolving and preparing for its next presentation within Nevronas Festival 2026, where the project will continue exploring the intersection of art, sustainability and inclusive participation.
