Shrouds and swaddling clothes of decomissioned Saints 1996

Jimmie Durham’s “Shrouds and swaddling clothes of decommissioned Saints” presents us with two plastic laundry baskets—one blue, one red—overflowing with fabric scraps, and placed in the corner of a room. The contrast between the bright, almost cartoonish primary colours of the baskets and the muted whites and greys of the textiles is striking. The composition is deceptively simple, but invites us to consider the relationship between the mundane and the sacred. Durham challenges fixed meanings by placing discarded materials associated with domestic labour, within a symbolic framework of religious relics. This juxtaposition destabilises our expectations, questioning the values we assign to objects and traditions. Notice how the artist's choice of ordinary, mass-produced laundry baskets as vessels further underscores this dialogue. It reminds us that meaning is not inherent but constructed. Durham prompts us to reconsider the boundaries we create between the ordinary and the extraordinary, and to reflect on the stories we tell through objects.