Performance artist Sabine Tautou has taped a man to a street post in New York’s SoHo district as part of a collaboration with fashion brand Alexander Wang.
The man was restrained outside the Alexander Wang store while holding one of the brand’s high-end Rocco handbags. Tautou described the event as a public performance marking the relaunch of the iconic bag.
She said more than 50 people sent her screenshots from Citizen alerts about the incident, adding: “This is actually the first performance I’ve done that ended up going viral on Citizen, too.”
Tautou said the work remained consistent with her existing practice, despite being carried out as part of a commercial partnership.
“The performance itself was still completely rooted in the work I already make. It’s the first time I’ve brought one of my public performances into a brand partnership,” she said.
Alexander Wang said the Rocco bag had been designed to be used without concern for where it was placed. “The Rocco was never meant to be polite,” he said, describing the studs across its base and saying it could be “thrown around” or left “in any un-precious place”.
The New York performance follows an earlier stunt in which Tautou strapped a submissive man to the Hollywood Sign. She was detained and cited for trespassing after that event.
