The Clothes Themselves

Directed by Oliver Payne

A philosophical peek into the world of enigmatic Japanese fashion brand Cav Empt

British artist Oliver Payne presents this stylishly thought provoking film about cult-like Japanese fashion brand Cav Empt. Through playful visual studies of the elusive brand's clothing, amplified by a soundtrack from Jackson Bailey, Payne explores the concept of the "Spread Mind" first developed by Italian philosopher Riccardo Manzotti, which argues that consciousness is literally real—a physical thing. The artist-filmmaker, whose work has been exhibited at the ICA and Serpentine galleries, riffs off this theory by posing the enigmatic question: "Where does Cav Empt happen?"