Costume Design: Art Installations and Films (2013-16)
Costume designs and video stills from a variety of projects, including my live art installations, art films, and performance pieces, and revised character designs based off unused costume concepts. A selection of costume designs on this page were designed for art installations or films, and primarily demonstrate how german expressionism and bauhaus inform my costume design.
Costume designs and character artwork from a variety of projects, including my live art installations, performance pieces, and revised character designs based off unused costume concepts. Once again the influence of bauhaus, dada and expressionism is evident, but postmodern installation also has a role to play in a selection of the costumes shown here. Costume designs are shown alongside their 'real world' counterparts, and of course, a selection of these costumes now live on in cartoon form.
CASE STUDY - 2015 (2015). '2015' makes use of many different human actors, most of which are referred to offscreen as 'posthumans'. The other significant character, a 'futurist' figure, also went through many changes. My time spent working on the costume design for this film has left me with some of my favourite watercolour paintings and costume theory, shared below. The design of these characters went through an extensive process, described below with journal entries and watercolours made during production.
'This is the final major piece of costume painting/design work I will do for this stage of the development process. It is a revisitation of the idea used for the Figure of Forms [the golden figure above on the left] and features several final revisions to that design – this is the one that I wish to produce physically, and like the ‘modern primitive’ style designs shown earlier will be developed not through more painting but through usage of a constructed suit.
This figure’s form consists of the humanoid black shape making up the Figure of Forms, but most of, if not all, of that designs’ various other components have been replaced – either by gold-plated variants or by new objects altogether, which makes it look more solid, less of a ‘mix’ of components and ties the whole figure together in a statuesque, uniform style which makes it look not unlike a gladiator or a godlike figure. This figure is not supposed to deliberately copy the bauhaus style by which it is inspired, but is instead supposed to represent the mentality of the age from which it came – that of efficiency, beauty, utopian design pointing towards a golden future of technology and prosperity. Similarly, the ‘modern primitive’ style designs are simply a ‘past’ figure – not any particular culture or person, but more act as a figural, humanoid representation of a bygone age, born in the present day, lost in an age in which it doesn’t belong.
Thus, the designs above were created. Utilising a mix of found objects, like dumped cardboard, sheep bones and sticks with synthetic materials like paints and plastic netting, I have designed a kind of ‘modern primitive’ figure – born in the 21st century - perhaps the result of a nuclear war or post apocalyptic scenario. These people wear protective garments – cardboard – crudely painted in camouflage and mask patterns – as well as camouflage netting and basic folded sheets of cloth for underclothing to protect them from the wilds from which they presumably came. For their crudely painted masks, I was inspired by the mask like paintings of Marlene Dumas.'
'I always wanted there to be a degree of spontaneity to the tribal-like costumes representing a primitive people, so decided that the mannequinesque, doll-like futurist suit needed more development. I since sidelined the process on the primitive costumes, but now return to them to record their creation.
Initially, I had intended for the primitive suit to be made in the style of traditional historical dress – African, Indian, Asian or other – and had decided that the mask would be what needed the most work. However, soon after drawing these designs, lectures on Colonialism, Imperialism and Orientalism began to reappear in my mind, and I became aware of the fact I could be seen as trivialising, parodying or stereotyping a whole culture by using a depiction of a real figure as a representation of a ‘primitive’ man. I deeply respect the sensitive nature of utilising visual elements of cultures which have historically experienced prejudice and realise it is not appropriate to do this in my work. The desire to get away from raising myself and our present cultures above and beyond these contexts has become dominant in my thought process moving forward.
Above: A selection of costume designs also produced in preparation for my film '2015' as development of the 'futurist' style figure. A variety of western historic artistic contexts were used as inspiration for the designs.
'Inspired by figures seen in Xanti Schawinsky’s pieces, especially ‘3 Figures’ dated 1925, the White Dancer suit is, at a glance, rather similar to designs I produced in the third term of first year. This doll-like figure is largely comprised of simplistic shapes based upon a humanoid form – it is basic and angular, with its large, spherical head perhaps being the main focal point. Since I intend to prominently use these costumes I design for a film with ‘actors’ (who would be probably more accurately termed ‘operators’ towards the end of the process, their motions and what they represent have been at the forefront of the design process. This figure would move around the shot in an angelic, ballet-esque fashion, slowly and smoothly, its head always remaining level as the figure spins around, its arms and legs bending and forming positions as it travels around the space, never directly interacting with what is around it.
It would largely be made up from fabrics and would probably require more textile skill than I currently possess, but would still be relatively basic. The head would use some kind of sphere as a base, onto which I would add layering enabling me to paint it, adding subtle eyeholes and other details. It would remain a dynamic black and white colour scheme (I did plan initially to include blue on it).
This Suited Figure is to be a comment on a futurist vision of a working man – like the Bauhaus now represents a vision of the future that never happened, this represents a stylistic vision of how the dadaists might have seen our present day. A standard black suit-wearing figure (perhaps slightly more angular than a usual human shape) with a red tie, and a square, white head onto which a number is written. A round, shallow top-hat sits atop the square head. This design is, at the time of writing, the first idea for a suit I’ve had which doesn’t hold at least some element of its form in Bauhaus type design. I had the idea to create three different figures for a film –
1) a representation of a primitive man – standing for our original roots, what we were, what we no longer are, what we lost. The elegancy in our ‘organic’ existence, made with primitive or found tools – it could as well have walked out of a museum.
2) a representation of a ‘futurist’ man – using a dated design, this figure would thus be rooted in an alternative future that never happened. Machine-like and only humanoid in appearance, this figure would be originated in bauhaus-esque design.
finally, 3) a representation of another ‘future’ figure – this one rooted, however, in the time that is our present. What exactly this figure would look like I haven’t yet decided, but like the other two would be a visual representation of the cultures and mindsets from which it came.
2) a representation of a ‘futurist’ man – using a dated design, this figure would thus be rooted in an alternative future that never happened. Machine-like and only humanoid in appearance, this figure would be originated in bauhaus-esque design.
finally, 3) a representation of another ‘future’ figure – this one rooted, however, in the time that is our present. What exactly this figure would look like I haven’t yet decided, but like the other two would be a visual representation of the cultures and mindsets from which it came.
The White Cuboid Man design was conceptualised when I was at a mental block and I wanted to do something with the stacks of polystyrene sheeting in the corner of my studio space. I reformed some of it into a chunky, large bauhaus-style mask, and some more of it into some other bits and pieces that could be attached to a white skin suit to create the following design.
It is very ‘by the book’ for a robot-esque design, but is noteworthy because it was the first suit from 2015 that had any of its form produced in 3-D. The helmet is actually the first mask I have ever made where the eyes of the mask are actually the holes where the wearer can see out – normally eye slots are an afterthought and thus are rather difficult to see out of. This mask also fits very securely on my head, as the flexibility of polystyrene allows it to be cut directly around my head shape. It looks rather striking on the table; it is pictured below alongside some of the other pieces.'
'Inspired by images from Kurt Schmidt’s seminal Mechanical Ballet (1923) and photos of a reconstruction from 1970, these two Mechanical Men figures appear highly stylised representations of two humans made up of lots of flat shapes attached together in unseen ways to create a singular mass, which moves and twists in a smooth fashion.
Part of the appeal of these designs is that they are very much artistic cubist compositions – they might aswell be images from 2-D paintings walking. Segments of their form will be static and not move, where others (for example, the arms and legs of the coloured figure) will be jointed and can swing according to the movements of a black-skinsuit wearing operator. The revealing of the moving parts would be sporadic such that a viewer will never quite be able to tell which parts remain static throughout and which can change.
Used to a more clearly deceiving effect is this on the monochrome suit – it has no clear head or arms. The white spike atop what appears to be a square, tilted head would swing down the right of the figure – it is its right arm, and its left arm will remain hidden from view until it appears – a black right-angled shape. Its legs will only be able to move left and right, not back and forth – perhaps this figure could walk only sideways, like a crab.
Effective as these figures may be, especially in an outdoors setting (which I have planned to base part of the film in from an early stage – as it is the environment from which we originally came and lived) I do not wish to use them further as they are perhaps too abstract and will not move well alongside a more standard, clothed primitive man. I would like the figures to be able to slowly interact, and while these designs might enhance the lost individuality of man, I feel there is more that could be achieved with a dramatic, statuesque futurist man.
This Bauhaus Style design is based very heavily upon the various suits and costumes of Bauhaus master Oskar Schlemmer (particularly ‘The Abstract’), but takes influences from several other key Bauhaus stage designers like Kurt Schmidt, as well as Paul Klee’s puppet designs.
In any of my previous Bauhaus work, I never quite understood the meaning behind Schlemmer’s mysterious Abstract figure (as much as it fascinated me), with its half-and-half face to its chunky leg, its ornate bell-shaped hand to the golden club in the other. After reading into it, I find that Schlemmer invented the costume before his Triadic Ballet was first properly performed in 1922 – in fact it had been invented several years previously – as a kind of prophet, a representation of the new age of ballet – a saviour, the last one standing after an ‘epic arts battle’, its club raised high as a symbol of victory, the bell ringing a new age of performance artwork. I found this rather appealing to my themes at hand, and set about designing a similar suit, for the purpose of being a prophet also – representing this time, the thoughts and ethos of futurist art from an age long since past.
It was my favourite design yet, and I felt very swayed to start making it from the word go, so set about developing the idea before creating and finishing the final design which is seen above. It is comprised of a black skin suit, onto which are layered the other components – a large, white sphere and brass cone over the right forearm and hand, and in the other hand a white triangle which forms a composition with the left leg (which is also adorned with white shapes). On the right leg a large, white stocking, emphasising the dramatic posture of the figure. Moving up the torso are several grey pipes moving across the surface and around the back of the torso up to the neck, where a red, shining metal helmet sits atop a spherical, doll-like mask, with large, painted eyes and a square nose. I started to make several parts of the costume.'
'As is depicted in original documents and video reconstructions, this Watching Figure would move slowly, gently like a statue, gradually changing form and position, whilst always maintaining an air of mystery and suspense. A musical score may accompany its movement, and it may interact with the primitive figure. Further work will be required with this design – I feel it has potential, but would like to distance it further still from the designs I did in first year (which, at a glance, could be seen as similar). More to come on this. In the meantime I will develop the costumes of the other figures, starting from the primitive man.
It would move impishly, jerkily feeling its way around the space, its groping hands being used to touch walls, trees and other objects – all the while the helmet, with its elongated, bloodshot eye on a stalk rapidly swivelling about, gaping – desperate to take in all the possible stimulus and information available, digitising it, feeding it directly to the brain inside. The creature as shown in the image strains to pull the helmet off desperately, but it appears to be a permanent attachment to its form. The green, clawed hands are a literal interpretation of the ‘monster’ we have become. In making light of the situation with stereotypical ‘monster’ style hands, it is trivialised, almost like our actual reliance on technology today – without it, it’s questionable as to how long we’d last.
This suit would, clearly out of the designs produced so far, give the biggest freedom of movement, but remains one of the least visually exciting. I haven’t yet decided if any other features would be enhanced – perhaps give it subtly big feet or something, just to dehumanise it that bit more. Multiple versions of the eye are shown as sketches, with the triangular one appealing to me the most as it highlights the almost piercing nature of the eye of the media.'
'2015' has been released and is available to watch here.
Costume and Puppet Designs for 'Dadaism Performance' (2014), which you can watch here.
'The first figure [the black one with a square head] was inspired by a square black box I had painted in the style of a basic Dadaist costume head a few weeks earlier. I had pondered the idea of producing a full-scale one, but knew I had to create the rest of the costume first. About halfway through making the black suit, I decided to toy with the idea of a white suit, too - a kind of 'companion' or 'sister' suit to the black version with a few differences. The white suit is intended to be more streamlined and futuristic, whereas the black suit is intended to be blocky and sharp.'
'Both of these designs were tweaked for future versions of the mannequins [as used in stop-motion videos and on all subsequent art post 2013], most notably the white version, which was redesigned to simply resemble a white version of the black suit. The black figure's design was tweaked following the construction of a full-size version in order to simplify and streamline the design.'
Costume Designs for the 'Mountains Room' Installation (2016), a recording of which you can watch here.
Mountains Room was the main installation and final piece of my last year at University. It pulled together everything I had learnt over the previous three years of performance art, costume design and installation design to create a fully immersive experience.
'Mountains Room was a 24-hour living installation. A synthetic environment was created, which would change and morph depending on the time of day. Inside, several creatures lived, who would be doing different things at different times of day, and would react to the audience accordingly. The audience could enter the space at any time of day to find a different situation. The piece incorporated 5 different figures, a host of different phases for the environment to change through and a fully 3D set.'
In terms of the aesthetic choices for the costume design, for Mountains Room I decided to revisit my idea for '2015' of looking at how a future society or culture might look. Utilising an aesthetic inspired by contemporary performance art, such as the work of 'Plastic Fantastique' I created a society of mountain-dwelling humanoid creatures with a culture all of their own.
