Hello all! This blog was born from deliciously mixed elated frustration.
My Master's Thesis project was Hamletmachine. That should be sufficient information and provide just cause for opening this conversation.
Most of my resume pre-grad school and happily post has been comprised of pieces which were conceived, developed and produced by methods other than those we learned in Costume Design I- steps are jumped, skipped and rolled- some practices are even added to the overall process...
Although the beauty of this kind of theatre is that no two case studies are identical, I thought it might be a good idea to open a specific forum where questions, answers and general venting can be posted about the challenge of costuming experimental theatre projects.
We can do this a few different ways:
1. Commenting is open. Anyone can post comments, although I have secured approval to control spam and other nonsense (random inappropriate photos, cheesy adverts, etc).
2. Every so often, I will post a topic: "rehearsal garments: Binding promises of things to come?" and other hopefully helpful starter comments to stimulate sharing.
3. If you have a very specific question and want to create a topic, message me and we will try to get things going...
Please keep in mind, to ensure easy participation, this blog is OPEN which means what goes on in the "Union" is public knowledge! Candor is appreciated, but don't be shocked if you drop something sharp and it lands in your chair, if you know what I mean.
That being said, our first topic is:
The role of renderings in open production processes:
In design classes, the rendering is king, but what happens when the performances, costumes even text are created during the rehearsal process? How have you dealt with this challenge and what was your involvement in the development process?
11 comments:
I have found often that it takes a lot more time sitting in reharsals to make this come together.
I also have done Hamletmachine, and I remember sitting down with the director before rehearsals started and asking him what he "saw in his head" in terms of costumes.
With that information, I attended a week of rehearsals, drew some thumbnail ideas and we met again. This helped to "nail down" some thoughts...at least for a while.
As the process went on and I knew that I needed to start making things, I tried to keep the shapes of things versatile, which was hard at times and tried not to get married to things.
I think that might have been the hardest task--not getting so engrossed in the thing in front of me.
That is very similar to my experience with the "'machine", but I really like the idea of sketching in rehearsal- that's particularly helpful for movement based pieces. The key is to get producer types to agree to the postponed due date...
May I just say that this a great idea emily!
~Erika
This really is a cool idea; I can't wait to hear what people's ideas and experiences are.
Miss seeing you in the costume shop, ... and cemeteries. :)
I am currently involed in created costume for a script that doesn't exist. I don't even have a list of charecters. All I know is that it's exploration of rave culture laid on the framework of the bacchae. The last word I got was that i will come up with a "kick a**" concept for the costumes, and we will create the script around that. I'm sure it will help that I am an ensemble mimber as well. I will keep you posted, it promises to be a unique experience.
Uh oh... has the director/writer given you any visual CLUES as to what he/she means by "Kick***?" its kind of the dream situation we all have (CONTROL!!!!) but at the same time it sounds suspiciously like the opening to a very frustrating game of "go fish..."
Any suggestions, anyone?
He has given me clues, and since i am also a part of the writing/ acting ensemble I'm not quite as freaked out as I would be otherwise. I also have a pretty good personal/ working relationship with the guy so that will make it easier as well.
Short rehearsal schedules (say four or five weeks) make it even more difficult to create designs during the rehearsal process. You have to have faith and not get so hung up on the "unified work of art" under the auteur designer whose renderings are sacred. Anything involving puppets, (who are actors, not costumes or props) will cause this kind of problem with any tight schedule, especially when you are teaching the manipulation and building the creatures at the same time. You can't stick your hand into a rendering to see how it fits and what movements are available.
Thanks CB- I'm finding that the sanctity of renderings seems to be immediately the fault of education- however unintentional. Often our lessons end with a finished rendering and only a lucky few get to advance the design beyond that "final" point. What I've been trying to discover/develop is a teaching method that simulates the real finality of the intellectual process. Hmmm... I think I'll start a new thread.
Wow, I'm excited to have found your blog. I'm a costume designer living in Los Angeles - I also teach and am currently working on a research grant to explore the design process in more experimental theater environments. I'm hoping to work with different designers and companies to examine the process and create a body of work and publication relating to the treatment of costume design as part of the development process - I want to look at costume design as a vital artistic medium that can not only inform but precede other elements of performance based work I'd like to dedicate scholastic thought to models other than those we studied in grad school.
Is there written documentation/publications that deal with costume design in this way? Who's work should I look at?
My work has crossed over into the art world however I am specifically interested in researching this model for the theater. In the art world my work as a costume designer as felt inherently collaborative and generative of new work while this is not always the case in theater.
I'd love any suggestions, feedback, ideas, or comments.
Happy Holidays.
Leah- I would highly recommend looking at OISTAT, an international organization for scenography. They seem to focus more on theoretical process-focused discourse than we do in the states. Less about technical concerns and more about developing the process. Also, you may want to seriously look into hooking up with USITT, which is the OISTAT liason in the USA and a major way to get involved with any process work going on. The USA Prague Quadrennial Design Exposition exhibit will be focusing on just this type of work- yay!- so that's something else to start watching. The PQ is in 2011- in fact- once I have a little more coffee today I am going to do some posting about it...
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