Blog Post 3
I initially chose to take part in the Navigating Through Clothing course due to its correlation to my own practice. Costume designers and makeup artists tend to work closely in the industry, as both will play a role in a singular character creation. I felt costume design would help me in the character creation process, causing me to face other questions about not only the character itself, but the individual embodying this character that I may not usually think of when tackling the makeup alone.
Throughout Navigating Through Clothing, we were introduced to the well-known fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. Analysing the text, we explored each character mentioned and any clues that may lead us to the Grimm brother’s visual idea of the character. Starting with a trip to the British Museum to aid in understanding our chosen concept in terms of location and culture, I stumbled across the Han Dynasty in ancient China. During this period, animals were worshipped by individuals, believing they had contact with the spirit world. Many individuals of great power coated their tombs with these jade sculpted animals, hoping it would aid them in the afterlife. These jade sculpted animals were seen to be even more powerful due to the jade stone being associated with immortality due to it being partially translucent and extremely durable. It was very rare for humans to be sculpted, especially in jade. It is unknown of the significance of human sculpts, possibly those of servants that could aid individuals in the afterlife. Later on, the human sculpts were used as ornaments. Due to this, I looked to the little pigeon in the story. Due to the fact there is little about him noted, this gave me leeway to interpret the animal in the way I would like. I wanted my character to stand out as a clear positive sign in a dark story, in jade.
It was interesting brainstorming a character costume when taking into consideration multiple aspects, including the better lives terms. Sustainability questioned the longevity of the outfit, how flexible it was, where would the material be resourced from. Social responsibility questioned how easy it would be to wear by the performer, while also working with the performance context in the best way possible. Diversity allowed the identification of the character, who would play them, and how would the character diversify the performance.
I decided on a simple look consisting of a skin-tight jade blue costume, and a jade blue beak nose in order for the performer to replicate the jade animals worshiped in ancient Chinese culture. I am aware that prosthetics are a no-go area with performers, especially opera and dance, but due to the little pigeon’s small, no-line role I did not deem this an issue.
I have really enjoyed taking part in the Navigating Through Clothing tasks during Better Lives. Everything I have taken from this course will aid me in my character creation in the future, especially within the thought process and approach.
References:
Department – Asia: China. London: The British Museum. Visited on the 2nd March 2020