Oxfam Wunderkammer (College Project)

In the recent months I have started at a new college studying Art & Design. For the last few weeks, as a class, we have been working on our first live brief and public exhibition, situated in the Norwich branch of the Oxfam shop. I think that producing a work for public displays demands a different thought process and level of professionalism of the work as an idea has to be conveyed to the audience. This included writing my first artist statement to accompany the product. I found this quite a daunting experience, especially as I had little to write about in terms of processes involved in the making. 

The groups’ work had a shared theme of the 16th Century Wunderkammer, or Cabinet of Curiosities as it is better known, as each piece had to be something that could have appeared in such a collection. The original Wunderkammer was an opportunity for the wealthy and well-travelled demographic to show off their worldly finds. The items featured were, at the time, items which would now be labelled as; natural history, archaeology, geology and historic or religious relics. More likely than not and “cabinet” was a room often filled from floor to ceiling with exotic items.

Two notable examples of the Wunderkammer belonged to Ferdinand II Archduke of Austria, born 1529 whose collection is still largely intact in Ambras Castle, Austria, and Ole Worm (not pronounced old worm like ‘at the bottom of your garden’) who collected objects in two categories. The first being natural history such as shells, tusks and horns, the second being items which are wondrously small, wondrously old or of wondrously fine quality.

The Oxfam Bookshop, where we were displaying the work, gave us an additional challenge. Not only did we have to create objects which would feature in the Wunderkammer but it also had to be made from music score which was in an unsaleable condition. We had to re-model it so that it could be profitable to the charity. 

I decided that my contribution to our display would be a series of miniature paper dresses based in the era of Henry VIII, the same period as the creation of the Wunderkammer. In total I made 6 dresses, one representing each wife. I intended to differ each dress slightly in order to display the characteristics for each wife. For example a series of hearts and symbolic designs related to love would illustrate the grown of Catherine of Aragon, the wife Henry is said to have truly loved. However due to technical restrictions I was unable to put these additions on the garments. The characters became signified by the colour painted upon the dress. Therefore Catherine of Aragon’s dress was painted red.




Overall I think that the entire “cabinet” of work was aesthetically please because all of them were constructed from the same materials yet there was a grange in individual ideas. I feel that my own work could have been improved if there was no size restriction to the piece; the base size was limited to one sheet of A4. I would have liked to of positioned in a long line, as if to appear as a timeline.


ALL THE ABOVE IMAGES ARE MY OWN

Costume Write-Up: Marie Antoinette

After my little travelling stint over the last month, I'm getting time again to write on here. My first holiday was to Tenerife, for one week of pure relaxation. I took my notebook with the plan to draft out a quick blog post while I was away. I soon realised there would be no time to do so. The second trip I completed was a concert band tour to Tuscany, Italy, but I doubted that the little hill-side hotel would have any internet access, and I was right.
This post will be a short costume write-up of the peach coloured dress worn by Kristin Dunst, in the 2006 version of Marie Antoinette. The dress is used in some of the promotional material for the film. The dress has a peachy jacket-styled top half and a matching skirt, all of which is made of satin silk. For me, what makes this a quick post is that all the research was done last winter when I started my A2 textiles research.

The jacket is a pet-en-l'air which is a shortened version of one of the most flattering gowns in the 18th Century, the Robe à la Fraçais. This was because of the close fit around the torso and the loose elegant fit around the back. Also the garment has full length pleats that run from shoulder to hem line aesthetically enhancing it, therefore making the dress very graceful. The pet-en-l'air is worn over a petticoat skirt. It was an informal piece of clothing which could have been worn for entertaining in one's own home but not worn for going out in as it was not smart enough.

Marie Antoinette herself was a very influential character in terms of the Parisian fashion scene. She arrived in Paris from Austria, in 1770, aged 15 and was to marry Louis XVI. Upon arriving she started to change the Parisian dress, she refused to the wide paniers and the figure altering whalebone corsets. As with every historical film, the designers have artistic license and will make some changes. And in this case it's no different. The pet-en-l'air was at the height of fashion between 1750 and faded out gradually until 1770. This makes it unlikely that Marie Antoinette herself would have worn the item as the scene in the film is some years after she arrived in the country.

Thank you for taking a moment to read this and I hope that it mentions anything that you need to know. If not leave a comment or ask me over on twitter. Similarly stick a comment down below if you have anything to add.

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Costume Write-up: Black Swan

For my first post on here I have decided to write about a costume worn by one of my favourite actresses. I first saw this film in the cinema with a friend, where I spent the entire film laughing like a psychopath the whole way through. Let’s just say my friend was a little scared of me, not just the film, by the end. Yes, the film I'm talking about is ‘Black Swan’ and in particular Natalie Portman’s ballet tutu worn by the black swan.

Costume designer for the film, Amy Westcott, worked meticulously alongside director, Darren Aronofsky, to make sure every last detail was true to life. They knew that a lot of dancers would see the film and knew they were going to spot any imperfections, therefore making them the harshest of critics. Amy Westcott spent months sitting in on dance rehearsals, particularly that of ballet at the American Ballet as well as the New York City Ballet, making sure she left no stone unturned. During these sessions she was not allowed to take any photographs but recorded everything in notes or sketches. I think this level of detail is what makes the characters so believable and what allows the viewer to empathise with them.

The dress is a jet black bell tutu constructed from many layers of fine fabric, most likely silk, to make it stiff and structured skirt which extends straight out from the waist. The skirt has a slight curve to it which gives it the ‘bell’ name. The skirt is topped with long black feathers around the waist. Throughout the bodice and in parts of the skirt there are bright silver jewels and embellishment in order to pragmatically display glimmering memories of light in Nina’s life before the character of the black swan overtook her. I think that the numerous layers of this costume reflect the layers and depth of the character. The edges of the sweetheart bodice are not made to be clean and even which I feel displays her turbulent journey to becomes the black swan over her understudy, played by Mila Kunis.

Early last year, January 2013, I was lucky enough to go to the Hollywood Costume exhibition at the V&A Museum in London where I saw many many beautiful costumes, including Judy Garland’s gingham dress and red sequinned shoes from ‘The Wizard of Oz’, a range of Star Wars out fits such as that of Darth Vader and Han Solo, as well as many more. Among them were three of Natalie Portman’s costumes from the films ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’, ‘Closer’ and ‘Black Swan’. This enabled me to get a first hand, close-up view of the garment its self. Unfortunately this exhibition prohibited photography so I didn't get any of my own photos to take away, only a postcard bought from the V&A shop.

So that brings me to the end of my first costume write up. This won’t be the only time Natalie Portman’s clothing will be the subject of this blog. That lady has amazing acting ability and such varying roles, and yes, Star Wars will feature at some point in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Feel free to leave comment or ask me any questions on here or on my twitter.

I OWN NONE OF THE IMAGES ABOVE

I know, I know, there's nothing here... Yet

This will be a space where I will be sharing  lots of costume knowledge, ideas and designs with you, as well as my various other crafty projects. This blog currently looks nothing like what I want it to but I'm working on it. Please come back roughly mid-summer. Bear with me.