Costume as art piece

The lecture "The costume as artistic piece" which I presented as part of the exhibition Costumes for the Stage, was a valuable opportunity to share the perspective I have developed on costume design after completing my master's degree in visual arts. The lecture was attended by students from the National School of Theatre Arts, fellow costume designers, and an online audience thanks to the live stream.

At the conference I showed part of my work about costume design, to which I integrate sculptural values ​​into the design. On the other hand, I explained how the project “The costume as an artistic piece” aims to expand the discursive possibilities of stage costumes, through online and in-person laboratories. People from various disciplines have joined and participated. We discuss different theories and practices of sculptural concepts and procedures. We explore values such as shape, material, space, and time to integrate them into costume design; We analyze the work of various artists, experiment with diverse materials and creative strategies, and, most importantly, reflect on the interrelationship between body, costume, and space.

The participants have created projects based on the following premises:

• thinking of the costume as a proxemic device where artistic themes can arise from any nature or field

• Reflecting on the creation of a living space

• Analyzing the behavior of the material and assigning it an intention

• Thinking “activation” instead of “acting”

• considering sculptural values as guides for action

• conceiving costume as a dramatic motor for the scenic piece 

In this project, the common purpose is to express ourselves freely about themes that we are passionate about, themes that are close to our heart and make us question the world around us, using costume as our artistic support.

I believe that having the space to express our ideas is a way to create creative links and collaborations. The means to listen and reflect about a common topic are important; these places allow us to take our projects to more questions, diverse approaches and to the growth of our community, which I realized is becoming larger and more united. I trust in teaching from the costume to show cultural diversity, identities and to take the costume as a means of expression that facilitates empathy and, consequently, facilitating change.

by Laura Martinezti