Dialogue with the Material

The project takes its starting point in a thesis about an ‘absent body’ in the design process, since costumes are often developed in a two-dimensional process, and an ‘absent costume’ for the performer as they develop their character in the rehearsal room; often, the performer does not put on the costume until opening night draws near.

The project sets out to develop a method with the working title Dialogue with the material – on physicality in the design process, which addresses the issues concerning ‘the absent body’ and ‘the absent costume’ by examining the costume from two perspectives: how the costume is perceived through the senses from the inside and how the aesthetic qualities of the costume are perceived from the outside.

By being responsive to the two perspectives (inside and outside) we gain insight into the potential of the costume in the design process, allowing us to reflect on our own work. Between these two perspectives, a dialogue arises in which we approach new reflections on the actual intention of the costume, besides affecting the viewer’s gaze. The objective is to develop a method that juxtaposes the visual expression (the aesthetic quality) and the acting body (the sensory quality) so that both of these qualities are used in the study of the space between body and material (volume, materiality, tectonics etc.)