June 14 - 17, 2012
At Wildflower Village, next to the Pub
4395 West 4th Street Reno, NV 89523
(updated April 3, 2012)
Thematic Description:
“Fashion is conformative- Costume is transformative”
At the moment the first ancient shaman wrapped an animal hide around his body to emulate the spirit of the animal, costume was born. Differentiated from functional protective clothing or fashion, costume is set apart by the essential role it plays in art, theater, entertainment, community and spirituality. Not associated with trend or aspired-to social conformity, costume is timeless and non-conformist.
Deeply associated with creative activities and contexts, costume changes the wearer in ways fashion cannot. Costume transforms us into real, mythical or popular culture characters; it changes our personality; it frees us to act out, and encourages the viewer to act along.
Costume often employs materials, methods and techniques of master artists and artisans with meticulous detail, ingenious structural design, incongruous textures, rich colors and forms. Costume artists often expand their traditional needle and thread with hammers, drills, rivets and heat guns. Cloth, leather and traditional materials are often augmented with non-traditional ingredients like plastics, metals, expanding foam or heat forming polymers.
Costume artists may create intricate re-creations of historic costumes of the past, or ignore historic reality and create costumes that previously only existed in the artist’s imagination. In the case of the Steampunk genre, costume artists create their visions of Victorian science fiction-alternate futurism by blending elegant Victorian foundations with the trappings and equipment required in an imaginary today, where the transistor was never invented, and civilization is still powered by steam. In this case, past fashion influences costume and the costume influences modern fashion. Similar circles can be seen in the costume culture evolving out of the annual Burning Man Project.
As it has been for centuries and will be for centuries more, the art of costume is the dress of the special event, the special circumstance, performance, ceremony or ritual. From Mardi Gras to masquerade ball, Comic-Cons to Ren-faires, theater footlight to Burning Man, costume is an integral art, and a part of the culture that makes us human.
Physical Description:
The Room of Costume will occupy two rooms at Wildflower Village. Each of the participating artists of this collaborative effort will occupy a space within the room, which will have a floor to ceiling look and feel representing a late 19th century circus- carnival tent interior with effects lighting and ambient sounds. The installation will contain a significant display of individual, hand made, one of a kind costume pieces and accessories. The project will focus on very high quality costume works that stress individual craftsmanship, artistic design and visual impact. The pieces will range from interpretations of historic and cultural costume, historic stylistic influences and costume forms that cross the divide between garment and sculpture. As the visitor approaches the room, features at and near the doorway will attract the eye and lend anticipation. Ideally, the visitor will enter a sort of reception room where the participating artists can both greet visitors, and demonstrate costume fabrication with sewing tables, tools, and fabrications on-going. This leads through a main room with fabrications that simulate the tent interior. Effective lighting, multi level display, shadow and sound contribute to an engaging environment The doorway into the adjoining room will have a pass-through, such as light wispy curtains and a surrounding portal that visually and emotionally suggests passage into a special space- a dividing line. The separate room allows the artists to control the environment for the display, including light, sound and outside distractions, creating a more immersive effect.
Intended Visitor Experience.
A goal of the installation is to increase awareness and understanding of the art of costume, and increase the awareness and participation of costuming in our lives. Rather than a typical gallery type experience with stuff on white walls, the Room of Costume will bring the visitor into an environment that surrounds them and creates contexts for the display. Interaction with the visitors will be stressed, and the full time presence of participating artists will provide opportunities to engage in conversation about the works and the historical, social and cultural roles of costume arts. Visitors will have hands on opportunities to try on costume pieces and participate personally in the installation.
Demonstration.
At the entrance of the rooms, participating artists will be actively working on new pieces, with work tables, sewing machines, concept pieces, tools and materials where they will demonstrate the methods and techniques used in creating a wide variety of pieces.
Staffing.
The installation will be staffed at all times by the artists. The event is free.
All NadaDada Motel rooms and events are free, open to the public and designed for accessibility.
Participating Artists
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| Killbuck- Costume art, paintings and fabrications. Coordinator for exhibit. | Mary Crawley- Costume artist | Carolyn Runnels- Costume artist | Geoffrey Nelson- Costume themed fine art photography. |
Megan J. Jewett- maker, artistic crafter. |
Definitions:
Fashion refers to a style that is popular at a certain time and place. Fashion is conformist, and desiring conformity to the popular style at the time. Fashion is intended for daily use or certain common social occasions, and special occasions generally require strict conformity to the occasion’s norms.
Costume refers to a visual transformation of the wearer, through materials and accessories in order to create an image, character, archetype, artistic impression or impact. Costume is not associated with trend, and is not conforming, nor is it dependent on fashion popularity. Costume is an art form that can define whole cultures, transform time into periods for theater or film, channels magic through shamans or the voices of the gods through priests. Costume is the apparel of magic, mystery, amusement and performance.
Nada Dada Motel Project summed up as: “Get a room- make a show”. A Reno-local artist’s movement that to a greater extent, started in 2007 as a rejection of Reno’s Artown annual event, which still continues to disregard local artists and favors name-recognized out of town talent.
Steampunk refers to a stylistic genre of art, clothing, literature and fabrication based on interpretations of Victorian science fiction. Developing in disparate forms since the 1960s, it has developed to significantly influence architectural, interior and industrial design such as the Modern Victorian or “Mod Vic" movements.
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Exhibit Planning
Conceptual Digital Sketch based on room photos
Initial sketches modified April 4, begins the process of sculpting the look of the room.
These views show the room in empty and dressed out views and a suggestion with the art pieces placed.
At Wildflower Village, next to the Pub
4395 West 4th Street Reno, NV 89523
http://www.wildflowervillage.com