Jaijai Wilkinson, 2nd Year Contextual Studies

I have explained my works in the previous post, therefore I will not be elaborating further in this post as was I wrote is already concise.

Part One - Fashion

Part Two - Model Making

Part Three - Film and Animation

TURN SOUND ON.

Despite the heavy links between my graphic media and my contextual research, what is the purpose of my graphic media? What is it supposed to be for, and what is it suppose to show? This, I have to admit were not the first questions in mind when I started the physical aspect of my work. But, this is not a disadvantage as it made it easier for me to be able to think as someone viewing my work who has no idea what the themes were, and why I was doing it. A few potential ideas came into  mind:

Concepts for an educational play for children and/or individuals with special needs about the French revolution.

A form of doll's house (but as a Rococo theatre instead) so it in an interactive pieces of anyone, but mostly children and/or individuals with special needs. The short animation can be played while children are interacting with the miniatures and theatre, showing through the dolls what happened during the French Revolution. Still to some extend educational.

A miniature model design for a stage set and costume designs for either a play, ballet or opera.

Specifically costume design for a play, ballet or opera, and the theatre is potentially how the theatre will look where the costumes are being worn at. For this idea and the previous one, the short animation film can be a tester to how the costumes are worn, how well they stay on and fit. Alternatively, it can be a snippet of what part of the entertainment they are showing.

An idea that has somewhat piggy-backed off of the last two ideas was how that theatre can be the location of entertainment, whether already built or a set, and the costumes are for actors walking around the set for pretending to be people from the French Revolution. Similar to the actors at the Tower of London. The Animation can be a snippet of part of their acting routine.

Out of all of these ideas I liked the third idea, but I needed to expand on that idea, and not just set it as what it already was. I decided that the costumes were for a fiction ballet based on the French Revolution, each 'main' character conveying different political identities (these identities conveyed through fashion was explained in P.1). This is to convey how fashion involves itself into a change within society. It would also be feminine based as all characters are women, wearing dresses, to convey the femininity in war and uprising. As most ballets, it would be divided into 3 acts, however would I chose a triple bill or a 3-act story? Either construct would fit with my characters, but I decided to go for the 3-act story as there would be more fluidity despite the intermissions between acts. Note that what will be described is not in the animation film.

Act 1

The character representing the green cockade would have a solo dance, only to get interrupted by the back and white character. Despite dancing together, they are against each other as the green is anti-aristocratic and the black and white is anti-revolutionist. Due to the power the anti-revolutionist has over the green character, she over powers the revolutionist cause the character to collapse in the centre of the stage. The anti-revolutionist then has her solo dance, dancing around the body of the fallen and exits at the end of the act.

Act 2

It carries of from the first act with the body laying on the floor. The character does a lot of floor work dances, and appears to be contorting as if it is changing. Background dancers with dark costumes appear dancing around and with the character, appearing as if they are trying to help her. The green character turns into the red, white and blue character with what appears to resemble a peacock displaying his feathers. This conveys a sense of majesty and power. The new character dances around with the other dances before they all lead off set. The transformation conveys the change in colour for the cockades that support revolutionists.

Act 3

Starts off with an empty stage, until the black and white character enters, appearing to be confident and powerful. This takes a turn as the newly developed green character - now red, white, and blue - enters with pride and determination. They mirror the duo dance from act 1, the anti-revolutionist believing that she will defeat the revolutionist again. However, her dancing becomes weaker and not coordinated symbolising that she is being overthrown by the revolutionist character. Right at the end she is 'decapitated' (most likely have fake blood spraying from her neck and angle her head in a way that her neck is appears broken). The revolutionists has won the revolution.

In a few posts I will answer these two question comprehensively, as well as giving a summary on the research I have done. I came to the conclusion with the theme of identity, with aspects of modernity, when originally I was aiming for the opposite. My outcome for graphic media also changed since the beginning of the 12 weeks, originally going to be purely a stop-motion animation project but now it is fashion miniature making, 3D modelling, and a short film with stop-motion elements incorporated into it. Therefore, my initial artist research into stop-motion animators, such as Phil Tippett was not done in vain. I will get into what my graphic media project is about that laces the themes and research in contextual studies later on in this post.

As mentioned, I wanted to do something based on the theme of identity , but I wanted to do it on a subject that interested me. This lead to the concept of this theme to be historical fashion; specifically fashion during the French Revolution. This would be my central point of research and physical making for contextual studies and graphic media. How would fashion during the French Revolution depict identity? During my research I came across the social and political identities that were highlighted through dress during that period, and essentially throughout the world since the beginning of time. Evidently, the rich and poor dressed differently, creating a visual representation of the class and economic difference. Usually men and women wore different clothes from each other: women wearing stays and petticoats whereas men wore waistcoats and trousers (Jones 1994). The gender difference became more blurred the higher you travelled up the social hierarchy as some noble men continued wear elaborate gowns as did the ladies (Wilson 2003: 118-133). Even when it became less fashionable for men to wear gowns in the courts, they did had a 'feminine' dress with wigs, make-up and flamboyant clothing (Wilson 2003: 118-133). Already, I was looking at multiple identities the historical fashion was displayed during the time of the French Revolution. One identity that I was wanting to looking more into was the political power influencing fashion at the peak of the French revolution. This came down to wearing specific colours of the political party you supported, and sometimes patterns, mostly by a cockade that was pinned on clothing (Wallace N/A). To understand how identity was conveyed through fashion during the French Revolution, I first had to understand how identity was shown through dress throughout history. I wrote a couple of reading reports focusing on these aspects from Adorned in dreams fashion and modernity (Wilson 2003). This gave me a broader knowledge on the concept of dress highlighting different identities, which helped my with my reading report on Repackaging Rousseau: Femininity and Fashion in Old Regime France’ (Jones 1994),with it being specifically about the fashion identity linking with the French revolution. Jones also commented how the French Revolution changed how people dressed in regards to women showing their femininity (Jones 1994: 955-965).

To link this within my graphic media project, I designed and created costumes for miniatures linking political identity through feminine dress during the French Revolution. I wanted to do my own theatrical take on the cockades used during the Revolution, but made those cockades as dresses. The theatrical aspect of my designs was influenced by another artist research Ann Hould-Ward, a costume designer for plays, musicals and dances. And what would a set of theatrical costumes be without a theatre to be in? This was a leading reason as to why I 3D modelled a theatre - influenced by Rococo, a popular art movement during the French Revolution. The cockades I picked out to use were:

All green

Red, white, blue

Black and white

Each one of them represents opposing political parties, hence involving fashion into political and social change. Camille Desmoulins is best known for the storming of Bastille while putting a green leaf in his cap, despite it already being a symbol of a soldier for the Patrie, calling it a cockade (Wallace N/A: 14). The green was seen as the colour of hope, a sign of solidarity and a new identity the revolutionists can rally under (Wallace N/A: 15). However, green caused political conflict as soldiers under Prince de Lamesc wore this colour as uniform, to which the revolutionist did not want to associate themselves with due to the troops attacking a group of civilians in Tuileries Gardens in 1792 (Wallace N/A: 15). This meant that they had to change the colour of the revolutionists that resulted into a tri-colour cockade we know today. The tri-colour meant that they were revolting under the French flag as it shared the same colours, each colour having its own meaning. Blue conveyed the constitution, red highlighted blood willingly spilled for the country, and the white and supposedly an attempt to make a symbolic treaty between the revolutionists and the anti-revolutionist (Wallace N/A: 16). This brings me to the last cockade colour scheme of black and white. This was the colour of anti-revolutionists, a political allegiance to the tri-colour, that symbolised mourning (Wallace N/A: 17). This alone denotes how fashion has been involved in social change, but further supported by the material used for the cockades where coarse and heavier fabrics such as wool was favoured to use as cockades rather than silks as it showed your wealth and state(Wallace N/A: 6) - something that the revolutionists were fighting against: "fabric of clothing transformed into a symbolic statement" (Wallace N/A). This then highlights that political support, conveyed through fashion and dress, challenged the status quo where everyone was united under a colour scheme in rallies and riots. Fashion being part of the French Revolution help change the status quo, particularly how the third state dressed after the revolution - losing their titles, aristocracy and elaborate fashion (Jones 1994).

Using Ann Hould-Ward, as a costume designer, not only links to the an aspect of practicality of my graphic media project, but also other fashion designers I looked into such as Grace Wales Bonner and Charles Jeffery. I picked these designers as their work is based on conveying identity - race and gender. This is further interlinked with other research I conducted into the history of fashion and identity, as well as gender identity in fashion (Wilson 2003: 16-47, 118-133). They fill in blanks to the timeline of fashion of the here and now as the texts I have read only went up to the 1970's-1990's. This then raises the question as to whether contemporary fashion is radial, or just as radial as it was during the French Revolution. During the French revolution fashion radically changed society where the class gap in dress narrowed slightly, with the third state (nobles and aristocrats) women transforming into "public" to "private" women (Jones 1994: 967). What this means is how third state women showed off their wealth by wearing silks, trinkets and elaborative wigs changed either dress to a more muted, natural, domesticity of dress by wearing white muslin and straw hats. This is something that women from the lower states had been wearing during the revolution. (Jones 1994: 955-965). Is this still the same in contemporary fashion? In my opinion, it is not a clear black and white answer as today's 'radical' fashion is more normalised than what it was before, and the distinguishing of class via dress is blurred. We in a western society have the most freedom to express and experiment fashion than we have done in the past, therefore it is not uncommon to see eccentric and daring fashion choices despite general fashion trends. I think was helped normalise this is how each generation before us, mostly in the 20th century, had radical (often with political underlining but not always) fashion statements such as the Punks, Teddy boys, Skin heads and Goths to name a few. All of these were eradicating societal norm and political norm, not to dissimilar to from the cockades used during the French Revolution. All of these radical dress at their time, would not bat an eye in today's society as it had become normalised. And over time all have seeped through and accumulated with each other or different dress and meaning that a lot of people wear today. The radicality, in my opinion, loses its meaning when the dress becomes normalised. However, you could turn that point to say that experimenting with clothes, and defying to social trends of dress is somewhat radical, especially when it comes to the identity of gender through dress. Gender stereotypes through dress, which I discussed in my third reading report, is continually challenged with men wearing 'feminine' clothing and women wearing 'masculine' clothing. Also something Charles Jeffrey challenges in is fashion brand. Will radical gender fashion still be radical in 10 years time if what it defies in society become normalised or social trends? Will this cycle repeat itself regardless of what the dress is being radical with?

Bibliography:

Jones, J.M. (1994) ‘Repackaging Rousseau: Femininity and Fashion in Old Regime France’, French historical studies, 18(4), pp. 939–967.

Wallace, C (N/A) Symbols of the French Revolution: Colors of Cockades, Fabric and Their Importance in Politics of 178. Article 53 002_Wallace_31_53 (1).pdf

Wilson, E. (2003) Adorned in dreams fashion and modernity. [Rev. and updated ed.]. London: I.B. Tauris. Chapter 2: The History of Fashion, p.16-47. 

Fig 1. Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY (2018) Autumn/Winter Collection, London.

Charles Jeffrey describes his fashion label LOVERBOY as “It’s gender-queer, it’s powerful, it’s misfit, it’s angry, it’s sweaty.” (Allwood 2015). The label being launched in 2015 is not only a fashion brand, but a cult nightclub that both fed each other (Allwood 2015; Somerset House Studios N/A). LOVERBOY, however, actually started while Jeffrey was still at CSM from his primary research, early fashion collections and influences from his friends of various artistic backgrounds such as poets, musicians, artists, performers and drag queens (Somerset House Studios N/A). The Scottish fashion designer incorporates Scottish folklore with with the queer nightclubs of London (Tomorrow N/A). This is stitched together by the punk aesthetic, with the clothing being originally DIY (Allwood 2015), Jeffrey stating "A lot of the clothes are made from things that I have around me like existing pieces, materials that are already made, things I already have. There’s a concept we’re trying to push where we get a piece of clothing from everyone that’s been going to the club and reclaim it again" (Allwood 2015). In the June 7th Issue of Vogue Men Fashion France Issue, it was written that Jeffrey is a "designer teleports us in the eighties, in a post-punk spirit. Charles Jeffrey electrifies menswear drawing the dress code extrovert clubbers London" (Somerset House Studios N/A). The self-expression and experimentation of the designs convey the tension between control and chaos (Somerset House Studios N/A).

As mentioned, Charles Jeffrey's brand heavily supports and is influenced by the queer community - one of his focuses LOVERBOY puts out is the queer wellness (Tomorrow N/A). One of his shows, during London Fashion Week, had people painted in white went screaming at the audience and heckling models while they were were walking on the runway (Cochrane 2018). They would also be swigging wine while doing this (Cochrane 2018). This was influenced by Alan Downs’ 2005 book The Velvet Rage, a book about growing up gay (Cochrane 2018). Jeffrey chose this book to highlight the anger and hurt of not being 'normal', accepting the rage and utilising that through fashion (Cochrane 2018). The concept of gender in fashion, what clothing is gendered, and whether is clothing should be gender has been a hot debate in the last several years. This has led to unisex fashion, a style of drowning and discounting gender in fashion (Cochrane 2018). Jeffrey seems to do the opposite with his brand by playing with gender constructs instead of demolishing them (Cochrane 2018). He's dressed men up in stereotypical female clothing (a floor-length gown) and women in stereotypical male clothing (striped trousers) conveying a free-for-all concept of gender and fashion (Cochrane 2018).

Another focus is from Jeffrey's heritage of being Scottish. As seen in Fig 1. he embodies the tartan pattern that is well known to be on Scottish kilts. This is a "Looking back to look forward" (Somerset House Studios N/A) a form of historical references rendered to a modern dress to pay respect to his ancestry (Somerset House Studios N/A). This style is evident to Jeffrey's personal style, as he has been seen wearing "The kilt is combined with an oversized leather jacket, chambray shirt, beret, striped football socks and paint-splattered boots held together with bright yellow electrical tape." by Lauren Cochrane (2018) who interviewed him.

Unfortunately, there was not a lot of information I could find on Charles Jeffrey as there was a lot of repetition of a small amount of information. This shouldn't deter how revolutionary Jefferey is in the fashion scene, especially in the queer fashion scene. One thing I love about his work is how he incorporates many identities to form a new, unique, and unapologetic identity. Obviously, I there are more links from this contemporary work to the research I have been doing, compared to my research on Grace Wales Bonner, in regards to identities of gender.

References

Allwood, E. H. (2015) Meet the ringleader of London’s next-generation club kids. Fashion - feature, Dazed Meet the ringleader of London’s next-generation club kids (dazeddigital.com)

Cochrane, L. (2018) Charles Jeffrey and the designers transforming fashion for a post-gender world. The Guardian. Charles Jeffrey and the designers transforming fashion for a post-gender world | Fashion industry | The Guardian

Somerset House Studios. (N/A) Charles Jeffrey. Somerset House Studios. Charles Jeffrey | Somerset House

Fig 1. Wales Bonner (2019) Autumn/Winter Collection, London.

Grace Wales Bonner launched the brand Wales Bonner in 2015 (Cook 2019), following her graduation at CSM in 2014, that originally focused on menswear but later expanded to include womenswear as well (Wales Bonner N/A). The Jamaican-British designer incorporates "European heritage with an Afro Atlantic spirit" (Wales Bonner N/A) and explores the identity of politics and black culture (Cook 2019) - redefining on black masculinity and what Britishness is while connecting her work to black diaspora (Nnadi 2019). Her works represent a new, multi-layered British identity - by being mixed race herself (English mother and Jamaican father), she wanted to convey the complicity of ethnic identity and race through her clothing line (Nnadi 2019). Wales Bonner does this by infusing Rastafarian crochet stripes and ornamentations from cowrie shells - ancient African currency - with British tailoring (Cook 2019). She stated: "I want to bring an Afro-Atlantic perspective to European luxury... It’s about valuing certain ideas around craft, and heritage, and tradition, and value all of these things in the same conversation." (Clark 2023).

Her works have not gone unnoticed. Her clothing has been worn by high profiled celebrities such as Megan Markle (for her first portrait with Prince Harry after the birth of their first child), Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, and FKA Twigs (Clark 2023; Cook 2019; Nnadi 2019). Having Megan Markle wear a Wales Bonner was depicted as significant in the black community. This was because Megan Markle, being mixed-race as well, is the first biracial member of the British royal family, and decided to wear the Wales Bonner brand - a brand that voices the racially marginalised at the front of its fashion (Cook 2019). Wales Bonner clothing also united black artists from other creative professions. In her Fall 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week, she cited a 1929 deco-period portrait of the Maharaja and Maharani of Indore as an inspiration of her work, and while the models walked down the runway, award-winning jazz trumpeter Herman Mehari was played (Clark 2023).

Being brought up in a biracial family, Wales Bonner stated how growing up she was looked for reflections of herself or reflections of her family (Cook 2019) in media and fashion. Her confusion in identity - being told she was too white for her black friends and too black for her white friends - sparked her interest of identity politics around race in her late teenage years (Clark 2023) which evidently has migrated into her fashion brand. In regards to her brand, she wants to increase the racial diversity of models, presenting her clothing on black or mixed-race models (Cook 2019). Due to the lack of representation of black models in the industry, part of her brand was formed in a reaction to it, especially black male representation (Cook 2019). Through her work she is "connecting to a lineage and a history where there are many examples of the very elegant, sophisticated characters that were part of a [historical] narrative that just weren’t being included.”

I enjoyed researching Grace Wales Bonner and what the Wales Bonner label stands for. I think it is great that she is including other racial heritages that are not mainstream, and giving exposure to how other cultures convey elegance and beauty. It was interesting to research about clothing representing ethnic and racial identity instead of class and gender, which has given me another outlook on dress. However, the history of fashion incorporating different cultures is very long and complex, and cannot begin to be summarised by just one contemporary fashion designer. Despite race not being part of my graphic media project, unlike class and gender, it has broadened out my knowledge on how fashion and dress can convey different identities.

References

Clark, M. (2023) The grand designs of Grace Wales Bonner. Fashion, GQ Magazine. Grace Wales Bonner: "My focus is on building an intuitively important luxury brand" | British GQ (gq-magazine.co.uk)

Cook, G. (2019) How Grace Wales Bonner is changing the face of fashion. Financial Times, The Financial Times Ltd. How Grace Wales Bonner is changing the face of fashion (ft.com)

Nnadi, C. (2019) 5 Reasons Why Grace Wales Bonner Is a Force of Fashion. Vogue. 5 Reasons Why Grace Wales Bonner Is a Force of Fashion | Vogue

To link my research on fashion and dress conveying social and personal identities - such as gender, class and sexuality - to the present art world, I wanted to look at contemporary artists that replicate this. However, I have been struggling to find contemporary artists that predominantly use textiles or fashion to express identities in their work. So, I thought that I would start off with modern fashion designers who's clothing lines are centred around identity. Upon research, two fashion designers stuck out to me: Grace Wales Bonner and Charles Jeffery.

Wilson, E. (2003) Adorned in dreams fashion and modernity. [Rev. and updated ed.]. London: I.B. Tauris. Chapter 6: Gender and Identity, p.118-133.

In this chapter, Wilson goes into depth on how fashion conveyed one's identity, and how dress defined and redefined sexuality gender norms.

Wilson starts off the chapter denoting how men and women's dress was similar to each other with examples of both wearing long robes, carrying purses and having daggers suspended from their belts (Wilson, 2003: 118). By the 15th century dress became more extravagant, and more perplexing to distinguish men for women via their dress which caused outrage by Elizabethan moralists who were disgusted that women dressed like men (Wilson, 2003: 118). However, the androgyny pursued into the next century, with more bisexual styles where both sexes appeared flat chested, wore ruffs and jewelled bodices (Wilson, 2003: 118). By the 17th century this continued where both sexes styled their hair into ringlets, accessorised their silk gowns with lace and frills (Wilson, 2003: 118). Despite both sexes copying styles from each other, the stereotypical gendered individuality in dress became more prevalent during the early stages of the industrial revolution (Wilson, 2003: 119). During this time, it became difficult to separate between gender and sexuality as the sexual allure due to gendered ambiguity of dress (Wilson, 2003: 119). There were no conventions tied to the sexual allure that was entirely 'feminine' or 'masculine' (Wilson, 2003: 119).

Part of a Feminist Theory is questioning if gender mapped onto sexuality, relying on the psychoanalysis of Freud (Wilson, 2003: 120), which could be argued that Freud's analysis was of its time, and not held highly in today due to lack of validity. Freud stated that in all women there is a residue of the masculine - reverse for men - which expressed the bisexuality in women's lives (Wilson, 2003: 120). I do have an issue with this statement; despite my acknowledgement of Freud's writings being in a time where understanding of a person's brain and behaviour was still knew, he does make an extreme generalisation to all women. This implies that every woman would want to dress in feminine and masculine stereotyped clothing which takes away the individuality of each woman. Some women will prefer to wear dresses all the time, whereas some women would want to dress completely masculine for that time. His argument is supported, not well in my opinion, on how both sexes flee from the passivity that is implied by femininity (Wilson, 2003: 120) by dressing in a masculine overtone. If that was so, then all women would not want to express their gender identity through 'girly girl' dresses, and men would not want to dress in female clothing i.e. transvestites and drag queens. Peter Ackroyd's writings on transvestism (Wilson, 2003: 120) supports my argument against Freud. Ackroyd stated that the social construction of gender is through the fear and desire for the chaos of chaos, giving examples of transvestites in certain cultures being seen as sorcerers for being able to have the double nature of being a man and a woman (Wilson, 2003: 120, 121). However, I am picking apart a theory from a perspective where gender norms have changed drastically since Freud.

While masculinity, femininity and the androgynous became a show in dress, elegance for women was also seen as an artistic production (Wilson, 2003: 121). In the 19th century there was a "necessity of uniqueness within similarity" (Wilson, 2003: 122) as a bourgeois woman needed to wear a uniform of fashion, yet also express her personality (Wilson, 2003: 123). The concept of appearance becoming conjoined with identity became ubiquitous with courting rituals: a virgin on the marriage market would need to convey their family status as well as their seductiveness, willing to obey their future husband, and be able to run a household at the same time (Wilson, 2003: 123). Personality extending to dress became a contradiction within the mass market as it developed with garments being aimed to individualise women yet sort them into groups (Wilson, 2003: 124). There are many examples of this, one being in the 1920s, Bullock's department store divided customers into six personality types (romantic, statuesque, artistic, picturesque, modern, conventional) (Wilson, 2003: 124), and depending on which characteristics you fitted in with the most, you would wear that style of dress picked out for that personality type. When I read this, it did remind me of astrology, having certain characteristics because you are a specific star sign. I do have my disagreements with that aspect of astrology, which correlates to the categorisation of personalities for dress; not everyone will have all the characteristics of one personality or star sign, but rather a mixture of multiple ones. Therefore, it would be hard to fit in one particular dress to define one's personality - one would need to have multiple dress styles to accompany their personality. This could lead to a confusion or complication of one's identity if their only way to express it is through dress.

The beauty in elegance to convey a woman's personality shifted to be found in what society deemed as ugly (Wilson, 2003: 127). In the August of 1929, Vogue Magazine recognised that the aesthetic of 'ugliness' infiltrated the beauty standards stating: "the international 'beauties' of today an you will see features that were never lovely...faces that a passed [sic] generation might even have called ugly but which today are universally admired for their chic" (Wilson, 2003: 130). This is something which I have seen in my time and have had personal experience with: it is a repeated behaviour, like fashion, that is recycled throughout history - nothing is ever truly new when it comes to beauty and dress standards. However, with the 'aesthetic of ugly' there is a period after of naturalism returning, with examples of changing the flat-chested masculine look of the 1920s into the newer, more feminine look of the 1930s, and the naturalism of the hippy movement in the late 1960s-early 1970s (Wilson, 2003: 130).

Another shift of identity in beauty and dress due to modernism was the tan - a prime example of 'ugly' becoming fashionable. If one had a tan before the 1920s, they were regarded a workers (Wilson, 2003: 131), especially if they laboured in the sun for long hours. By the 1920s, a tan was a sign of wealth as it showed one who was rich enough to travel abroad to exotic countries (Wilson, 2003: 131). However, it is not not seen as popular among the wealthy as most people of all classes can afford holidays (Wilson, 2003: 131), therefore the beauty of the tan becoming the norm does not make it a beauty standard or a sign of wealth anymore.

It could be said that this aesthetic could be an anti-fashion, making a parody of fashion trends and elegance than then become trends themselves such as the punk movement. Jean Paul Gaultier, regarded as a punk-influenced Paris couturier in the early 1980s, dressed his models, who were "of all shapes and sizes" (compared to the stick-thin models at the time), in a "motely fusion of punk pilfering, slattern sophistication and B-movie anecdotes" (Wilson, 2003: 132). Corsets became outerwear, anything that didn't go together went together (Wilson, 2003: 132), usually to make a statement, subverted the concept of what fashion and dress was. In the words of Gaultier "It's always the badly-dressed people who are the most interesting." (Wilson, 2003: 132), to which I agree as they convey their identity through dress but in a way that society doesn't categories them: they categorise themselves. However, I do think this becomes a blur when their 'ugly' fashion becomes mainstream and popular, as it becomes something it was originally against.

Wilson, E. (2003) Adorned in dreams fashion and modernity. [Rev. and updated ed.]. London: I.B. Tauris. Chapter 2: The History of Fashion, p.16-47. 

To expand on more broader themes associated with my work, I turned to Adorned in dreams fashion and modernity by Elizabeth Wilson (2003). I came across two chapters that caught my interest: The History of Fashion (chapter 2) and Gender and Identity (chapter 6). With two chapters I want to focus on, I will be conducting two reading reports from this book, one report of each chapter. In this report, I will be focusing on The History of Fashion.

When you think of the beginning of fashion, you would think the concept of fashion as we know it today was during the 14th century due to the increase in more elaborate styles of clothing and variations (Wilson 2003: 20). While the is not wrong at all, the concept of tailoring is an ancient invention with evidence of eyed needles being found on Palaeolithic sites - sites conveyed civilisations existing 40,000 years ago - supporting that claim (Wilson 2003: 17). Early tailoring was believed to sew animal skins into protective suits (Wilson 2003: 17). Tailoring in the classical period was firstly mentioned during the edict of Diocletian (Wilson 2003: 17). However, fitted clothes that were sewn were associated with Barbarians while the Romans and Greeks had their clothing draped: the fundamental distinction between dress was not gendered like in the last 200 years, but between the draped and sewn styles (Wilson 2003: 17). What is interesting, is how despite the Romans reluctantly, and perhaps hubris about their Empire, they adopted aspects of an Oriental hierarchy into the court of the Emperor Diocletian via the clothing (Wilson 2003: 17). The imperial/military were robed with purple, senators would be distinguished from the equestrian as the senators would have a broad band on their garments and the equestrians a narrow band despite both garments having the same colour that was deemed honourable (Wilson 2003: 17).After the downfall of the Western Empire in AD 476, the Eastern Empire of Byzantium was also heavily influenced by oriental traditions, with the Imperial court having fixed, slow-moving ceremonies which came across as a sort of dancing performance (Wilson 2003: 17, 18). During these rituals, specific costumes were worn depending on one's position and which half of the dance was being performed. For example, in the first dance tribunes and vicars wore blue and white garments that had short sleeves, gold bands and wore rings on their ankles, but in the second dance they wore green and red garments (Wilson 2003: 18).

Another aspect of history that defined fashion was religion, primarily Christianity. Early Christians believes that the second coming of Christ was imminent, therefore the concept of style and dress mattered little to them with the Christian asceticism influencing the way men and women dressed (Wilson 2003: 18). Both sexes dressed the same - simple loose robes (Wilson 2003: 18) - which was also influenced by their views of the body (Wilson 2003: 21). It invoked a penitential moralism as there was a sense of guilt about the body, and conveying one's sexuality to be sinful, and clothed themselves in a way to subvert the sexual guilt (Wilson 2003: 21). Certain clothing also deemed sinful as it conveyed pride in the wealth and rank of a person as well as lust in beauty (Wilson 2003: 21). Fashion trying to be modest and conceal sexuality furthered the concept of displaying it at the same time. A prime example of this is the codpiece, a male garment used to conceal the genitals yet it draws your attention straight to that area, especially when it was revealed by a shortened doublet (Wilson 2003: 21).

One thing I found interesting in this chapter was how the classical Graeco-Roman dress celebrated the body, and accepted the natural beauty (a stark contrast to the Judeo-Christian perspective) (Wilson 2003: 20,21), except the Cretan culture (Wilson 2003: 21). Men and women displayed on wall paintings or as statuette were seen to have constricted and elongated waists which implied that the used metal belts to alter their original body from childhood (Wilson 2003: 21). This reminded me, and was also written in the chapter, of African influence with different tribes elongating their necks or ears to achieve the utmost beauty (Wilson 2003: 21).

As mentioned at the start of this report, I mentioned that the 14th century saw a proliferation of more elaborate fashion for the two sexes than any other time in history (Wilson 2003: 20). The early capitalism was linked with the expansion of trade (Wilson 2003: 22) to which the concept of fashion was affected by, and not only was integral to the increase in trade from the beginnings of the industrial revolution, but also the change in modernity from a feudal system with the rise of the bourgeoisie (Wilson 2003: 22). Style of dress continued to convey one's social rank (Wilson 2003: 22), with poorer classes wearing the cheaper cloth such as bluet, russet or undyed blanket cloth (Wilson 2003: 22) . However, during this time was the increase in different style of dress based off of profession, not just economic class. an example of this would be millers, bakers or cooks wearing white as they dealt with flour, and would less likely show the workers to be covered in it (Wilson 2003: 22, 23). It could be argued that not only did fashion highlight one's profession, but it was used for practical uses for said profession.

Over the next two centuries there was an increase in sumptuary laws in western Europe that attempted to legally restrict was an individual could wear (Wilson 2003: 24). This was not without 'reason': regulations of fashion was attempting to preserve the distinct economic and social ranking between classes that was beginning to blur with the development of the bourgeoisie (Wilson 2003: 24). The old order of the feudal system was being replaced but the modern class that worked with its fluctuation fortunes and not a hierarchy ordained by lineage (Wilson 2003: 24). Another reason for these laws was that "extravagance was held to be morally harmful" (Wilson 2003: 24). This was associated with the economic doctrines by the mercantilists stating how the focus of importing precious metals such as gold would replace the importation of necessary goods (Wilson 2003: 24).

By the time the industrial revolution was in full swing, the pace of life quickened, and affected the fast-paced changes in styles and relevancy within the fashion industry. The rush of life was intensified with the mass production of magazines (Wilson 2003: 27) which in turn produced more fashion magazines aimed towards women and women of higher classes. Despite this, male clothing was the first to have many variations of what different clothing was used for was activity and time of day (Wilson 2003: 27) - from 1830 to 1900 bourgeois women's dress lagged behind (Wilson 2003: 33). Some of these included everyday riding clothes, sport clothes, and normal day dress designed with lace and velvet (Wilson 2003: 27). The industrial revolution mixed with new political ideals and aspects of romanticism resulted in the change in the male apparel also known as the 'great masculine renunciation', where it was believed that the men abandoned the aspect of dressing as a form of display, only letting the women continue the social ritual (Wilson 2003: 27, 29). Men style removed make up and effeminacy, and replaced the display of colour and ornaments for a varied cuts and fitting (Wilson 2003: 29). This debunks the myth that fashion during and after the industrial revolution was just a feminine affair (Wilson 2003: 33,34). In the 18th century, it was extremely important to dress as masculine as a man could as dressing effeminate increased the suspicion and stereotyping of a man being a homosexual (Wilson 2003: 30). This was seen as being very controversial for a man to dress effeminately or be openly gay as not only was homosexuality illegal during the 18th century, it was seen as a permanent psychological condition that was permanent (Wilson 2003: 30).

During this time, women also began to leave the heavy make up and powdered wigs, along with corsets, and adopted styles without exaggerated hoop skirts (Wilson 2003: 29). Yet, by the early 19th century women's roles in society was narrowing which meant the dress what distinguishing gender more (Wilson 2003: 29). The concept of a woman and costume combined created the definition of femininity, with the style of ballet-dancer fragility dominating the style of women in the early Victorian period (Wilson 2003: 29). The style depicted meek submissiveness (Wilson 2003: 30). The fragility of femininity expressed in fashion got swapped for a more masculinised look in the early 20th century. This was mostly due to the concept of uniform becoming a fashion icon for women. Gabrielle Chanel launched as a dressmaker during WW1, and began to design the modern fashion for women, creating suits out of beige lock nit and grey flannel - cloth used for men's blazers and underwear - which was unheard of for women's fashion (Wilson 2003: 40). The 'feminising of masculine fashion' (Wilson 2003: 40) that Chanel hopped on was seen in spirit of modernity and futurism (Wilson 2003: 41). Yet, it was seen as anti-fashion and nihilistic (Wilson 2003: 41) to how fashion should be for women. It was also a classless style which soon prompted Chanel's designs into mass marketing (Wilson 2003: 41). Another female designer who was seen as ahead of her time, like Chanel, was Clair McCardell. Although se was not a household name like Chanel, she was deemed as one of the most influential designers during the 1930s to the 1950s (Wilson 2003: 41). She invented more comfortable modern styles for women such as tights and flat shoes (Wilson 2003: 41).

23rd February 2024

Started looking at theatres that were built during the tail end of the 1700s, and some the first few years of the 1800s. This is to get a better idea of how I want my theatre to look like.

Also looked at Rococo architecture to see other alternatives style wise for my theatre

1st March 2024 - 8th March 2024

15th March 2024

22nd March 2024

During Easter and April:

Jones, J.M. (1994) ‘Repackaging Rousseau: Femininity and Fashion in Old Regime France’, French historical studies, 18(4), pp. 939–967.

Repackaging Rousseau: Femininity and Fashion in Old Regime France (Jones: 1994) is a text surrounding gender politics and interpreting the role of gender through fashion from pre-French revolution to during the French revolution. In particular, focusing interpretation of gender, the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau condemning women (mostly from the aristocratic and bourgeois classes), and Jones - the author - challenging Rousseau's theories (Jones: 1994).

Rousseau's first hand accounts of gender politics and womanhood in France in the 1700s have been heavily relied on by scholar of 18th century construction of gender (Jones 1994: 940) which has lead his being known for having a savage (Jones 1994: 939, 940) and forthright in his opinions on women, which has lead other scholars to cast Rousseau as an extreme misogynist or a proto-feminist (Jones 1994: 940). For many scholars, his political theory on gender in the mid to late 18th century France is seen as writings of his time which conveyed the growing separations of the public realm of male virtue from the private realm of female domesticity (Jones 1994: 939). Jones stated how women's historians may need to reconsider relying on Rousseau's works (Jones 1994: 940) when exploring how womanhood was displayed through male eyes, especially through his obsessive worries about theatre, commerce, fashion and display (Jones 1994: 940). His worries on how women chose their lifestyle implies links between commerce and gender politics (Jones 1994: 940) to which did critiques was grounded on gendered conceptions of masculine work and male producers (Jones 1994: 940). Jones argued despite the importance of his writings in the cultural tension that concerned women for some readers, the readers would still need to consider how Rousseau was amended, interpreted and sidestepped by his contemporaries (Jones 1994: 941). The author engages in questions regarding the debate of womanhood in the 1700s: "What was the relationship of women to the public sphere as it has been defined by Jurgen Habermas? Did the public sphere offer possibilities for women to participate in reasoned critiques of the state? Or was the public sphere inherently masculinist?" (Jones 1994: 941). Jones suggested taking into account the argument of Habermas that has been neglected (Jones 1994: 941) and over-ridden by Rousseau's claims. Habermas emphasised on the economic developments that links the emergence of the public sphere to the expansion of commercial capitalism (Jones 1994: 941). His main point centred around the development of the bourgeois and the emerging capitalist society which developed the press to criticise the mercantilist and absolutist (Jones 1994: 942).

Jones suggested how important it is to look at the new representations of femininity and gendered political culture emerging from the French Revolution being linked to the commercial culture of France (Jones 1994: 942). Merchants such as fashion editors, retailers and distributors were within the emerging public sphere, and through fashion they played a key role in formulating the attitudes about womanhood in France (Jones 1994: 942). Between 1650 and the French revolution the commercial culture in Paris increased significantly in the consumption of clothing and the increase in fashion styles and trends - la mode (Jones 1994: 943). During 1650, dressing fashionably was only accessible to small group of elite women and men, who were able to have financial access to silks, ornate garments and gold or silver brocades (Jones 1994: 943). The financially restricted population had coarse, homemade clothing or castoffs of the upper class (Jones 1994: 943). By the late 1700s, a broader range of people with different incomes could afford more lavish fashion (Jones 1994: 943). With all Parisian classes, their wardrobe had increased in value, garments, and variety (Jones 1994: 943). For example, maids were able to afford cleaner and whiter blouses and cuffs, and calicoes with more colour that was not grey or brown (Jones 1994: 943).

However, the rise of more accessible, high-value fashion became the 'problem' of the relationship of women to the consumption and la mode (Jones 1994: 943). (Jones 1994: 943). Villermert, fashion editor and author during this time (Jones 1994: 943) was a self-styled "friend of women" yet accused women of frivolity for buying clothes (Jones 1994: 944). Yet, harsher critics accused women of destroying their families and undermining masculine virtue, which threatened the backbone of France's economy and prestige due to their spending on excessive and "tasteless" fashion (Jones 1994: 944). It was believed by some that women were enslaved to la mode, who would squander the family's income and starving their children in the name of up-to-date fashion (Jones 1994: 948). Rousseau denounced the fashion as artificial, and drew a distinction between cultivating one's beauty and pursuing les modes: "The love of fashion is in bad taste, because when one changes one's fashion, one's face and figure nevertheless remains the same, and that which suits one one time should suit one forever." (Jones 1994: 944, 945). Rousseau conveyed how commercial culture had corrupted women's taste, and could not see any positive roles for women as consumers, and viewed a world were women were satisfied with wearing simple garments (Jones 1994: 945).

On the eve of the French revolution, a formal dress were of elaborate fashion of ruffles, brocaded silks and ballooning paniers influenced by the rococo style (Jones 1994: 945). Despite this, a simpler style of dress appeared in the 1780s of graceful white muslin view with brocaded silks, accompanied with natural hair and straw hats (Jones 1994: 945, 946). The battle between these two styles increased debate of the proper relationship between women and consumerism which tensioned more when Marie Antionette, known for her excessive fashion, had a portrait painted of her in 1783 by Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun showing the queen with the more modest and graceful taste (Jones 1994: 946). Due to this, the modest appearance was coined Sophie (Jones 1994: 946). Despite this strict Rousseauean style, clothing merchants were threatened that this would ruin their fashion empire, and accused the queen of "dressing like a chambermaid in order to humiliate France" and ruining the clothing industry deliberately (Jones 1994: 946). The different styles conveyed the different styles of femininity - different concepts of women's proper relationships to domesticity and consumption (Jones 1994: 947).

The consumption patterns between men and women began to diverge dramatically in the 1700s (Jones 1994: 948). The statistics highlighted that most women of all classes spent twice as much on clothes than their husbands, and after 1750 the relative value increased 5-10 times more rapidly than their husbands (Jones 1994: 948). Just before the French revolution, a typical Parisian man might possess 15 items of clothing - worth 38 livres - while his wife might possess up to 50 items of clothing - worth 346 livres (Jones 1994: 948). What did not help with the mass consumption of clothing was the increase in issues of fashion journals and articles. In the 17th century there was biannual issues regarding the 'latest' fashion, whereas by the time the French revolution of around the corner several journals were published in reporting the ever-changing styles (Jones 1994: 949). Within the multiple fashion journals the fashion press suggested that to keep up with the latest fashion, not only did you have to change clothes seasonally but change clothing multiple times in a day for different events (Jones 1994: 952). Another statistic between gender consumption conveyed that fashion journals were more targeted for a female dominant audience as women's clothing were more than half of the engravings, whereas male clothing only made up 11 percent (Jones 1994: 953). When a journal portrayed male fashion, it was directed at young men as it was seen as being a fashionable male was for courting purposes only; it was deemed shameful for a man to be into fashion (Jones 1994: 953, 954).

Before the French revolution, women possessed more than men in terms of clothing, and those women (mostly from the aristocrat and Bourgeois) possessed more than other women (Jones 1994: 958). The revolution tested the fashion journal's editors which offered evidence that a woman's interest in fashion is innate, rooted in their femininity, rather than in social identity and financial privilege (Jones 1994: 955). The French revolt may have 'banished' the artificial and moral corruption that prospered in high society, but it did not tamper the adornments women wore as the new regime saw women's love for fashion as part of their nature (Jones 1994: 955). However, during the revolt, the editor of the Journal de la mode et du gout explained that "the practice of decoration one's clothing with precious metals have been displaced along with the aristocracy" (Jones 1994: 960), and that taste was the sole reason to distinguish oneself rather than ostentation (Jones 1994: 960). Another way the revolution effected women's fashion was colour and pattern. Politics influenced colour whether it was cockades or dresses: dresses in lime green (with pink spots) were inspired by the state visit of the ambassadors if Tippoo-Saib, and the fall of Bastille (Jones 1994: 956, 957). The concept of la mode and fashion was associated with the turmoil of the French revolution, but it was not that harmful and should have been applauded and not feared as it was to appease a woman's innate pleasure (Jones 1994: 962) but got mixed up with the political aspects of the revolution. However, by the late 1700s only ostentatious fashions were condemned for being bad taste and being excessive luxury (Jones 1994: 964). The editor of Journal de la mode et du gout write in April 1791 "It is women who have lost the most with the Revolution. The names and imposing titles... shared with their husbands have been taken away from them... they have been relegated to the simple practice of domestic duties." (Jones 1994: 966).

Post-revolution, new fashioned were not deemed as threatening to family finances, but improved the compatibility with the consumption of fashion with the domesticity of caring for the family (Jones 1994: 965). Fashion went from conveying a "public woman" figure to a "private women", exiting the elitist pre-revolutionary lifestyle to a domestic life (Jones 1994: 967).

During the first few weeks of graphic media, my idea changed slightly to what I want to do. Instead of doing a stop-motion animation, I will be construction a miniature theatre (preferably in a design popular from the time of the French revolution) where my miniature models will be placed. I also redid the designs to make them more theatrical, as if the models are performing in a play or opera. The designs are also my idea of what cockades worn during the French revolution would look like as costumes - they also keep a similar silhouette to different dress styles from the French revolution as well.

This means I need to change my artist research, to which I have chosen Ann Hould-Ward.

Ann Hould-Ward

The costume designer gained notability for her designs in musicals on Broadway such as Beauty and the Beast and Into The Woods in which she has gained numerous awards and nominations (Heterick 2015; Lanes 2018; Tantleff N/A; The Art of Costume 2021). Ann Hould-Ward received her first Tony and Desk Award nominations in 1984 (Heterick 2015) for her costume designs in the musical Sunday in the Park with George (1984) that was written by James Lapin (Heterick 2015; Lanes 2018). Hould-Ward would be nominated for the same awards in 1988 for her work in Into The Woods (Heterick 2015; Tantleff N/A). She would then go on to win a Tony award for her designs in Beauty and the Beast in 1994 (Heterick 2015; Tantleff N/A; The Art of Costume 2021). Other awards she has been nominated for or won are Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, American Theatre Wing, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier awards (Tantleff N/A). But her work doesn't stop at musicals - Hould-ward has delved into dance, film, opera and concerts with her costume designs (Tantleff N/A) such as The Colour Purple and the Nutcracker (The Art of Costume 2021), as well as being a senior lecturer in costume design (Tantleff N/A).

In an interview with Elliot Lanes (2018) Ann Hould-Ward stated her influences for her journey to become a costume designer: her mother front and foremost taught her to sew, Barbara Matera and her costume shop as it was the first time Hould-Ward got to see how costumes were made, and the legendary costume designer Patricia Zipprotd. To which her own award the 'Patricia Zipprodt Award for Innovative Costume Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology' was given to Hould-Ward in 2001 in memory of Zipprotd (The Art of Costume 2021). Interestingly, she highlighted that her first job designing clothes for her paper dolls (Lanes 2018; The Art of Costume 2021) before graduating from Mills Collage at University of Virginia (The Art of Costume 2021).

Also in the interview, Hould-Ward depicted her process of designing costumes. "A truly good sketch tells the dialogue of the character with the show and enlightens the director and actor as to where the tactile world of the character exists." (Lanes 2018). She then mentioned that the next step is figuring out the fabrics with the head of the costume shop. This can take several hours and looking through hundreds of fabric to find the right one that have the correct relationship and shape for the actor's body (Lanes 2018). A basic toile made out of muslin is then draped and worn by the actor to check for comfortability, movement and fitting before transferring those measurements onto the actual fabric (Lanes 2018). Dress rehearsals are conducted after the initial making of the costumes, and depending on the relationships the costumes have with each other, and other aspects of the performance such as lighting and the set, the costumes are sent back to be altered (Lanes 2018). The final changes will be at the preview with feedback from the audience and directors (Lanes 2018).

Fig 1. Left: Ann Hould-Ward (N/A) Costume Design for Belle [Sketch] Middle: Susan Egan as Belle and Terrance Mann as Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Broadway Right: Ann Hould-Ward (N/A) Costume Design for Beast [Sketch]

One of the Ann Hould-Ward's works I will be taking influence from is her costumes designs for Beauty and the Beast (1994). It it evident that she took influence from the Disney film of the same name in 1991 directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. What I found interesting is how during this process Hould-Ward met with the same animators that worked on the film to gain a better understanding of their process and development to aid her designs (Lanes 2018). She also studied the initial story and the historical nature of it from the mid-1700s (The Art of Costume 2021) - A few decades before the French Revolution. This is what makes Hould-Ward have her own twist of the costumes while still sticking to the original (The Art of Costume 2021). What makes these designs arguably more special than any of the other works is the it was the first time Disney was was debuting on Broadway (The Art of Costume 2021).

One process that she used during the costume making of Beauty and the Beast was the 'Leah Factor' that was named after her daughter who was five at that time (The Art of Costume 2021). This was where her daughter would approve of the costumes, and if not then they would have to be altered or re-designed (The Art of Costume 2021).

The reason why The Beauty and the Beat outfits have caught my interest in particular as it is in a similar time frame, but slightly before the French Revolution, with the Rococo style overlapping the two. I also am following the similar path of having my own twist get sticking to the original outfits with turning cockades into costumes. I will also be creating theatre, and make the set look like an opera about the French Revolution.

References:

Heterick, A. (2015) Into the Woods and Beauty and the Beast Designer Ann Hould-Ward Reveals Her "Iconic and Influential" List of Theatrical Costumes, Playbill, Total Theatre, NY, USA Into the Woods and Beauty and the Beast Designer Ann Hould-Ward Reveals Her "Iconic and Influential" List of Theatrical Costumes | Playbill

Lanes, E. (2018) Interview: Theatre Life with Ann Hould-Ward, Washington, D.C, USA BWW Interview: Theatre Life with Ann Hould-Ward (broadwayworld.com)

Tantleff, J. (N/A) Biography, Ann Hould-Ward.com Home (annhouldward.com)

The Art of Costume. (2021) The Beauty and The Beast of Costume Design, The Art of Costume.com The Beauty And The Beast Of Costume Design - The Art of Costume

Films Mentioned:

Born on 27th September 1951 in California, USA, Phil Tippett has accomplished a successful career in Hollywood in the span of over 40 years (Goodfellow 2021). His varied career in animation and VFX has gathered a collection of awards and nominations: two Academy Awards, six Academy Awards nominations, one BAFTA award, four BAFTA nominations, and two Emmys (IMDb).

Tippett's fascination with stop motion animation started in his childhood with movies such as Willis H. O'Brien's animation in King Kong (Cooper and Schoedsack 1933) and Harryhausen's animation in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (Juran 1958) (Aguilar 2022; IMDb). Both O'Brien and Harryhausen having notoriety of being the pioneers of stop motion animation. Growing up he would draw and sculpt objects that he would then animate - this talent lead him to graduate at the University of California with a Fine Art degree (IMDb).

Fig 1. Still from Jurassic Park (1993) Directed by Spielberg. Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Universal Studios.

He has made a name for himself in Hollywood after his break in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Aguilar 2022; Lucas 1980) despite working with George Lucas in the 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (Goodfellow 2021). He is considered as a "visual effects alchemist" (Aguilar 2022) being responsible for some of the biggest movies to come out of the 1980s and 1990s such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Spielberg 1984), RoboCop (Verhoeven 1987), and Jurassic Park (Spielberg 1993) to name a few (Aguilar 2022; Goodfellow 2021; IMDb). Even in the 2000s and 2010s Tippett worked in iconic cinematography in the VFX department such as the Twilight Saga from 2008-2012 (Condon 2011, 2012; Hardwicke 2008; Slade 2010; Weitz 2009).

Out of all of the works of Tippett, I will be focusing on his latest animation Mad God (2021) that was released on the Shudder platform in 2022 (Aguilar 2022). This movie seems the most relevant to what I intend to do for my project as it is all model stop motion, and not stop motion/VFX interlaced with actors.

Fig 2. Stills from Mad God (2021) Directed by Phil Tippett. Tippett Studios.

Mad God is a feature stop motion animation (Cook N/A) that took 30 years in the making (Bleasdale 2021, Cook N/A). It started in 1987, a personal project for Tippett (Bleasdale 2021; Cook N/A) which animated an alternative surreal realm of monsters and mad scientists that could roam free from Tippett's mind to the screen (Cook N/A). In an interview with John Bleasdale (2021), Tippett stated how he shot the first minutes in a 35mm film, however the film was "too big in scope, and I lost my crew" (Bleasdale 2021); creating what seemed to be an indefinite hiatus on the project. This was further delayed due to stop motion and 'go motion' (Tippett's own style of animation) was being replaced by CGI in the 1990s (Bleasdale 2021). It wasn't until years later when a few animators working at Tippett Studios came across the puppets and film, and decided to dedicate their weekends into finishing the project (Cook N/A). The small group grew to 60 crew members, and a successful Kickstarter campaign helped the finishing and the premier of the film at Locarno Festival in 2021 (Bleasdale 2021; Goodfellow 2021).

During the 20 year hiatus, Tippet stated how he did his research by reading Carl Jung, the Bible, and Dante (Bleasdale 2021) into creating the themes in Mad God. It is known that it is a 'mature' film (Cook N/A) which is supported by Bleasdale's first hand experience when watching the premier at the Locarno Festival: “Mum and dad and a couple of little kids, so I said to them: ‘I wouldn’t take my kids to this.’ They got up to leave a few minutes later. The mum said I was right. And I said, ‘It gets worse.’” (Bleasdale 2021).

Aguilar, C. (2022) Phil Tippett's World in (Stop) Motion. New York Times, New York, USA.

Bleasdale, J. (2021) 'I wouldn't take my kids to see this': Star Wars' Phil Tippett on his Hellish Animation Mad God. The Guardian, London, UK. ‘I wouldn’t take my kids to this’: Star Wars’ Phil Tippett on his hellish animation Mad God | Film | The Guardian

Cook, L. (N/A) Phil Tippett's MadGod - About. Tippett Studios, USA. Phil Tippett's MadGod - ABOUT (madgodmovie.com)

Goodfellow, M. (2021) Locarno to honour ‘Star Wars’, 'RoboCop’, ‘Jurassic Park’ VFX maestro Phil Tippett. Screen International, London.

IMDb (N/A) Phil Tippett Phil Tippett - Biography - IMDb

Films Mentioned:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Directed by Spielberg. Lucas Films Ltd, Paramount Pictures.

Jurassic Park (1993) Directed by Spielberg. Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Pictures, Universal Studios.

King Kong (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack. RKO Radio Pictures.

Mad God (2022) Directed by Phil Tippett. Tippett Studios.

Robocop (1987) Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Orion Pictures.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Directed by George Lucas. Lucas Studios Ltd.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Directed by George Lucas. Lucas Studios Ltd.

The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) Directed by Nathan H. Juran. Columbia Pictures.

Twilight (2008) Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Aura Films, Goldcrest Films Finance, Maverick Films, Temple Hill Films.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn P.1 (2011) Directed by Bill Condon. Summit Entertainment, Sunswept Entertainment, Temple Hill Films.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn P.2 (2012) Directed by Bill Condon. Summit Entertainment, Sunswept Entertainment, Temple Hill Films.

Twilight: Eclipse (2010) Directed by David Slade. Summit Entertainment.

I have divided my artists into two categories:

Model stop-motion animators

Fashion designers and their collections relevant to potential ideas of what I want to achieve.

Model stop-motion

Lou Bunin

Fig 1. Alice in Wonderland (1949) Directed by Dallas Bower. Lou Bunin Productions, Punch Productions, UGC.

Jim Danforth

Fig 2. When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) Directed by Val Guest. Hammer Films.

Phil Tippett

Fig 3. Mad God (2021) Directed by Phil Tippett. Tippett Studio.

Ray Harryhausen

Fig 4. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Directed by Eugène Lourié. Warner Bros.

Willis H. 'Obie' O'Brien

Fig 5. King Kong (1933) Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. RKO Radio Productions.

I decided to look at the pioneers of model stop motion animation in Hollywood. All of them are very interesting, and their works have a legacy in stop motion animation for 90 years. I really like Phil Tippetts work, mostly due to working in franchises I like such as Star Wars. His animation Mad God (2021) in Fig 3. is most similar to what I want to do as it is all models, not incorporating stop motion models and people like in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (Lucas: 1977) and Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Lucas: 1980).

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Directed by George Lucas. Lucas Films Ltd.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1977) Directed by George Lucas. Lucas Films Ltd.

Fashion Designers (collections)

Carol Spencer

Fig 6. Carol Spencer (1996) Jubilee Dress for Barbie. USA.

Valentino

Fig 7. Valentino (2016) Haute Couture Fall Collection. Available at: Valentino Fall 2016 Couture Collection | Vogue

Alexander McQueen

Fig 8. Alexander McQueen (2013) Renaissance Fall Collection. Available at: Alexander McQueen Fall 2013 Ready-to-Wear Collection | Vogue

Chanel

Fig 9. Chanel (2013) Paris Pre-Fall Collection. Available at: Chanel Pre-Fall 2013 (wwd.com)

When I began to brainstorm ideas for what I wanted to do, I did intend to incorporate fashion regardless of what I did for the project. One of the ideas at the beginning was to create a collection of modern versions of clothing from the French Revolution. There would be an outfit of a peasant or an aristocrat and then an outfit of a modernised version of that. This is why I chose the fashion collections from Fig 7-9 as they conveyed a similar concept despite their era of influence being the renaissance period. This idea came across in my mind again when I was planning the GRWM videos as it is a modern take as it is, so why not make the outfits modern as well? But I changed my mind with that.

For the 12 weeks I'm going to be doing a combination of dressmaking and model stop motion animation. My vision is to have two GRWM (get ready with me) video animations: one of a French peasant getting ready to go to a public execution, and the other a French Aristocrat getting ready to flee the country. Essentially, it is the concept of what would be on social media if it was around during the French revolution. The biggest factor of social identity I'm going to be showing through this is the difference of fashion between a peasant and an aristocrat.

The layout out of each animation would be a model figurine putting on each item of clothing (miniature clothes that I will be making). There will be voice over, a similar format to a GRWM on YouTube or Instagram, in first person so it is as if the model is filming herself.

26th January 2024

Reference images and fashion ideas.

2nd February 2024

Wallace, C (N/A) Symbols of the French Revolution: Colors of Cockades, Fabric and Their Importance in Politics of 178. Article 53 002_Wallace_31_53 (1).pdf

9th February 2024

16th February 2024

Originally, I was heading towards modernity as it was my strongest project, and I enjoyed researching into class rebellions/revolutions. However, during my brainstorming it was leaned more towards identity as aspects of both overlap. From brief research I came across something very niche yet interesting to me: how fashion displayed social identity during the French Revolution.

Despite leaning more into identity rather than modernity, I have chosen my modernity graphic media (stop motion animation) to develop over the 12 weeks. This will be elaborated in the graphic media post. The stop motion animation I did for modernity was a silhouette stop motion conveying the concept of Marxism ideologies represented by a farm cat and a city rat.

Fig.1 Jaijai Wilkinson (2023) Screenshots of Modernity Animation, [Animation] Author's own.

For this 800 word essay, I will separating my reading report of Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World Is Forest (1972) into 5 parts. Summary of the book and what themes I will be focusing on in the reading report. The historical context that links to the themes, and how relevant they are to humanity today. My opinions, thoughts and (dis)interests of the book as a whole as well as the themes depicted. What my print is and how it is conveying themes from the novella. Pictures of the final products.

Summary of Text and Chosen Themes

After the the humans (also known at Terrans or Yumen to the Athsheans) have destroyed Earth they fly throughout space to colonise new planets to take timber back to Earth. One of the planets that this centres around is Athshe, where the natives Athsheans have been captured, murdered and violated by the Terran colonised. The narrative is split between 3 characters: Davidson (the villain), Lybov (the anti-hero) and Selver (the hero). When the passive Athsheans become violent, becoming a guerrilla group against the Terrans, Davidson and his men try and combat with their Warcraft but end up failing. The Athsheans, led by Selver, come out victorious and negotiate with the League of Worlds officials. However, this comes at a cost as the passive natives have learnt violence and murder, and Selver fears that they can never return to who they once were before the Terrans colonised their planet (Le Guin, 1972).

There are many themes throughout the novella, however I am going to focus on 3 themes that interested me the most: colonialism, technoscience and dreaming (and consciousness).

Colonialism

As mentioned there are 3 main characters: Davidson, Lybov and Selver. The composite reactions of the 3 to 'New Tahiti' mirrors the American ecological experience that ranges from rapture to fear to co-existence (Hovanec, 1989: 85). Davidson is symbolism for the early European and English explorers of the 'Golden Age' of exploration, as well as the Puritans that settled in North America a little while later (Hovanec, 1989: 87). This is conveyed in the novella when Davidson states "It's men that wins, every time. The old conquistador." (Le Guin, 1972: 12). Davidson believes that that his destiny is to conquest and destruct nature to convert the products into useful timber for Terrans. This mirrors the Judeo-Christian Puritans who created a policy of dominion over the wilderness of North America (Hovanec, 1989: 87). Davidson also captures the colonist mindset by lusting over and wanting control over women, which is mirrored in controlling and moulding the landscape to express is toxic masculinity and superiority (Latham, 2007: 115). He sees the forest as only having materialistic value that benefits man (only man, not women as they are inferior to him) which contrasts to the how meaningful nature is in the native culture of the Athsheans (Latham, 2007: 115).

The name 'New Tahiti' itself denotes the imperialism of the Terrans as it is the renaming of the planet from the humans, and not called 'Athshe' as the natives call it (Latham, 2007: 114). This is mirrored to the names of American states such are 'New York', 'New Jersey', 'New Mexico'. The colonialism of Athshe establishes hierarchic notions of humanity from the real world (Savi, 2021: 3).

Not only the taking over and destruction of the environment conveys exploration colonialism and western colonialism, but also how Davidson and his men treat the native Athsheans. Davidson regard the Athsheans as animals, and uses then for 'voluntary labour' - slavery - and rape (Hovanec, 1989:87; Savi, 2021: 13). The abhor Davidson has for the natives is further highlighted as throughout the story he refers them as "creechies" (Le Guin, 1972) which is seen as a slur.

Technoscience

Le Guin draws the European and western colonialism not only as Terran colonialism in Athshe, but a parallel to space exploration (Latham, 2007: 114). The ships used to transport women, timber and Terran colonists uses advanced technology to what technology was present when The Word of World is Forest was written, and certainly the technology at present time despite the technological development from the late 60s to the 2020s. The technoscience is used as part of colonialism of Athshe (Latham, 2007: 117) due to it aiding the Terrans to invade new planets and claim them as their own. This more western technoscience is thought to be laced by conscription for techno-imperialistic ends (Latham, 2007: 117). However, there are two distinct technoscience categories that are in the novella: communication technology and military-industrialised technology designed for violent purposes towards the natives (Latham, 2007: 117).

The interstellar radio is used for instant messaging, compressing light years of time and space, a key aspect of the story at it was used to alert the destruction of 'New Tahiti' to the League of Worlds (Latham, 2007: 117). The concept of accessing immediate contact to others would have seemed futuristic to the readers of the 70s, but to present day readers it is a normalised occurrence with the development of the internet and the mobile phone (Latham, 2007: 117).

Dreaming and Consciousness

One prominent theme that is in The Word for World is Forest is the difference between the native Athsheans and the alien species on Athshe what is the Terrans. One of these difference is 'dreaming'. The Athsheans have a psychic equilibrium as they practice conscious dreaming control that is a permeable ridge between 'world-time' and 'dream-time' (Savi, 2021: 13; Watson, 1975: 231). This means that the they have free access to their own subconsciousness at any given time, unlike the Terrans who have a divorce between conscious realisations and subconscious urges (Watson, 1975: 231). The natives practice this very intense lucid dreams to actively ponder problems, journey their way to find the solutions and to find mindful resolutions (Savi, 2021: 13). Due to the division Terrans have between the 'real' and 'unreal', they fail to understand the concept of the native practice and culture (Savi, 2021: 13). They see the Athsheans as lazy instead of them bridging the gap between sleep and wakefulness (Savi, 2021: 13).

Historical Context and Relevance

Le Guin's work ranges from children's books to poetry, and within her many works The Word of World is forest is part of the Hainish Cycle Series within the Sci-fi genre (Savi, 2021: 3). She reflects environmental and ecological issues from the late 60s (Hovanec, 1989: 87) that Le Guin began to write the novella. The uprising awareness of environmental rights of nature and native people created a mass following of a militant environmentalist movement which was against the western neo-colonialism (Latham, 2007: 116). This was guided by the increased ethic of responsibility and sustainability (Latham, 2007: 116), and this romanticism of nature led to continuation of ecological effects on nature such as Earth Day (Latham, 2007: 117). As the issues raised were being addressed more openly and examined in the 70s (Savi, 2021: 5), Rachel Carson's Silent spring (1962) initiated the awareness of how destructive man has become against nature. The book highlighted the frail balance of nature from the heavy use of chemicals and machinery used by farmers (and humans in general), and helped launch the American Environmental Movement a few years later (Savi, 2021: 5).

Among the environmental issues that were occurring during the time Le Guin was writing The Word of World is Forest, there were humanitarian issues through deforestation, genocide and war that is reflected in the novella: Le Guin opposed the American military interventions during the Vietnam war, and used the novella and the peace movement as an outlet to voice her political views (Savi, 2021: 4). Through out the story, there is an explicit analogy between the Terran's conduct on the Athsheans and the American intervention in Vietnam (Watson 1975: 231). Despite the Vietnam war analogy, it can apply to multiple other genocides: genocide of the Guayaki Indians is Paraguay, genocide and deforestation along the Trans-Amazon highway in Brazil (Latham, 2007: 115; Watson, 1975: 231). It is also an analogy for the multiple deforestation throughout the world such as Costa Rica, the Congo and Indonesia (Watson, 1975: 231).

However, the American attitudes towards nature and the natives Le Guin criticises is also the attitude of early explorers from the 'Golden Age' of exploration to present day (Hovanec, 1989: 85-86). When the early European and English colonist arrived to the Americas they described it as a "second Eden" and spoke positively of the natives (Hovanec, 1989: 86). However, the paradise description of the new land was shattered by the opposing descriptions from the Puritans who tried to control what they deemed as a hostile and evil environment in North America (Hovanec, 1989: 86). Roderick Nash stated how if a paradise was early man's greatest good, then the wilderness, which meant North America, was "man's greatest evil" (Hovanec, 1989: 86). The enmity towards nature from the Puritans continued until the Romanticism period (late 18th-early 19th century) (Hovanec, 1989: 86), which can be argued that they were the earliest movement to side with environment over man due to their appreciation of the qualities of nature.