Saturday, November 03, 2007
New York Exhibit Recognizes Set And Costume Designs
Live Design: "An array of 150 theatrical set and costume design models and sketches will be on display in StageStruck: The Magic of Theatre Design at Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation Gallery in New York from November 13 to December 22."
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11 comments:
i dont know if its the fact that i'm much more aware of costume and set design in the world now or if they are once again gaining recognition as a rising art form but i feel like where i used to be unsure of the status of designers in a world dominated by gallery art i now find that the two are capable of overlap. it gives me a kind of new hope for the future of design and whatnot... i think that we are in a point in time when design is being redefined and it will be interesting to see what the younger generations do with the standby art-form. a tribute to the form is a wonderful place to begin reminiscing.
In my old school the costume designers didn't really do renderings. they did sketches and picked color swatches sometimes. but usually they just bought a pattern and then circled on the front which neckline to use. but when i saw the renderings for guys and dolls i was amazed. they were so beautiful. and they were even put on to different layers of paper for a given effect. it was art. the form is not given enough credit. the designs are usually just as beautiful as the costumes themselves.
I think this show is a very good way to highlight some of the very specialized art that goes into scenic and costume design. Often times the sketches and renderings look just as cool as a finished set but would never be seen without exhibits like this which highlight the means as well as the end. I am curious to see how the show does, as a designer I would obviously find an interest in the representations of designer's work that is being shown, however i wonder how the public will receive it.
I like the idea of renderings and sketches being shown since some designers have really good ideas but then it isn't possible for them to be translated onto the stage becasue of materials, time or money. For example I know that the designers idea for the crap game under the city with the pipes in Guys and Dolls was not able to be done because it would cost too much this is something that should be shown there. Designs for shows that went up are also interesting but I know I would be more interested in the things that didn't go up on stage.
I consider Theatre design an art form with its exhibitions on stage.
It is seldom or even never that we see stage set and costume renderings in a gallery.
However, the exhibition will open the public to what goes behind the design they see on stage - the creative thinking process, the meaning and the hard work of the various designers collaborating together to create a painting on stage.
I do agree that it is a good idea to exhibit set and costume designs, and show the process involved, which is relatively foreign to so many people. I question the money that this exhibit will be able to bring in, though. Hopefully this will be able to bring in a strong audience. What will definitely be the highlight of this exhibition, for me at least, is to see the different processes that the designers take, for everyone designs differently, and I'm sure some of the design processes out there are rather bizarre, albeit effective.
I remember a long time ago, and by long time ago i mean about two years ago, there was an exhibit of period movie costumes that traveled around the country and I enjoyed seeing it in our home town. Then looking at this I was reminded of an article talking about Ivey Long displaying his designs in I believe North Carolina. I wish that something like this would travel because I feel like people all over the country would really enjoy this kind of work.
This exhibit really sounds so fascinating. I definately want to catch it when I go home for winter break. If you go to a show, you can see the finished product of the set or costumes, just as if you go to an art museum, you can see the finished project of a painting or a sculpture. However, when you can get a chance to see the original sketches, in either a set or a painting, you can see the artists progression and where and how things changed as they came to life. Where the details originated, what was enhanced, what was subtracted. I just think that is fantastically interesting.
Wow...I wish I was able to see this. It's nice to see the designers get the attention they deserve and to have the public reconize that what they do is art. I would love to know how they chose the pieces since I'm sure they had a huge amout of options and to only use 150 isn't much.
I like the idea of separating a productions elements and re-examining them. Its interesting to freeze something like theatre, that really is a one time experience and look at the art within the art. Its unique that we can do this in theatre, as its almost like having a museum exhibit for individual brush strokes.
Again, I agree with Lydia and I find that I'm more aware and noticing that others are aware of the general art of design in different areas. While in Prague I saw a lot of renderings and I never really realized how much of an art they were in and of themselves. The ability to communicate so much in a rendering is really amazing. I hope to see this exhibit in more depth somehow.
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