Emma Ransley exhibiting at Critical Costume 2015

Toi Whakaari Design tutor Emma Ransley exhibiting at Critical Costume 2015 (Finland)

Critical Costume is a research project led by Dr. Rachel Hann and Sidsel Bech on the status of costume practices within contemporary art and performance. Building upon an emerging interest in the dramaturgical significance of costume within the academy, the project's overall aim is to grow the intellectual and critical frameworks in which we discuss costume practices, both today and historically.

What does it mean to study costume in the 21st century?

Early theoretical discourse on costume (Hollander 1975/1993; Wilson 1985/2013; Gaines 1990) underlines the active interrelation between costume, body and character by arguing that 'costume assimilates bodily signifiers into character, but body as a whole engulfs the dress' (Gaines 1990: 193). In the 21st century, costume practices are now encountered through a multitude of different media: from film and theatre to virtual environments and mediated platforms. Mediation has become a prevalent principle of contemporary life and culture. Yet, the role of the costumed body and of how bodily practices are 'read' within and explored through these contexts remains a central question of 21st century artistic scholarship and practice.

Costume is still a relatively new and emerging research area. However, the study of costume has significantly grown in profile in recent years as a subject worthy of focused academic study, as evident within the growing number of international scholarly publications on costume and the costumed body in the last decade. Most recently, special issues of academic journals, such as Canadian Theatre Review (2012) and Scene (2014, forthcoming),have addressed the agency of costume in live performance as well as in film and other media. In that regard, Critical Costume 2015 is the second event conceived under the banner of Critical Costume, following a research project initiated by Dr. Rachel Hann and Sidsel Bech at Edge Hill University (UK) in 2013 (see Critical Costume 2013). The overall aim of the Critical Costume events is to offer a platform for new academic thinking and design practices around the study of costume: with costume conceived as a means of critically interrogating the body in/as performance.

Therefore, Critical Costume 2015 invites contributions from scholars and practitioners that seek to ad-dress the implications of research processes, new technologies and media for the study and practice of costuming today and in history.

EMMA RANSLEY is a performance designer and educator who predominately works with the medium of clothing. She currently teaches performance design at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and is working towards her Masters of Philosophy - this work will examine the performativity of clothing through the lens of violence. Emma gained her Bachelor of Performance Design with First Class Honours which was jointly delivered from Massey University and Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. In 2011, Emma was awarded with 'Best Costume Design for Theatre' for her exhibition piece, InHABITing Dress, which was presented at The Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space. Her work was described by the judges as showing "extreme stylisation" and "conceptual strength”. Her exhibition pieces, which explored the parameters of costume design, have been presented internationally. Along with academic and artistic pursuits, Emma spent five years working in the film, television and theatre industry, designing for New Zealand’s top production companies.

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