To take part in and fully enjoy the festivities of Halloween weekend always means confronting the sometimes daunting task of coming up with a costume. Personally, creatively constructing the costume is not the problem, but coming up with the idea. However, once that hurdle has been cleared, the construction process begins and other more pressing constraints most certainly arise.
I believe one of the elements that really dictates design is the availability of usable materials. For example, I decided I wanted to be a peacock this Halloween and came up with a very elaborate creative costume. However, I could not find peacock feathers anywhere. This lack of materials automatically made the execution of my design impossible. So I had to change course and ended up being Bob the Builder, thanks to Home Depot, and Pocahontas, using other types of available feathers to complete my costume. If the materials to complete a design can not be procured, the design has to be rethought or altered or dismissed until a usable one with available resources can be completed.
The art of utilizing available materials can also be related to the beautiful quilts on display in the Nelson Art Gallery. Many quilters, especially when quilts were made for actual use instead of just a hobby to be hung on a wall, the quilter would not go to the store and buy a bolt of fabric. (The quilts at the gallery do have a placard where one can read the materials used in the quilt.) Instead, they would use the materials that were available to them in their own home--a threadbare jacket, an old quilt, a pair of tattered pants, etc... This resourcefulness and recycling of materials make, in my opinion the quilt more special because it actually means something from the maker to the user.
No comments:
Post a Comment