AS A MOUNTAIN OF GREED, EXPLOITATION AND ANTHROPOCENTRISM, THIS COSTUME REPRESENTS THE HUMAN MYTH THAT WE’RE SEPARATE FROM NATURE – A NOTION THAT UNDERPINS THE CREATION OF WASTE AND ITS DENIAL.
IN 2019, EU CLOTHING EXPORTS TOTALLED 1.3 MILLION TONNES AND ARE EXPECTED TO RISE (EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 2022). WITH RAPIDLY INCREASING PRODUCTION OF FASHION WITH A DECREASING QUALITY, GLOBAL SECONDHAND CLOTHING MARKETS STRUGGLE TO MANAGE SUPPLY – RESULTING IN MASSIVE LANDFILLS, POLLUTION AND BURDENED COMMUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH (OR FOUNDATION, 2023). BY EXAMINING EUROPEAN TEXTILE WASTE AND ITS EMBEDDED LIVES AND AGENCY, THIS PIECE SEEKS TO INVESTIGATE WASTE COLONIALISM AT INTIMATE AND SYSTEMIC SCALES.
MATERIALS: SECONDHAND CLOTHING, CANE, SECONDHAND WETSUIT, POLYPROPYLENE WEBBING, VELCRO, COTTON TAPE, ELASTIC CORD, TOGGLES, BUCKLE AND HAIR ACCESSORIES.
CONCEPT, COSTUME DESIGN & REALISATION: JESSIE CURRY
PHOTOGRAPHY: LUOXIAO CHUANG
PERFORMER: ABIGAIL HOPE
MOVEMENT: PETA LILY
TEXTILE DONATION: CHRIS CAREY COLLECTIONS
LOCATION: LONDON, U.K.
WASTE MOUNTAIN, 2023 –
featuring 70+ lbs of secondhand textiles to question the creation of waste and its denial.
PROJECT BACKGROUND: THIS TRANSFORMATIVE COSTUME WAS DESIGNED FOR A WASTE-FOCUSED INTERPRETATION OF THE OPERA RUSALKA, A CZECH LIBRETO WRITTEN BY ANTONIO DVORAK IN 1900. DESPITE ITS AGE, ITS NARRATIVE OF HUMANS TORN FROM THE ROOTS OF THE EARTH STILL STANDS. MY FICTITIOUS RENDITION OF RUSALKA, AND THE PRINCE IN WHICH THIS COSTUME REPRESENTS, IS AN ALLEGORY OF OUR ECOLOGICAL AND COLONIAL WASTE CRISIS.
DIRECTION AND STOP ANIMATION EDITING: JESSIE CURRY
CAMERA AND LIGHTING: AGNES TREPLIN
PERFORMER: ABIGAIL HOPE
MOVEMENT: PETA LILY
WASTE MOUNTAIN, 2023 –
A STOP ANIMATION TO UNCOVER THE COLONIAL WASTE CRISIS.
“It’s just a t-shirt…said 66 million people.”
– CHRIS CAREY COLLECTIONS, LONDON, UK (2022)