Introduction
This Art Culture project had us interpreting the artwork of a 20th century artist into a wearable piece for a costume party. I was unfamiliar with most of the artists, but I decided to select René Magritte, a surrealist artist, as I favoured his painting style and found his works intriguing.
Materials
- Plastic Wrap
- Balloon
- Tape
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors
- Newspaper
- White glue
- Blue, white, black acrylic paint
- Hot glue gun
- Hot press board
- Cardboard
- Wire
Creative Process
For this costume, I decided to use two artworks that had themes and imagery that appeared frequently throughout Magritte's work. A signature of his work are men in black suits and bowler hats, representing the every day man, and what Magritte himself dressed like. I also used the theme of objects obscuring the face, birds, and a cutout of the sky to create the concept.
I chose to base the concept off of "Man in a Bowler Hat" (1964), and "The Large Family" (1963). Combining these two artworks, I decided to make a bowler hat with a hovering bird painted like a cloudy sky.
Man in a Bowler Hat, 1964
The Great Family, 1963
Workflow
Unfortunately, I was unable to find a bowler hat in stores, so I would have to make a hat. Forgoing this componant was not an option, as this is Magritte's signature. I chose to use paper mache, to provide a strong base for the bird to hang from.
I blew up a balloon that was the approximate size of my head, and covered it in plastic wrap to make it easier to remove later on.
I cut the strips of newspaper and mixed the white glue with water 3:1.
I started layering the newsprint strips with glue, working my way across the balloon, horizontal and vertical.
Building up four layers felt sufficient, so I set this aside to dry.
I drew and cut the shape of a flying bird from the hot press board. I had this on hand and felt that the stiffness of the board would hold up to acrylic paint without buckling.
I mixed blue and white paint to create this dreamy pale blue, and laid down the background colour.
I then used a small angled brush to dab white paint on the bird, and it created these clouds that look fluffy, just like the referenced painting. I set this aside to dry as I moved back to creating the hat.
I measured the depth I wanted the hat to reach, and cut the excess paper off.
Tracing approximately 1.5" from the hat, I cut a ring out of cardboard. This will become the brim of the hat.
I also cut a hole the shape of the hat, so that the brim will sit around the base of the hat.
I used hot glue and tape to attach the brim to the hat.
I used black acrylic paint to cover the hat. I gave it a good 2 coats of paint, letting it dry in between.
Using tape and hot glue, I attached the wire to the back of the bird cutout. I curled the ends of the wire so that they would attach easier to the hat, and would hopefully stay put through my presentation.
I used copious amounts of tape and hot glue to attach the bird to the finished bowler hat. The bird cutout ended up being heavier than I'd thought, but it held up.
Final Work
The end product came out better than I'd imagined. The clouds on the bird look dreamy and have depth, while the bowler hat was passable enough from a distance so that one would not see the ridges of the paper mâché. I donned a black suit and red tie I thrifted, attempted to knot the tie around my white collared shirt, and put on the hat. The result is a interpretation of Magritte's works to create a costume representing him.
Set against a window, I look just like one of Magritte's surrealist works.
Conclusion
My take aways from this project were that the success of a project lays in a strong concept and ample drying time. The main challenge in this costume was making the bowler hat, which was an experiment in paper mâché and construction for me, as I wasn't sure of how else to make the hat. The bird cutout looks great painted, and really lends to the surreal atmosphere of the costume, looking out of place against the costume.
If I had more time, I would've made both the hat and bird smaller, to have some of my face showing, while still obscuring my features.
Overall, I'm highly satisfied with the costume, and glad that the things I experimented with came to fruition.
