Return to search

The use of conceptual costume design to express the emotional trajectory of the play sounds of South End

The aim of this study is to illustrate how, in the design of costumes, adopting design elements used to produce conceptual fashion can create conceptual costumes that have the ability to express emotions. The play Sounds of South End (2013) contains such qualities; therefore it has been selected to illustrate how the mood and emotional trajectory of a play can be interpreted through symbolism. The play illustrates the life before and after the forced removals during the apartheid (1960s and 1970s), of a fictional family, the Dietrichs, who live in South End, a suburb in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A focus on the nature of emotional changes experienced by the family has been used to determine the overall mood of the play, leading to a translation of the shifting mood through a collection of conceptual costumes. The final collection was exhibited as an installation artwork that is an interpretation of the altering moods and emotions that occur in the life of the Dietrich family as the play unfolds. The conceptual costumes have been constructed to imbue the narrative of the play with deep meaning by using symbolic elements, such as colour, texture and weight, to suggest the emotional trajectory within the play. The eight costumes portray the interrelated gradual decline and resultant deterioration of human relations experienced by the Dietrichs, from a contented state of harmonious living to a wounded state of despair.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:26926
Date January 2016
CreatorsChingosho, Vimbai
PublisherNelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, MTech
Formatxvi, 224 leaves, pdf
RightsNelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds