Directed by Bree Bridger
OVERRIDE
by Elizabeth A.M. Keel
September 5-29, 2019
EXPLORING THE COSTUME DESIGN FOR OVERRIDE WITH RESIDENT COSTUME DESIGNER KRYSTAL UCHEM
0VERRIDE is Krystal's seventh production with the Landing. She also works as a freelance designer, wardrobe supervisor and actor.
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Costume Design by Krystal Uchem
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The first step in my costume design process is to find an image (usually artwork) that represent the world of the play. Elizabeth Keel gave great character descriptions and I used those as a starting point in my search for images. Discussions with the Elizabeth Keel and Director Bree Bridger about the play also informed the world I wanted to create with costumes. Both characters in the play were inventors and obviously intelligent. In my mind I pictured photos with neutral and/or black and white imagery. However, when I dove into the text, the world became clearer and more complex, New descriptors emerged: Sensitivity, curiosity, understanding, calmness, passion, energy and spirit.
Color Pallet: The world was so much more colorful than I initially imagined. The play takes place in Louise’s apartment, where she surrounds herself with geodes, buddha statues and katanas. One artist in particular came to mind was Android Jones who is a live (and digital) visual artist.
I recently came across his work through Instagram. Jones currently presents 3D immersive Samskara exhibit. Samskara is the scope of experiences which we collect through our life journeys: the infinite flow of feelings, actions, ideas, choices, and emotions. This idea reminded me a lot of Louise. Specifically, Jones’ manipulation of light and energy tied so much into Louise's thought processes and even her geodes. Geode artwork also became a part of my preliminary research. I was very much drawn to the fluid, abstract feel of geode artwork, and of course the energy association of the rocks themselves. Altogether, these works of art influenced the colors and style of the costumed I designed.
Louise: “Perception is the most important form of cognition. It should be celebrated, embraced and explored. We are here to experience the world. So, I’m a sensualist.”
I designed Louise’s in a costume that is loose-fitting and vibrant. Her costume informs her character by expressing her free-spirited nature, as well as her sensuality and intellectual curiosity. I costumed Louise in wide leg pants, a loose fitted-T and an oversized cardigan. The fluidity of her costume supports her movement and the dominance she carries in her living space. Her style has a new-agey approach, while allowing her to be relaxed and comfortable in her skin. The colors of her costume are symbolic of her personality and her world, for example; yellow for curiosity and the purple for energy and ambition.
Grav: “I congratulate you, Lou. Your amygdala looks like Vegas.”
Grav is also a highly intelligent character. He is wealthy, confident and resourceful. Bree and I were really drawn to the idea of Grav dressing in a nice pair of coordinated pajamas, undressed with a graphic tee. Grav goes absolutely nowhere without his fanny pack of tools. His fanny pack is worn along his torso since I felt that Grav’s character would be drawn to the idea of a refined backpack. His torso fanny pack also facilates his movement and the accessibility of his tools. His style is very straight forward. I chose to design Grav in colors that are a bit out of sync with Louise, primary because he is, in a sense, intruding on Louise’s “world,” even though they are roommates. He is not at all influenced by sensuality, of the energy of the geodes that have currently took over Louise’s life as she navigates through her scientific experimentations. However, the color tones of their costumes do fall in line so that no direct attention is brought to any contest. His colors are gain symbolic of his personality. Grav is costumed in complementary to the colors of Louise’s costume, so the tension between the two characters is expressed through color as well.
