FINAL PROPOSAL

In my original proposal I said I wanted to create 'a large installation, such as a costume or figure which is based on a local urban legend or myth'. This idea came to me because I wanted to make something other than prints and a book, and at the time of coming up with ideas for my final project I was doing a lot of work in the theatre making props. I wanted to try and get more experience making large scale objects, and I would like to try and combine this with illustration.

After reading up on some local myths or old stories, I decided to explore a local tale about two bears that were killed in the Forest of Dean after it was assumed that they had attacked and killed villagers. This was a story that someone had told me a couple of years ago, and since hearing it from other people, reading about it online and watching videos about it I have experienced different versions of this same story. Based on this story I will create my own version of the tale, and represent this through a large costume of a bear. Through pitch and plan I thought about what kind of costume I wanted to make, and I decided to focus on creating something with a solid structure head and a fabric body- almost like a giant hand puppet.

There are several things that I want to express through this costume. First of all, visually I want it to reflect the traditional folk costumes that have been used in different festivals and rituals. I have been especially inspired by images by Charles Freger of traditional European costumes, Axel Hoedt's photographs of haunting homemade costumes, as well as images I have found of bizarre pagan costumes.

Secondly I want to be able to use the combination of costume, theatre and illustration to tell this story. I wanted to explore different techniques of visual storytelling, and rather than creating a book of images I thought it would be interesting to explore telling a story through costume Not only will I use images on the fabric part of the costume to depict narrative, I want the costume to represent the unreliable nature of an old story that has been repeatedly retold over time. I want the illustration to tell the story subtly so that the audience can create their own idea of what happened.

Illustration wise I will be drawing inspiration from folk art and using my own style to depict animals and nature from the Forest of Dean, references to mining, villagers, and of course, dancing bears. I will explore different materials to use for the costume in order to create something that resembles a traditional costume as well as being a vehicle for the story

My purpose for this project is to widen my prop making skills, present an unreliable story in an unreliable way, and to create something that shows off my creative skills.