The Inhuman Carnaval is about celebrating biodiversity within the planet. In this project we challenge artists, designers, make up artists, creators and complete beginners to dress up themselves and each other as the beautiful species our ecosystem is rich in. Through dressing up can we have more sympathy for plants, minerals, animals, bacteria and fungi?
Magnesium
When creating my costume, I researched magnesium therefore have more knowledge about this vital mineral. Thereby, becoming a mineral for the day creates a dialogue between me and magnesium. My natural instinct when creating a costume was to become an animal, but I questioned this thought and decided to explore mineral's instead. There are many different minerals, all with beautiful textures, shapes and colours, and I was excited to explore ways of developing these through textiles.
Using a mask as my base, I started to layer scrunched up pieces of tin foil on top of my mask to create the metal like appearance of magnesium. Anouk started to create an oversized jacket from silver paper. When wearing this big jacket, it will wrinkle around the body and mimic the rock texture of magnesium. Anouk and I combined our creations together to create our costume.
The Open Costume Lab
It is our dream to eventually, together with different carnival organisations, artists and makers, to take over this creative opportunity. Wouldn't it be nice if during carnival, together with all the celebrants, we could discover what it is like to be a plant, animal, fungus or mineral for a while? In the coming period, we will investigate how we can 'hack' carnival and start creating a conversation around biodiversity through workshops, events, lectures and the Open Costume Lab.
As a starting point for lost creatives we are developing a library of DIY instructions: get inspired and get started with your costume! Through disguising yourself you not only build confidence and have fun, but learn about the great biodiversity of our planet and create connections with yourself and other species.
The Open Costume Lab will be open every Wednesday, between 14.00 and 18.00. Come join us and transform yourself into one of the many fascinating species our planet has to offer!
