Drawing with the Body and Cloth

This output forms part of a collaborative research project 'Flight: Drawing Interpretations between the University of the Arts London and the National Gallery (NG), London'. Bugg conceived, designed and choreographed a live costume dance performance and the screening of the film. The work is experimental in extending design methods for contemporary dance through theoretical and empirical research into the relationship between design, drawing methodologies and cognitive theory to develop garments and choreography as simultaneous practice. Costume design is usually applied to choreography, in this case they were developed simultaneously through improvisational sessions between designer and dancer, analysis of video footage and recorded testimony. The methodology for performance approached the body as a physical drawing and design tool, with the researcher and dancer in continuous verbal and experiential dialogue as a means of generating performative clothing design and communication. The National Gallery painting ‘The Tempest’ by Peder Balke, inspired both the clothing, and dance development through which the methodology was tested. The methodology is informed by practitioners extending methods in design for dance, such as Maria Blaisse, Rei Kawakubo and choreographers such as Wayne McGregor who works with cognitive and interdisciplinary approaches to develop dance.

A related research paper was presented at RMIT Melbourne in 2013, for the conference ‘Drawing Out’. The film was also screened later at Berlin Fashion Film Festival 2013. The research approach was developed through a peer reviewed paper and published e-book ‘Embodied Design and Communication: Drawing with the Body and Cloth’ through the interdisciplinary.net 3rd Global conference, Salzburg, Austria, November 2012, and is currently being developed into a book chapter.

• http://flightlcf.blogspot.co.uk/