Visual couture: Costume agency in the advertising campaign Opera Papier

• In Opera Papier, a recent ad campaign by the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Karolina Henke has photographed ballet dancers in voluminous eye-catching paper costumes designed by Bea Szenfeldt. In analysing these photographs as visual events, I draw on Aoife Monks’ discussion of the connection between actor and costume, where she describes costume as ‘a body that can be taken off”, and Marvin Carlson’s use of the term ghosting to convey how memories ‘haunt’ what we see on stage, for example when actors’ previous roles influence how we view them in a current performance. Viewing these costumes from an art history and visual studies perspective, I propose that they are examples of what I choose to call visual couture. I show how Szenfeld’s costumes can be viewed as individual bodies, and how the idea of ghosting can be used as an analytical tool to understand the visual impact of Henke’s photographs. Szenfeld’s paper costumes have been used by Lady Gaga in a music video, have been displayed in fashion exhibitions, and were highlighted in the opening act of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, viewed by 204 million people around the world. In this case study, I argue that the previous history of the costumes influences how we experience them in Henke’s photographs.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Scenkonst (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Performing Arts (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Design (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Design (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Konst -- Konstvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts -- Art History (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Visual couture

scenography

costume

Opera Papier

Karolina Henke

Bea Szenfeld

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)