Clothing reimagined for acrobats
A REMARKABLE SELECTION OF GRAVITY-DEFYING SKIRTS HAVE GONE ON SHOW IN CARDIFF AND WILL BE MODELLED BY ACROBATS, WRITES JENNY WHITE...
A CIRCUS artist has created a unique exhibition featuring a series of gravitydefying skirts designed for use during performances.
As well as being on show until tomorrow, the skirts can be seen in action, modelled by acrobats at the exhibition’s closing event, having already dazzled at the opening event.
With acrobats and circus performers in mind, the skirts’ fabrication means they remain in place even while the wearer is at their most active.
Ollïï Park, who trained with No Fit State Circus and Bristol’s Circomedia, received funding from the Arts Council of Wales to pilot a prototype design, which led to the creation of four skirts inspired by toy mechanics.
He’s called it the Wánjù Concept exhibition in a nod to this source of inspiration – the word wánjù means ‘toy’ in Chinese.
“It all started when I was scrolling away on social media and found a video of a Chinese finger trap,” says Ollïï, who is a trainer at No Fit State Circus.
“It was displaying the mechanism of how it works and it got me thinking about how that could be utilised in a garment.
“I took inspiration from the Chinese finger trap’s plain bias weaving style, among other engineered concepts, to make a select few prototypes.”
Ollïï, who is originally from Andalusia
in Spain but moved to Wales as a child, designed the skirts at his home in Cardiff using sustainable materials.
The results were a bamboo skirt, a skirt made from crisp packets and other foil-lined wrappers, which were shredded and heat pressed into sheets, and two skirts that were 3D printed using recycled 3D printing waste.
“The Wánjù Concept is a collection of my work that takes the viewer on a journey, all the way from the very first lightbulb moment to the end product of wearable art that remains upright even when inverted for use in primarily circus performance,” says Ollïï.
His plans for the skirts extend far beyond the exhibition: “I want to develop the skirts to make them more wearable – and then it can be translated more into the fashion world,” he says.
“I envisage a fashion show in which the catwalk will bend upside down – and the models will just follow it around and continue walking upside down.”
■ The Wánjù Concept can be seen from 4pm to 7pm tonight at the Creative Plug, Unit 3, Queen Street Capitol Centre. There will be a closing party tomorrow from 4.30pm with live performances at 5.30pm, More details can be found at www.olliiparkpresents.com/ wanjuconcept