HOW ECO-RESPONSIBILITY STIMULATES OUR CREATIVITY
May 2020
Often, eco-design is seen as leaving little room for creativity. As if this specific choice of material was going to be more restrictive. We’re worried that it will look ‘cheap’ because we used what was laying in the back of a closet. Or we are afraid of not being able to do what we want, because we do not find the desired materials or the sustainable materials are too expensive. But you just need to take a few steps behind the scenes of the eco-responsible theater to realize that the reality is quite different.
Eco-design is a world of connections, cooperation and solutions. In my opinion, this opens the door to a much more beautiful and rich creativity.
Personal eco-sewing experience
During the confinement, I took care of a pile of clothes that were waiting to be saved. Some were full of holes (due to my wonderful little pet rats that eat everything they find) and others were just too small (due to the fact that we are not 18 forever and that we, women, have bellies). For the most part, these were my favorite clothes and I refused to throw them away or give them away knowing that they were likely to end up at the landfill. In addition, to stay true to all that I have read about eco-responsible fashion, I did not want to leave them lying in the back of my closet, because one of the major problems of fast fashion is that we only wear about 6 to 38% of our clothes regurlarly (1). I gave myself the objective of giving them a second life by using only recycled material (the best way to recycle your clothes is to repair them or to reuse the fabric as it is) (2). Anyway, all the sewing stores were closed during confinement, so I had to improvise. I had an old black jean completely ruined; I can say that I made the most of it. There is almost nothing left!
For my jackets with holes, I did different tests and found different solutions. For the first, a simple patchwork on the back. For another, the replacement of the sleeve and the collar in a completely different color for an asymmetrical and contrasting rendering. For a third, I bought myself a new embroidery foot and I sewed flowers with fabric scraps over all the holes.
For my shorts and skirts, I realized that most of them had waist darts. So I unstitched and cut the waist band to release the darts and thus add a few centimeters in width. I then extended the waist band with squares of various fabrics. The modification is visible, but I tell myself that nobody cares about the small black square on the back of my shorts and I totally assume that I have modify my clothes! Otherwise, for most of my skirts, I only added a strip on one side and I like this little asymmetrical side.
I also did a top with a old pants and the bias tape of a scarf.
These clothes that I used to love are now my little babies. I'm so glad I could save them that I'm going to wear them more often with joy. I have given them so much time and love that I will wear them proudly and with special attention.
Repairing my clothes allowed me to practice my creativity in a whole new way. Ideas were formed while I was going through my stuff and trying to find solutions. I never would have thought and done all these things if I had not been motivated to repair my clothes for ecological reasons and constrained by the inaccessibility of the material.
I sincerely think that we must demystify the idea of the Designer-god who creates without limits. It is the definition of success and the ultimate goal that our current system sells us. But it is not viable. Flexible and adaptable creativity is a much more organic mode of creation that is more similar to nature and, above all, that respects it much more.
I realize there is still a long way to go. We must not only change the system, but also mentalities.
We need to get rid of the idea that eco-design looks cheap. In set, you just have to look at the work of Marie-Renée Bourget Harvey (3), for example, who creates monumental sets, that still leave very small ecological footprints, because she uses very little new material and above all, she manages to make sure to give her set a second life. In costume, the idea is not to make patchwork costumes with scraps, but rather to adapt to the materials that we find and transform them so that they are unrecognizable. Who would suspect that a veil is made with the lining of curtains found at Renaissance? What could know that the shirt is not the color that was expected at the start? And above all, why would it matter? Yes, in some cases this kind of detail is important. But generally, the overall mood of a play is not defined by the specific color of a pants.
We must remove the idea that the eco-responsible design is restrictive. The constraint of money has always been present and yet it goes without saying and does not shock anyone. Why the ecological constraint could not be as much, and even more, important than the economic constraint?
The message I want to get across here is that eco-responsibility is a new source of creativity and we should celebrate it rather than be afraid of it. Stop trying to control everything and appreciate what comes naturally to us by adapting to it. Adopt a new type of creation where what we present to the director is a broad concept, a mood. And it's not just the designer's job. The whole team has to be part of it, from the director to the production team. I know this is a radical change, but to get out of this ecological crisis, we need to create a new system and Art is for me the best medium to start with.
For me, the most beautiful thing is nature. I think one of the things that makes us human is the ability to be moved by a landscape, a painting or a music. Art should be, in my opinion, a homage to nature, closely or remotely. We create because it's beautiful, drawing inspiration from what nature triggers in us, and using materials all coming from nature. Thus, whatever the reason for our creation, whether for beauty or to denounce, we should still have nature in mind even if it’s not the topic of our work. There is something very noble and pure to exist only for its beauty and its ability to move crowds. Art is such a powerful weapon to denounce, and yet it is part of the machines destroying the planet. Art which no longer respects nature is for me an art soiled by our society. It is a strange paradox to want to denounce injustices with a play when kilos of materials will end up in landfill once the production is done. A work that is not done with full awareness of its impact on nature, is a denatured work, because it has forgotten its source and no longer pays respect to its origin, nature.
1 : p.115, Daignault-Leclerc, Léonie (2019). Pour une garde-robe responsable. Montréal : La presse, 208p.
2 : p.56, Daignault-Leclerc, Léonie (2019). Pour une garde-robe responsable. Montréal : La presse, 208p.
3 : Dumais, Éric (2020, février.). «Dans l’envers du décor»: Marie-Renée Bourget Harvey, scénographe sur le site Bible Urbaine. Consulté le 6 mai 2020. https://www.labibleurbaine.com/theatre/dans-lenvers-du-decor-marie-renee-bourget-harvey-scenographe/