Events

Defence of doctoral thesis in the field of Scenography and Costume Design, MFA Jorge Sandoval

The title of the thesis is: The theatricality of the everyday through costume expressions of fandom and drag

MFA Jorge Sandoval will defend the thesis "The theatricality of the everyday through costume expressions of fandom and drag" on 29 October 2021 at 10:00 in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Film, Television and Scenography.

Opponent: Prof. Vicki Karaminas, Massey University, New Zealand
Custos: Prof. Sofia Pantouvaki, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Film, Television and Scenography

The public defense will be organized via remote technology. Follow defence: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/69854874914

Zoom Quick Guide: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide

Thesis available for public display at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/
Doctoral theses in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/54

Press release:

This article-based dissertation explores the ways the male costumed body performs in non-theatre settings through six peer-reviewed publications. It does so by looking at costume as a means of expressing non-normative gender.  More specifically, this dissertation uses as case studies the regalia of Canadian football fans, and displays of drag expressions in both professional and amateur situations in Canada and Finland.

This work considers the queered male body as a theatrical device, and understands it from the viewpoint of costume studies in order to explore the concepts of ‘costume’ and ‘body’ as simultaneously signifying and deconstructing binaric gender assumptions.

Situating the costumed body at the center of my investigation and within the frame of fundamental shifts in theatre practices, the need to investigate the body as an immaterial costume vis-à-vis the ubiquitous presence of new technologies and media platforms as spaces for performance is essential. Within this frame, I consider the changing role of costume, the places where costumes are manifest, and the nature of spectating.

The burgeoning of new technologies and social media platforms require the redefinition of  key terms such as ‘costume’ and ‘theatre’ to fit the ways we understand and experience them in the ambit of the quotidian.. Therefore, looking beyond the stage, I reconsider what costume does and where it does it, indeed what we even consider to be theatre in a time when social media leads the way for communication, leisure, and social behaviour.

Using qualitative research to understand the male body as emblem—manifest through fan regalia in the sports field and drag apparel on the street, on TV and on social media platforms—I propose the costumed body as a device that can be simultaneously performative, scenographic, and dramaturgical, resonating theatrically outside the bounds of the theatre.

This research, as a whole, contributes to a better understanding of how the costumed male body is read in the mundane world using theatre and gender as discursive frames. I propose that the costumed body makes meaning as it interrogates normative gender representations in both real and digital environments. In a sense, queered bodily display functions as theatre and furthers an understanding of what costume is and what it does to subvert normative masculinity.

Contact information of doctoral candidate:

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