The art of costuming; CIAO opening

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-MUAHAAAHAAHAA … Halloween. The only day of the year when everyone is whoever they really want to be.

Alter egos and imaginary selves become real, and the traits that people suppress all year somehow spill from their selves.

At various parties this weekend – especially the big one at Snow King – astronauts, politicians, slutty nurses and hordes of other things will coagulate into a sea of potentiality.

Navigate the currents like an agile jellyfish. Harness the wind like a drunken sailor. Visit ports and conquer islands, but don’t sink yourself with a stupid Halloween costume.

Your costume is tempting fate, and you can never forget that.
You might want to be the guy who went the farthest with the coolest idea, but you might also want a sweet costume that satisfies all three of the following criteria.

Practical
Temper your dreams with reality.
If the right opportunity opens, you need to be ready to jam your foot in the door, and if adversity arises, you need to be able to endure and overcome. That means your costume must work in any situation.

Wear something that you are physically and socially comfortable in. It should put your best traits forward, but allow ease of access and freedom of articulation.
It will be cold, and even if you feel hot enough to show a lot of skin; going topless or wearing daisy dukes (guys and girls alike), won’t be that sweet when you have to unexpectedly walk across town.

Appealing
This can be to draw the eyes of jealous onlookers, but usually the plumage of creativity is worn to win the favor of a special man or lady.
Played, predictable costumes have served people well; a sexy nurse, a teenage mutant ninja turtle, and Richie Tenenbaum have led thousands of revelers to a fruitful evening.

But all night you’ll realize your unoriginality, and this will diminish your luster.
The most essential step to creating a costume is to understand who you want to be and what experiences you want to have.

Dress like a news reporter, and you will ask people questions. Dress like a terrorist, and you will shoot people. Dress like Batman, and you will make out with Catwoman. You are this thing, so make sure it’s going to be fun and attract the kind of interactions you want or don’t want - leering included (slutty nurses be warned).

Well-stated
The last thing you want to do on Halloween is respond to every drunk idiot asking “what are you?” You want to walk through the crowd getting props for picking a sweet costume.

Your favorite band might be Neutral Milk Hotel, but if nobody knows what the lead singer looks like, then you’ll be explaining yourself over the din of the crowd while Steven Tyler parties it up with Salt-n-Peppa.

Furthermore, if you dress up as a Dark Night Joker but don’t look like Heath Ledger, you will feel really stupid when the girl your dancing with leaves you for a guy with a stronger chin and a better makeup job, who actually pulled the costume off.

                                                 •

Spooky costumes and art from around the world will be at CIAO this Friday.
An open juried exhibition, called “Ciaolloween,” features art from local artists Abby Paffrath, Steven Glass and Victoria Reynolds that went up against submissions from Florida, Montana, Texas, India and Japan.

The art is mostly contemporary, and definitely worth checking out.
Judy Postra’s winning sculptures - thought provoking encrustations of costume jewelry on mannequins and textured oil paintings - are perhaps the highlight. But even some of the lower scoring entries were notable as well.

The reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Halloween at CIAO Gallery, 1921 Moose-Wilson road. Dress as your favorite artist. Call 733-7833 for more information. PJH


“The Player,” by Judy Polstra

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The art of costuming; CIAO opening | Planet JH News Article: Arts Beat

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