A | Scen | Dance by Carlijn Veurink

Photography: Leroy Verbeet

Meet Carlijn Veurink, a recent graduate from the Product design department at ArtEZ Institute of the Arts. Even though her background is in product design, she has always been interested in performing arts, and tries to combine disciplines in a playful way. Movement, humour and the human body are the key aspects in her work, resulting for instance in dance costumes which translate the movements of the dancer into completely new ones. This is the thought behind her current project, 'A | Scen | Dance'. Everyone has their own way. Their own way of acting, thinking and moving. Religion and fashion both are ways to express and expand yourself. A | Scen | Dance, controlling influence, refers to the way you must create your own autonomy within these concepts to make them personal. This collection consists of different suits which react to your body. You can take control over shape and outline by moving around. Transitioning your movements make the suit come alive.



Carlijn Veurink makes use of materials that have their own way of reacting to change. The movements the body makes echoes through the material and translates this into completely new ones.

'A | Scen | Dance ' will be presented at the SAM-Decorfabriek on Saturday the 16th of June as part of the Show Programme. You can get your tickets for the show here.

What made you realize that you wanted to work in (fashion) design?
I like to imagine scenarios in which people behave, move or react in different ways than they would normally do. I use design to create and visualise these scenarios. I try to make other people also wonder about how we do or make things.

Why did you choose fashion?
I didn't specifically choose fashion. I studied product design because it is really broad and can result in anything. After I graduated I got an assignment from the cardboard company Smurfit Kappa. I decided to make the cardboard flexible and put it around the body to make it dance along with the body. I collaborated with a dancer from Introdans to make a video of this costume. This worked so well I decided to expand this project into a collection which resulted in the work I will show during FASHIONCLASH.

What would you say are your main achievements in your career?
My 'career' has only recently started, but so far I got an assignment from Smurfit Kappa to experiment with their materials, which are paper and carboard. This was presented during the Dutch Design Week last year. And my graduation collection The Production Theatre was selected for the Diploma Selection of Designblok festival in Prague and for Make me! during Łódź Design Festival in Polen.

Photography: Leroy Verbeet

What are your sources of inspiration?
I get inspiration out of things people do around me. For instance, the movements a builder makes while he makes the lettering on the streets. I love finding systems in things that you never really think about. Systems that are so well thought trough. The actions and steps that come with these kinds of work.

Why did you decide to participate in FASHIONCLASH Festival 2018? 

I was walking around with this idea in my head of a combination of the fashion show and dance performance but didn’t know in which way I wanted to execute this. FASHIONCLASH seemed like the perfect platform to experiment with something like this because they are so open for interdisciplinary design.








What do you love most about (fashion) design? What are the biggest struggles faced by young designers? 
Being able to play, imagine and improvise and letting things appear which you would never have thought of if you didn't play around. The struggle is to make these ideas into something which is somewhat realistic or commercial so you can actually make some money out of it so you can stop working in a restaurant... :)

How would you define fashion? 
Fashion has so many different layers to it doesn’t come with one definition. For me the clothes I wear, make me feel comfortable enough to dance around in my living room. But the clothes I make, create a show and make people fascinated about shape and movement.

What do you think are the most important issues in fashion today? 
Fashion is getting more and more digital. People show off their digital style on Instagram. Clothes need to make you look good in a picture so you can post it online. The online-world became a platform to constantly show of your new treasures. This makes fashion faster and faster because people constantly want to keep posting new stuff. For me originality and creativity are much more important than always posting something new.

How do you think fashion contributes to society, can it contribute to a better world?
Fashion can make people feel good and comfortable in their own skin. Of course, this is not the only thing that makes people happy but if it helps I think that it's great. And for me that is enough to take it seriously.

What challenges do you face in the design process? What are your favorite parts of the process?
It can be challenging to make my ideas actually work the way they work in my imagination. Sometimes I think too big and am not able to make it reality. But at the same time that is my favorite time of my design process. Because it comes to life and you need to be creative to make something fascinating and special.

Photography: Leroy Verbeet

Describe your design process in one word.
Excessive

How would you describe the concept behind your project (for FASHIONCLASH)? 
Everyone has their own way. Their own way of acting, thinking and moving. This collection consists of different suits which react to your body. You can take control over shape and outline by moving around. Transitioning your movements make the suits come alive. I made use of materials that have their own way of reacting to change. The movements the body makes echo's through the material and translates this into completely new ones.

What inspired you?
I always make little material experiments with textile which involve adding color, folding, hardening etc. This became a material archive which contains a lot of different outcomes. When I started with the idea of making dance costumes I looked through this archive and got inspired by the materials I already made before. But this time I looked at them with different eyes and saw the potential of movements and shapes.

How would you describe your project in three words? 
Transformation, Improvisation and dancing

What projects are you involved in at the moment? What are your next steps? 
In May I will go to Łódź Design Festival in Poland to present my graduation collection. For now, I am still working on my collection for FASHIONCLASH. I am also searching for new collaborations for more interdisciplinary experiments.

What are your thoughts regarding fashion and religion?
Religion and fashion are both ways to express and expand yourself. A | Scen | Dance, controlling influence, refers to the way you must create your own autonomy within these concepts to make them personal.

What does your day look like during the design process?
I sit on the ground the whole day with all kinds of materials around me. I am spray-painting in my garden. Drinking a lot of tea. Paint all over my hands. Wearing my green overalls.

Who is your favorite artist? 
Alexander Calder. I went to his exhibition in Tate two years ago and was mesmerized by the subtle movements and the balance between color, shape and the empty space of his mobiles. It was great to see how he made the mobiles but also just played around by making the Circus Calder, which must have originated by him just having fun.

Who is your favorite designer?
Oskar Schlemmer. One of the Bauhaus teachers and a great activist for interdisciplinary theatre and dance. I will always enjoy watching the triadic ballet video which of course was an inspiration for my own collection.