Clothes Do Not Make A Man
Posters designed by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic with co-author Vlado Zrnic, for last year’s dance piece choreographed by Irma Omerzo, ‘Clothes Do Not Make A Man’ I find interesting for several reasons.
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
She used T-shirts, trousers, tops, pants, jackets, roll shirts, dresses with screen print on fabric as posters which mean that these new objects either perceived as posters or clothing object got completely different meaning. The third layer to the project was given in public spaces, where objects actually started to live in completely new urban environment giving the new coded system to the city walls.
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
And, of course, when you compare her posters with the rest of billboards, you might see those T-shirts as a sort of outsiders, intruders or creative objects. Indeed, it triggers your imagination and thoughts on what might this performance look like. The scenery looks creepy too, partly reminding on scenes from cartoons.
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
In the contemporary dance performance made for the Company Zalet from Zadar as a guest choreographer Irma Omerzo was investigating the shapes of space by using clothing only as tools. Omerzo was inspired by dancers’ move and volumes of their bodies which brought her to the concept of clothing negation.
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
Designer Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic followed Omerzo’s concept: “I asked myself, what clothes actually offered as a possibility in ‘two-dimensional space’, i.e. on a flat surface? We selected various clothing items, cut some of them in pieces and printed the info-text on them. Then we attached them on billboards with wallpaper glue.”
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
“That procedure was contrary to the one in the show, since it made the possible space of volume in clothing simply ‘vanish’. However, the surface of clothing thus created was not defined by its format, which is usually inevitable if we use paper as the poster material, thus, the newly created forms were questioning the possibility of space, this time in two dimensions.”
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
“Each poster was literally different, that is, unique and original. Various characters of clothing items offered a broad range of ‘reading’ the relationship between man and clothes. Eventually, on public billboards these posters functioned as an installation.” (Source: catalog from Zagreb Salon)
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (1971, Zadar) graduated product design in School for Design at Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb. At the moment teaches student at the Visual Communications Design Department – Art Academy Split. Her works were exhibited at numerous solo and group international exhibitions, such as: The 9th International Biennial of Theatre Posters , The 6th International Computer Art Biennial(Poland); Climate Action Network Canada and The Art Directors Club of New York (USA); / ‘Time is Running Out’ / COP-11 (Canada); Street Art Workers (USA) etc.
Clothes Do Not Make A Man by Ljubica Marcetic Marinovic (c)
Irma Omerzo (1969, Zagreb) studied dance in France at the Centre Nationale de Danse Contemporaine – Angers. In France she has worked with Andy Degroat, and been a part of the Philippe Decoufl.’s DCA company (eight years as a dancer and sometime assistant choreographer) and has collaborated with Francois Verret. She established the Marmot company in Croatia and is the choreographer of numerous dance pieces and a significant number of short dance installations for non-performance spaces and video dance related films. Marmot company carries out dance education programs and sociological research based on dance.
