Manipulating the stage

In the third episode of abstract, the episode showcases Es Devlin, a stage designer form London. Devlin is known for captivating the audience through manipulating light, space, perspective, scale and time when she creates different sets and visuals for performers.

What amazes me is her ability to sculpt an object and scale it in real-life. I admire her creativity as she is able to work within the constraints that are given to her and create a new environment for the audience to experience. For example, a revolving stage that had movable walls to provide different permutations of a set to make a scene adaptable while having multiple cast members.

As an artist, Devlin often considers how the audience will interpret and experience her work especially through music. At the same time, Es wants to help artists create a visual of their songs while they are performing. Each animation and visual created accompanies the song lyrics of an artist such as the cherry blossom floating across the screen while U2 is singing.

In this episode, Devlin shows how she is influenced by history. She introduces the audience to the stained glass windows at Saint’s Church and admires how the light permeates through the colors of the stained glass. What makes Devlin creative is how her projects stem from psychology and culture. When tasked with an open-ended project to create anything based around the theme scent, she based her project around how the frontal brain makes 50,000 decision a minute and would ultimately lead the audience through a scent-infused mirrored maze. Then the audience are put in an immersive room with a projection of being plummeted down almost as if a perfume scent transports you into a different time.

Being in a niche field, Devlin seems to be dominating the stage design industry with her way of warping an audience’s perception to keep her creations innovative.