The-Weeping-Dress.web.jpg

Old Soul by GB Ladies..some levels and colour adjustments
Keeping Memories template(changed) by Neia
Info taken from several internet sources


Martha McDonald, an interdisciplinary artist
created a beautiful mourning gown from black
crepe paper, which she activated and animated
through performance by standing beneath dripping
water. Using gesture, singing and narrative,
“The Weeping Dress”
functioned as both performance and installation,
arising from detailed research into Victorian
mourning culture. The artist discovered that during
a Victorian woman’s first year of mourning,
nothing she wore could reflect light. Dresses were
therefore made from materials such as wool bombazine
or crepe, fabrics that did not readily hold plant-based
dyes. Over time, exposure to rain and heat caused
the colour to fade and run, staining the body and
gradually degrading the fabric. In the live
performance, the dripping water—designed to
evoke the tears of grief—caused dye to leach from
the black paper, leaving the dress faded and stained,
echoing the effects experienced by mourning women
in those Victorian times

2019....I didn’t see the performance but the actual faded and stained dress along with a video and description of the performance and a photo of the dress in its original state were part of an art gallery exhibition in our town. Art comes in so many forms and I am forever amazed by people’s creativity. I often wonder...how on earth did they think of that!...and sometimes...why didnt I think of that!!