IJAD - Alice Hoult - creating the world of In-Finite Space

During Mondays open rehearsal I had a chat with Alice Hoult, the set and costume designer for the performance, I wanted to find out where Alice had taken her inspiration and how she was approaching this project.  Alice first worked with Joumana, the choreographer for In-Finite Space, in the summer on a project entitled In-Finite In Transit.  This performance also involved the use of elastics between trees which are also being used between the pillars in the Science Museum performance space. 

Corporate space in the process of transformation

Alice was asked to do this project by Joumana and the subject matter immediately struck her as interesting.  It coincidently tied in directly with a personal interest she had recently developed having visited the Qatar Museum of Islamic Art and becoming fascinated by the astrolabes she discovered there.  Joumana emailed her regarding the project,  mentioning the Islamic Astronomy influences and Alice, having such an interest in the subject already, couldn’t refuse! Astrolabes are known as the first ever computer, they were used to calculate the time by measuring the position of the sun or stars, and were also used for more complex calculations. They originate from around 150BC and are beautiful objects as well as being incredibly complex and valuable.  During the first rehearsal of IJAD I attended Joumana showed the dancers a video demonstrating how an astrolabe works, these objects are obviously very influential items to the project. 

I was interested to see how Alice could visualise the performance taking place in such a corporate space which to me seems quite lifeless and limiting. However Alice spoke of her excitement to work in the space, being used to theatres this space with its white walls, shadows and angles provides a lot of scope for the performance. The space resembles a large blank canvas.  Alice told me how it is always a challenge not being in a theatre, mainly from the perspective that technical equipment is limited such as lighting, however it seems to me that this space will not hold her back in the slightest!

Working with dancers affects the design; as of course costumes must allow movement in addition to enhancing the performance. Alice told me that enjoys this element and interacts with the performers throughout the process, discovering how to make her ideas work on a practical level. 

The subject space could easily become a bit of a cliché, with stars and planets scattering the design, however as Alice has approached the subject from an Islamic Astronomy perspective she is working more with geometry and infinite patterns.  She looked at the angles she could create and those already in existence in the room itself, by approaching it in this way I think that the performance will certainly be something intriguing. 

You can read more about Alices design work here.