Editors' Introduction

Abstract

When Pandora, the first human woman created by Hephaestus, out of curiosity opened the box Zeus had gifted her, all evils, plagues and diseases escaped from the box swiftly and took hold in the worldly realm. What remained in the opened box, however, stubbornly, and resisting to leave, was elpis, hope. And hope, in the classical Greek sense of the expectation of a positive – or negative – future outcome is what is needed today in the face of the rapid human destruction of the environment. Hope is needed to resist ever-growing consumerism, ever-faster consumption and a reliance on fossil fuels. Hope is what thousands of people – driven by a young and angry generation – articulate through peaceful yet committed marches through the cities of this world. Hope is what propels positive change. Not a passive, contemplative hope but rather a critical hope that questions and interrogates the present and that demands action. Critical hope is what fuels this special double issue on ecological design in scenography. Ecological or sustainable design, overall, aims to minimise a product’s negative impact on the environment from its production to its consumption. In the context of an expanded scenography comprising set, scenery, props, costumes, analogue and digital sound, image production and lighting, ecological design decisions are especially interconnected and require close collaboration between artists, workshops and industry throughout the lifecycle of a production. The Australian academic and designer Tanja Beer seemed the obvious choice to curate this special issue on ecological design in scenography, in that Beer not only coined the term ‘ecoscenography’ but also, as a practitioner, has begun to explore its manifestations in terms of materialities, aesthetics, coand participative design and community engagement. International in its scope, this issue introduces various approaches to ‘ecoscenography’ and various theoretical articulations that speak to its significance. The questions asked by the contributors and the critical reflections on their practices carry enormous merit in their propositional nature and their approach of ‘small steps’ towards ecological responsibility in scenography. This merit lies in an understanding of the significance of an (often unspectacular) design process and the many imperfections and failures that come with entering new territory. As editors, we are excited by the courage and creativity shown by ‘ecoscenographers’ and look forward to following their future projects closely. We are also hoping that by fostering the discourse on ecological ethics in the field of artistic spatial design through this special issue, we contribute to its dissemination and proliferation, both theoretically and in practice. This issue’s Report from... takes up its main theme with a conversation between veteran British scenographer Pamela Howard and Jane Collins at Howard’s unconventional residence in Selsey Bill, a reconfigured railway carriage. Howard’s early engagement with adaptation and reuse resonates strongly with contemporary issues. In our regular feature ‘Influential Design’, Tanja Beer elaborates on designers and visual artists who have shaped her aesthetics, outlook and values as a scenographer and researcher. Finally in the Book Review section, Astrid von Rosen discusses Rachel Hann’s 2019 monograph, Beyond Scenography.