Cards are a two-dimensional medium. But
although tarot finds its origins in the cards,
the concept of tarot itself transcends the
medium. Tarot is a tool, a passion, even a
way-of-life. While the cards will probably
remain its most natural form of expression, it
is no longer restricted to the flat,
four-cornered world from which it evolved.
This is a story of how a talented group of
folks moved tarot into the "third dimension."
Although I had the distinct pleasure of
participating in this endeavor, I can't take any
of the credit for bringing the project to
fruition. My primary contribution consisted of
an offhand comment to my husband about how the
cards of the Londa
Tarot would look absolutely stunning
rendered as full-size costumes.
But... from my lips to "costumers' ears," as
it were. Around these parts, interest in costume
design and construction rivals the passion for
tarot embraced by many a collector. So, from my
fledgling costume-enthusiast husband, on to
other costumers in the area, the word traveled.
And the next thing I knew, I was embarking on a
shopping trip with "the gang" to find the right
fabrics and base patterns for turning the idea
into a reality.
The goal was to create an ensemble of outfits
that could be entered into the formal masquerade
competition at Archon in 2002. Archon is a
science fiction and fantasy convention held
annually in the St. Louis area, usually in
October. They are generally regarded as having
one of the premier such competitions in the
Midwestern U.S. A secondary goal of having two
of the costumes completed in time for the
International Tarot Society's biannual "World
Tarot Congress" was not achieved, as time ran
short, and the Congress was held in May of 2002
-- five months earlier than the St. Louis
event.
Initially, four people stepped forward to
work on the project: my husband Les, two local
costuming talents -- Rachelle Hrubetz and Mandi
Arthur -- and myself. Les selected the
Hierophant card from the Londa Tarot for his
portion of the presentation, and it was decided
that Rachelle, Mandi, and I would do the
Justice, Strength, and Empress cards
respectively. Over the following months,
Rachelle, Mandi, and Les worked together on
constructing their costumes. I did very little
construction work on my own costume, and replied
heavily on advice from Rachelle and Mandi in the
construction of the top portion thereof. The
pants, cummerbund, and difficult left sleeve of
the Empress costume were primarily constructed
by another local costumer, Sallie Abba, who also
participated in the final presentation when the
concept was expanded in scope (more below).
In the original Londa cards, each of the
selected characters is holding one or more
objects -- a scepter for the Empress, a spear
for the Hierophant, a sword and scales for
Justice, and a leopard for Strength. Les decided
to replicate these items in such a way that each
person could carry an item that would light up
or glow under darkened conditions. The scepter
was built to incorporate a plasma lightning
globe inside the top sphere. The shaft of the
spear was constructed with an internal light
source, so that rune symbols incorporated into
the design would appear to glow forth from it.
Justice's sword was made from an acrylic
material that conducted light from a source in
the hilt upward, toward the sword's tip. A
commercially-purchased glowstick was twisted
into the shape of a lemniscate and hung from the
collar of Strength's leopard.
The hair designs for the characters also
presented a challenge and an opportunity. Wigs
were obviously needed, and were subsequently
purchased from a specialty wig supplier.
However, although good matches were available
for the Justice and Strength designs,
modifications were required to match the hairdos
sported by the Hierophant and Empress.
Additional stylizing of the Hierophant wig was
performed by Joann Firkins, a professional
stylist and former high school classmate of
Les'. Sallie applied her creative talents to the
Empress wig by combining two hairpieces in order
to achieve the desired length and fullness, and
then painting the resulting product to match the
orange-tinged locks as represented on the
original card.
The makeup was also a crucial element in
effectively recreating the "look" of the
original cards. The makeup design and
application was achieved largely through the
efforts of the talented Lynda Sherman, a theater
arts specialist.
It seemed unlikely that most of the Archon
audience would be intimately familiar with the
tarot we were attempting to recreate. Therefore,
Les decided it would be best to include
full-size reproductions of the cards in the
presentation. Because it was too expensive to
print full-color posters of the cards at the
desired size, the services of graphic artist Max
Rauer were solicited. Max reduced the
illustrations to black-and-white line drawings
which could be printed affordably. Mandi then
used pastels and chalk to re-color the
black-and-white posters to match the original
illustrations. The posters were then mounted in
frames constructed of PVC piping for
stage-display purposes.
To add drama to the presentation, it was
later decided that the posters should be
displayed, with the costumed characters
subsequently "stepping out of" the cards. To
provide a foundation for this staging, Les and
Rachelle decided to cast the presentation within
the framework of a "gypsy" tarot reading. Some
additional people were invited to play the parts
of the gypsies -- Sallie Abba (mentioned
previously), her husband Greg, and Joe Struss.
Sallie would perform the role of the reader, Joe
would be the querent, and Greg would act as the
gypsy "assistant" that revealed each of the
full-size reproductions of the cards to the
audience as they were "dealt" on stage by the
reader.
Since the primary focus was intended to be on
the Londa card costumes, the original concepts
for the "gypsy" outfits were very simple.
However, as avid costuming enthusiasts
themselves, Sallie and Greg had a different
idea: what if there were an actual tarot
with cards after which the gypsy costumes could
be patterned? As it turned out, Buckland and
Lake's Romani
Tarot provided the perfect designs for such
an endeavor. Although the audience might not be
aware of it, they would have the opportunity to
view reproductions from two tarots within a
single presentation.
The characters chosen from the Romani tarot
were as follows: reader -- the Magician
(represented by a female figure in the Romani
deck); assistant -- 8 of Chivs (Swords); querent
-- 5 of Chivs (Swords). In addition, Greg
constructed a special prop to serve as the
"reading table." The design of the table was
inspired by items pictured in the Romani cards,
most specifically the Magician and World cards.
It incorporated the four traditional
"elemental/suit" symbols of the tarot, as
represented in the deck -- Koshes (wands), Koros
(cups), Chivs (swords), and Bolers
(pentacles).
Thanks to the excellent talents of the Archon
masquerade team, the stage setup allowed
contestants a great deal of flexibility for
entrances and exits. It was decided that our
presentation would be best served with a split
left/right entrance. Thus, the final
presentation staging was as follows: we began by
moving the reading table and card posters into
place under "lights out" conditions. When the
lights came up, the reader dealt each of the
Londa cards (using the actual cards from the
actual deck, although this was probably not
apparent to anyone in the audience past the
first row) while the querent looked on. As each
card was presented, the assistant "unveiled"
each of the posters, which had been covered with
a black hanging cloth (constructed by Rachelle)
that could be flipped back behind the frame.
By the time the last card had been revealed,
the audience appeared to be convinced that the
gypsy costumes were the presentation, and
they applauded politely. At that point, the
reader and querent moved the table to the rear
of the stage (the reading "stump" having been
mounted on a wheel base to facilitate this
transition), and the Londa "characters" stepped
out from behind the curtains and moved into
place next to their "cards." The gasps of
surprise, followed by various "ooos" and
"aaaahs," and then renewed enthusiastic
applause, were worth the months of effort. After
displaying both the fronts and backs of the
costumes, the stage lights were lowered,
affording the audience the opportunity to
observe the lighting effects incorporated into
the props before everyone made their exit.
The costumes and presentation garnered two
awards: a workmanship award for "Best Media
Recreation," and the presentation award for
"Best in Show." Awards aside, however, the
entire experience provided me with a new and
valuable opportunity in my personal tarot
studies. I discovered that as an art form, tarot
provides a well-defined framework of concepts
and images. And yet, perhaps paradoxically, the
executional possibilities that find their roots
within the framework of tarot are practically
limitless.
Postscript: It is customary, at the
"higher" levels of competition, for entrants to
provide the judges background and construction
documentation on a costume presentation. For
those interested in more detailed information on
the concepts and construction of the
Londa/Romani costume ensemble, the documentation
can be accessed and viewed in .pdf format by
clicking here.
The following are additional photos of the
entrants that were taken during the competition.
Click the button below any thumbnail to see an
enlarged view of the photo.
© Jeannette Roth
6 November 2002
