Hybrid Heroes/ Alter Egos
Title: "Wonder Me"
Size: Life-sized
Medium: Cardboard
Date: March 2021
If I could be anyone else, I would want to be Wonder Woman. In her personal life she is a kind and social person which I strive to be and with her costume on, she protects people she cares about. As a person dealing with mental illness, I don’t have many friends and I wish people could feel drawn to me the way they are to her. I want to be strong like her inside and out, but instead of using her shield to protect myself from physical harm, I would use it to protect myself from emotional harm.
Size: Life-sized
Medium: Cardboard
Date: March 2021
If I could be anyone else, I would want to be Wonder Woman. In her personal life she is a kind and social person which I strive to be and with her costume on, she protects people she cares about. As a person dealing with mental illness, I don’t have many friends and I wish people could feel drawn to me the way they are to her. I want to be strong like her inside and out, but instead of using her shield to protect myself from physical harm, I would use it to protect myself from emotional harm.
Artistic Inspiration
Inspiration Behind The Piece:
The character Wonder Woman was originally created as a comic cartoon by William Moulton Marston. But the inspiration behind the designs of my "costume" was from the movie version of Wonder Woman by costume designer Lindy Hemming. Because this version of the costume was more detailed and modern, I thought it would be more fun to create the movie version. Although both costumes are kind of revealing and not very practical, I did think the movie version was at least slightly more practical than the costume from the comics. I also like how her costume from the movie reveals her character; a strong, wise woman who works hard for what she wants and has the support of her family and friends. It is also a good representation of her original culture and life which is admirable.
The character Wonder Woman was originally created as a comic cartoon by William Moulton Marston. But the inspiration behind the designs of my "costume" was from the movie version of Wonder Woman by costume designer Lindy Hemming. Because this version of the costume was more detailed and modern, I thought it would be more fun to create the movie version. Although both costumes are kind of revealing and not very practical, I did think the movie version was at least slightly more practical than the costume from the comics. I also like how her costume from the movie reveals her character; a strong, wise woman who works hard for what she wants and has the support of her family and friends. It is also a good representation of her original culture and life which is admirable.
About William Moulton Marston:
William Moulton Marston was a very successful man who was a lawyer and psychologist, was the creator of the DISC system personality classification, was the early version of the lie detector machine, and was the creator of the original Wonder Woman from the comics. He was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard. After an article called "Don't Laugh at the Comics" was published in 1940, Marston described that he saw high educational potential in comic books. That was the beginning of his comic book career. Max Gaines who was a comic publisher that saw the article so he hired Marston for All-American Publications as an educational consultant. This company eventually merged with another company to form DC Comics. Marston wrote a comic book and created Wonder Woman a year later which was a guest role in the 1941 All-Star Comics #8. He not only wanted to create a beautiful woman, but a superhero as strong as male counterparts. Her famous weapon the "Lasso of Truth" was inspired by his work with the lie detector.
William Moulton Marston was a very successful man who was a lawyer and psychologist, was the creator of the DISC system personality classification, was the early version of the lie detector machine, and was the creator of the original Wonder Woman from the comics. He was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard. After an article called "Don't Laugh at the Comics" was published in 1940, Marston described that he saw high educational potential in comic books. That was the beginning of his comic book career. Max Gaines who was a comic publisher that saw the article so he hired Marston for All-American Publications as an educational consultant. This company eventually merged with another company to form DC Comics. Marston wrote a comic book and created Wonder Woman a year later which was a guest role in the 1941 All-Star Comics #8. He not only wanted to create a beautiful woman, but a superhero as strong as male counterparts. Her famous weapon the "Lasso of Truth" was inspired by his work with the lie detector.
About Lindy Hemming:
Lindy Hemming was born on August 21, 1948 in Wales, UK. Hemming attended the most famouss drama school in Britain, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). She originally specialized in stage management, but switched to design. Her career began with designing for contemporary, local productions. After her work on "Four Weddings and a Funeral," she gained attention from Hollywood. Hemming was rewarded an Oscar for her work on the production "Topsy-Turvy (1999)." She has also worked for the productions on the first two Harry Potter movies.
Planning
Planning Sketches
When I was thinking of what else or who else I would want to be, I knew I wanted to be someone who is strong not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Wonder Woman was perfect because whether as a superhero or as a citizen, she is loved by everyone in her community and that is something I envy. I also knew I wanted to create her shield, but instead of using it for physical protection, I would use it to protect myself emotionally, especially from the mean people in my life. I decided though that although impractical, I wanted to create her costume from the movie because it was at least more practical than the costume from the original comic. I also thought it would be more fun to create a costume designed by a woman than a man because Wonder Woman is what feminism should be.
Process & Experimentation
These first three images are one of Wonder Woman's shields. For this, I found the biggest piece of cardboard I had along with the biggest bowl I had and used the bowl to trace a circle onto the cardboard. I cut it out with an x-acto knife so the edge could be smoother. I used hot glue to paste on skinny triangular shapes and glued a circular piece on top to make it look clean. I used hot glue on the edge of the shield to create the designs because I thought it would be easier and look cooler than using cardboard strips.
These two images are the process of my official breastplate. This was the hardest part of the project. I tried following a tutorial on Youtube, but it wasn't very instructional and the breastplate ended up not fitting at all so I had to start over. When following the tutorial I used a bra to trace an outline as shown and tried using an x-acto knife to carve (not cut) lines to have the cardboard shape the right way, but it didn't work and it didn't fit. I ended up going with the flow for the second one because I know that the original design was definitely not made for my body type so I cut and bent two half circles and glued them together. The part that covers my "abs" is made of three different pieces of cardboard so that it could bend. I used hot glue to create the designs because I thought it would be easier and look cooler than using strips of cardboard.
For the skirt, I created two giant flag like shapes, two medium sized flag like shapes, and four small flag like shapes. I centered and glued the medium sized flags on top of the giant flags and then used scissors to cut a little more than halfway on the edges where the two different pieces lined up to create and extra layer. I cut a waste length piece of cardboard and glued on the giant flags and glued two small flags on either side of both big flags.
For the headpiece I cut the base of the almost triangular piece with thinner cardboard. I then glued on two skinnier triangular shapes onto each side and used hot glue to create the star and other details because I thought it would look cooler than using cardboard strips. I measured and cut a piece of cardboard that could rap around the length of my head and glued the triangular piece in the center. I then cut two strips of cardboard and centered them on the band part.
For the arm cuffs I measured, cut, and bent the pieces to fit around the lower part of my arms and then cut two small triangular dents on the top edge of both cuffs.
Reflection
This piece was definitely the hardest piece I have ever done in my whole life and I found myself getting frustrated the whole time. The breast plate was the hardest part to make because my body and chest are built differently than most girls' my age. I made two different attempts with it. I think what made this project challenging was that I don't have much experience with sculpting, especially with cardboard. Cardboard, hot glue, and tape being the only materials I could use, limited what I could do with this project. In the future, I hope to get better at sculpting, but I am probably going to start practicing with an easier material such as clay or a variety or recyclable items instead of just one.
Compare & Contrast
Similarities:
- Our breastplates have the same designs -Both costumes are used to protect us from danger whether that be physically or emotionally |
Differences:
-Although her shield isn't featured in the picture, hers is for protecting her from physical harm, while mine is for protecting me from emotional harm -Her costume is one piece wheres mine was made as two pieces because it would be easier to put on |
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
What we share in common is that our alter egos are kind-hearted and strong women. Our shields are different though because Wonder Woman uses hers to protect herself from physical harm and I would use mine to deflect emotional harm.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both sources on both inspirations are biographies. They outline the beginning of their lives and their careers as well as achievements.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc., while you researched your inspiration?
While Marston's goal was to make a powerful woman, he is a good example of how men from the earlier parts of modern entertainment portray women with perfect bodies that wear revealing clothes. Clothing designed for women by women tend to be more practical.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Because I have done projects on mental health and a project on feminism, I wanted to tie both themes into one project. My goal was to portray myself as a powerful, independent woman while protecting myself from mental health issues such as depression.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I found that there was a lot more information about Marston than Hemming. I think this is because women are underrepresented in the entertainment industry and because comic artists get more recognition than costume designers.
What we share in common is that our alter egos are kind-hearted and strong women. Our shields are different though because Wonder Woman uses hers to protect herself from physical harm and I would use mine to deflect emotional harm.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Both sources on both inspirations are biographies. They outline the beginning of their lives and their careers as well as achievements.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc., while you researched your inspiration?
While Marston's goal was to make a powerful woman, he is a good example of how men from the earlier parts of modern entertainment portray women with perfect bodies that wear revealing clothes. Clothing designed for women by women tend to be more practical.
4. What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Because I have done projects on mental health and a project on feminism, I wanted to tie both themes into one project. My goal was to portray myself as a powerful, independent woman while protecting myself from mental health issues such as depression.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I found that there was a lot more information about Marston than Hemming. I think this is because women are underrepresented in the entertainment industry and because comic artists get more recognition than costume designers.
Bibliography
“A Biography of William Marston, Creator of Wonder Woman (Web Exclusive, Extended Version).” Marin Theatre Company, www.marintheatre.org/productions/lasso/lasso-of-truth-marston-bio.
“Lindy Hemming (Costume Designer).” M16, https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/crew/lindy_hemming.php3
“Lindy Hemming (Costume Designer).” M16, https://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/crew/lindy_hemming.php3