Isabelle Before

Agente Costura is a Portuguese term loosely translated into We are a sewing Agent. It stands for my experiments with the sewing machine as a compositional percussion instrument, making music out of making clothes, challenging myself in collaborative performances with new ways of transformation. The interdisciplinary quality of the work means that it can be adapted and presented in different settings, from art galleries, to fashion weeks, to music festivals, aiming to engage with various audiences. The work investigates participatory currents in art history, paying special attention to two distinct moments in performance history. Researching my own cultural background, I make reference to Brazilian artists of the 20th century working with participatory performances such as Hélio Oiticica, and Ricardo Basbaum. These artists have created a specific aesthetic that draw on cultural issues in Brazil, which are mirrored in my own work. The work of New York based artists influenced by the teachings of John Cage, such as Fluxus and Allan Kaprow, interest me due to improvisational aspects, as well as the creation of happenings, and the interdisciplinary quality of these works, as I explore music, dance and performance art. Furthermore, my work discusses the contemporary term upcycling, as defined by Michael Braumgart and William Mcdonough, relating back to historical texts on the Dress Reform of the late 19th/early 20th century, both questioning the fashion industry as perpetrator of unnecessary consumption. These themes are stitched together in a rhizomatic structure, through the theory of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, feeding into the fabric of contemporary art, and creating a patchwork of experiences and ideas.