In an attempt to explore how the ‘performativity’ of identity is made explicit or actively designed, I’ve been developing ‘wild man’ outfit ideas. The wild man reoccurs as a motif in festivals throughout Europe, and is echoed in characters and costumes across the world. The wild man often takes on a role that muddies social order, mischief and the wild.

I learnt a great deal about the history of the wild man character from the work of Charles Freger documented in the book Wilder Mann, and about how the form may be adapted through the Gothic Futurist work of RAMM:ΣLL:ZΣΣ. The IKEA-hacking of the Urban Camouflage project (a project of Sabina Keric and Yvonne Bayer) and the body-hacking of Lucy McRae and Bart Hess offer insights in to how materials and process can shape the wild man form.