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| The Bat Suit--close up (thanks to SK for the photo :) |
Anyway, at last we have something interesting to look at in the Costume Gallery at Brighton Museum. Yes, Prinny's xx-large cambric knickers have been cleared out of the glass box in order to accommodate it. The exhibit does look very impressive indeed, as you approach the gallery from the Prints and Drawings section. A much-needed oasis of selfie heaven for visitors. While we were there, my husband was asked to take some pics on behalf of some middle-aged women who were both armed with heavy duty digital SLRs. The glass of Batman's box is already liberally smeared with the patina of adoring fans, etc. Quite tricky to photograph because of the glare/reflections from all those annoying info-mation screens dotted about the gallery. I had the same problem when I tried to photograph Benedict Cumberbatch's 'Sherlock' coat in the Museum of London. Just as well this Batman costume has no connection with Cumberbatch, btw--or this exhibit would have been besieged by Cumberbitches and no doubt the glass would have been smashed and Batman's neoprene codpiece stolen, etc. But thankfully, Mr Bale doesn't quite have the same fan base.
I recommend the side views. This Batman has a lovely cloak, which looks like velvet to me. Apparently, they had to make various different cloaks suitable for the action scenes. I'm guessing this one must be for the close-up shots. Indeed, the cloak made me think of Rotbart from 'Swan Lake' as the ears of the bat mask are similar to the owl aspect of Rotbart's costume. Then, looking at the way the cloak was draped I fleetingly thought of Dracula and then of course the way Rudolf Nureyev would have used that cloak. Rudi was the master of cloak manipulation--just watch him approaching the balcony in 'Romeo and Juliet' or as Albrecht in the final scene of 'Giselle'--in his hands the cloak becomes an animated thing, a being all it's own, a flame of passion, a tattered flag of romantic despair or a bleak column of mourning.
Back to Batman. He is a welcome addition, temporary though he is. Nothing has changed much in this benighted gallery for 15 years. I'm sick to death of looking at Fat Boy Slim's Hawaiian shirt or all that dreary and slightly phoney punk stuff. The historic costumes are too few and far between as everything has to be displayed in context now (but I've ranted about that previously, so won't go on, etc.) If you want to see a decent costume gallery, go to Worthing Museum--is my advice, in a nutshell.
The reason why Batman is here is because of the forthcoming 'Costume Games' in September, based on those cosplay festivals, where everyone dresses up as cartoon/comic strip characters. We came across a cosplay convention in Vienna once, with a whole gang of 'Happy Feet' penguins wandering around, rather aimlessly--or perhaps that's the point, I don't know. Anyway, I guess it will be fun, etc. And it's nice to have a 'Baleful Batman' in situ, even though he's not real--the costume is the thing, I guess.
