14 AUG 2026 // Othered Bodies - work-in-progress by Daphne Karstens

Dynamic performance featuring experimental wearable sculptures.

From August 3 to 15, wearable sculpture artist Daphne Karstens was an artist-in-residence at the Plein Theater Productiehuis. Daphne Karstens combines sculpture and costume to create experimental wearable sculptures, costumes, performances and installations.

Her work focuses on experimentation with materials, shape and structure on and around the body. She often works with unconventional materials and combines the individual qualities of materials with shapes and structures. She wants to explore and redefine the boundaries and possibilities of costume and wearable sculpture and show the possibilities when costumes are approached as more then a garment.

Othered Bodies

During her residency, Daphne developed the visual research project Othered Bodies, which critically examines the existing social order. Sara Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology serves as the point of departure for the creation of wearable sculptures that carry their own narratives. Through physical and visual dialogues, we explore what it actually means to "orient oneself." Performers merge with wearable sculptures on and around their bodies, generating new forms of (more-than-human) movement. As body assemblages, they reveal that "the body" is not a singular entity but rather a temporary composition—and therefore a representation—of multiple systems. These systems, with their norms and boundaries, are exposed in Othered Bodies through a shift in perspective.

This project is a collaboration with:

Concept, wearable sculptures & scenography: Daphne Karstens
Performers: Aaron Faneyte & Eli Verboket
Sound design: Merit Vessies
Dramaturgy: Ingrid van Schijndel
Research advice: Rachel Hann
Coaching: Cat Smits

This project was made possible in part by a contribution from the Amarte Fund and the Cultuurfonds, and is part of the Plein Theater Productiehuis.

Plein Theater Residencies

Plein Theater devotedly offers space to passionate innovators who wish to experiment with (puppet and object) theater, contemporary dance and music, or unexpected interdisciplinary forms.

Curated by artistic director and theater maker Berith Danse, distinctive artists are invited to make our house their home, our stage their laboratory, and our spaces their sounding board for new stories and voices. Presentations and workshops by residents for neighbors, friends, and enthusiasts are part of the open door of our theater.

Read more about the Plein Theater Production House >