Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1043753
units with suspended drawers were designed. These units could be moved as required to either set up a particular scene or angled to create the illusion that the Beauty Closet went on forever. A silver powder coat spray paint gave them a high-tech look with the sparkle of eyeliner. On Dietland, Plum Kettle's world consists of her apartment, the cafe where she sometimes works as a baker and Waist Watchers. To illustrate Plum's physical and spiritual confinement, 6 Point Harness (a Los Angeles animation studio) created a hand-drawn pen and ink map of her neighborhood. A childlike cutout animation of an obese Plum is seen traversing the map, going to and from these places in a rigid and repetitive fashion. In all ten episodes of the first season, primitive animations and hand drawings inspired by Henry Darger and others are used to transport the audience into Plum's psyche and serve as a transition into her hallucinations. The Art Department worked closely with the animators to create visual opportunities for these transitions by choosing wallpapers, fabrics and objects that could go from benign to sinister with little manipulation. Photographer Lynne Cohen's pioneering monograph Occupied Territory was a great inspiration for Waist Watchers and the many doctors' offices Plum visits. Cohen's photographs depict desolate waiting areas, creepy examination rooms, empty classrooms, shooting ranges and the futile efforts made by their inhabitants to bring warmth to these spaces through decoration. The desperate attempts to 'personalize' the spaces with odd plants and misplaced artwork are not unlike Plum's arid attempts at gaining acceptance in society through weight loss. In both cases, attempts at fitting in serve only to isolate further. For Plum, the only real solution to her self-loathing can be her self-acceptance. Words to this point have gone toward outlining a few of the design intentions that went into the set design of Dietland. But words and sketches mean nothing without a dedicated team of very talented people and everything they bring to the project every day. I am grateful to have had the impeccable eye, good taste and depth of experience of set decorator Rich Devine and his assistant decorator Von Chorbajian. And for the talent and tireless efforts of Art Director Amelia Battaglio, Graphic Designer Valeria Fox, Art Department coordinator Victoria Robinson, scenic painter Joe Garzero, construction coordinator Ron Petagna and construction foreman Frank Didio. And we are all grateful to Set Designer Tom Warren for his lifetime of contributions to scenic design in New York as he retires from the industry. ADG B A C