Romy Strasser

Courtroom dramas have been a staple as long as tragedy itself. With the advent of new media, courtroom hearings have become accessible, transforming this institutional practice into a widespread spectacle. Courtrooms metamorphose into stages, with its participants assuming the roles of actors, as observed by Minou Arjomand in her publication 'Staged – Show Trials, Political Theater, and the Aesthetics of Judgment.' Media scrutinizes every detail of Gwyneth Paltrow’s courtroom attire, describing it as 'a deliberate display of wealth and influence.' Winona Ryder's iconic black dress with pink accents, part of the 2001 Marc Jacobs collection, made headlines and cemented her as the face of the brand in four campaigns. Fashion becomes a currency in the realm of justice, meticulously orchestrated and integrated into the solemn backdrop alongside the uniformed supporting cast. The fashion editorial seeks to dissect these aesthetics. The media imagery itself becomes an aesthetic, with the focus on the protagonist against the austere backdrop of the courthouse building and courtroom, relegating other participants to the role of (uniformed) supporting players.

The online store provides a deeper glimpse into Marianna's creative realm: Here, one can acquire pieces that echo her broader works, the store itself presenting an alternative approach to the conventional market mechanisms of art galleries. The visual content, reminiscent of the timeless tale of Alice in Wonderland, weaves an appealing storyline, inviting viewers deeper into the artist’s universe.

The exhibition “weg” (German for both “away” and “path”) at Helmhaus Zurich presented eleven artistic perspectives on the themes of change, movement and migration. For the campaign, we used creative coding to gradually decompose the word ‘weg’ into an abstract form. The intermediate states oscillate between typography and visualisation, clarity and dissolution, between orientation and alienation. The resulting visual shapes evoke contour lines, infographics and the cartography of paths and trails. The visual was used for posters, invitation cards, a catalogue and a trailer.