"Picasso said that an artist's task is to discover things and then to find out what they are. (...) There can be a huge gap between intention and result. Often poets will write up a rhyme, a pretty phrase or a new expression and only afterwards will they search for what is hidden behind it. We have to learn to accept that meaning comes to us after the fact."
Robert Lepage, "Connecting Flights"
Monday, 22 February 2010
Sunday, 21 February 2010
water?
I forgot a bit my idea of using water. Maybe because I got a bit dissapointed that practically it would be difficult to work. I like this video very much. I feel the connection of water to dreams and memories, and to something that is lost.
I will think again on the idea of water but maybe as something recorded.. (or not)
Thursday, 18 February 2010
“Memory is always a memory of memory” writes Halbwachs and I agree completely. We never have a clear image of the event that has passed. We remember the most recent memories of it that are always changing. And as Lepage says “What really counts is how we transform events through the distorting lens of memory”.
Each moment that leaves is memory and then it becomes memory of memory. All these layers are living inside us, creating a palimpsest of images (images of people and spaces). The last two weeks I experimented with projecting on different materials, semitransparent, that allow the projection pass through them.
The video I made is a ruined space. It is a memory of the space, where there is a desire for escape.
Test [1] – projector behind the plastic screen – body like a shadow:
Test [2] – three different materials that are breaking the image because of the different distances from the projector – we see the body and different shadows
Test [3] – the body is hiding behind the screen and when a light turns on appears like a shadow
Test [4] – two materials (screens) and a lighting bulb turning on and off (this can play according to a narrative)
Test [5] – four different materials seen from another perspective (supposing that the audience is the viewer) – the body is moving between
Each moment that leaves is memory and then it becomes memory of memory. All these layers are living inside us, creating a palimpsest of images (images of people and spaces). The last two weeks I experimented with projecting on different materials, semitransparent, that allow the projection pass through them.
The video I made is a ruined space. It is a memory of the space, where there is a desire for escape.
Test [1] – projector behind the plastic screen – body like a shadow:
Test [2] – three different materials that are breaking the image because of the different distances from the projector – we see the body and different shadows
Test [3] – the body is hiding behind the screen and when a light turns on appears like a shadow
Test [4] – two materials (screens) and a lighting bulb turning on and off (this can play according to a narrative)
Test [5] – four different materials seen from another perspective (supposing that the audience is the viewer) – the body is moving between
Sunday, 7 February 2010
London International Mime Festival
Some weeks ago I went to see two performances from the London International Mime Festival. The first one was “USSR was here” by BlackSkyWhite, a Russian group. Two performers with very good acrobatic, technical abilities where performing in a black stage, interacting with light and a continuous (powerful in my opinion) soundtrack. I wasn’t able to understand any narrative behind it, but a series of moments between two persons that probably had references and symbols that I couldn’t get.
But what I am keeping from this performance is the fact that two bodies in a black space together with light and sound can create a series of powerful images. Creating illusion was one of the objectives of the performance. Their movements, the participation of a fake head in the performance and the costumes had as a result the deconstruction of the body and the disorientation of the audience. It is revealing what only bodies and costumes can create. I just have the impression that the show was more a demonstration of a series of techniques and abilities where I couldn’t find the objective.
The second performance was “Kefar Nahum” by the Compagnie Mossoux Bonte, from Belgium. This was a kind of puppet theatre where, the puppeteer is performing as well. The puppets are not real puppets but simple objects that take life at the hands of their creator. They are a continuation of the body of the puppeteer, they are part of her body, costumes. In the end they are so strong that they take power over their creator.
What I found very interesting in this performance was the element of sound again. The sound was produced live by a musician that was sitting at the edge of the stage. It was very interesting how the movements of the puppets and the sounds worked together perfectly. The sound became an indispensable element of the performance, equally important with the visual part.
The visual part we experienced was a series of surreal images consisting of a human fighting with objects. The light, the colours and the shapes of the objects made these images beautiful in an abstract way.
Both performances were beautiful but nothing exceptional in my opinion. I am still looking for a performance that will drug me away from reality and make me travel. Because for me this is what I am looking for in a performance. Something rare to happen but it does sometimes.
But what I am keeping from this performance is the fact that two bodies in a black space together with light and sound can create a series of powerful images. Creating illusion was one of the objectives of the performance. Their movements, the participation of a fake head in the performance and the costumes had as a result the deconstruction of the body and the disorientation of the audience. It is revealing what only bodies and costumes can create. I just have the impression that the show was more a demonstration of a series of techniques and abilities where I couldn’t find the objective.
The second performance was “Kefar Nahum” by the Compagnie Mossoux Bonte, from Belgium. This was a kind of puppet theatre where, the puppeteer is performing as well. The puppets are not real puppets but simple objects that take life at the hands of their creator. They are a continuation of the body of the puppeteer, they are part of her body, costumes. In the end they are so strong that they take power over their creator.
What I found very interesting in this performance was the element of sound again. The sound was produced live by a musician that was sitting at the edge of the stage. It was very interesting how the movements of the puppets and the sounds worked together perfectly. The sound became an indispensable element of the performance, equally important with the visual part.
The visual part we experienced was a series of surreal images consisting of a human fighting with objects. The light, the colours and the shapes of the objects made these images beautiful in an abstract way.
Both performances were beautiful but nothing exceptional in my opinion. I am still looking for a performance that will drug me away from reality and make me travel. Because for me this is what I am looking for in a performance. Something rare to happen but it does sometimes.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
robert lepage - The Rake's Progress
I discovered some months ago Robert Lepage and from what I ‘ve seen I got interested in investigating more his work. He is very interested in the relation of theatre and cinema, as he works as well with both mediums. His theatre is very cinematic and he is working very much with the deconstruction of time and memory. I am currently reading “The cinema of Robert Lepage, The poetics of memory”.
Some weeks ago I went to see “The Rake’s Progress” at Royal Opera House. (I have to say thanks to Esteban that gave me the invitation!) This is an opera of Stravinsky that Lepage directed. I don’t know if it was one of the most characteristic works of him but it was the first play of him that I could see. (I have only watched some of his films)
Of course an opera is an opera and this was a classic story, light and amusing. The performance was a big production with a lot of technology involved. A series of cinematic and poetic images were created with the use of a huge screen as a background, the objects on the stage that played with scale and the use of light. The 3d objects on the stage interacted with the moving (or not) image behind to create a new 4 dimensional reality (as the projection even though it has two dimensions it represents three).
I found also very interesting some scenes that played with the scale of the objects and the depth of the stage. For example, when Anne was leaving her house, she was standing close to the edge of the stage and a small model of a house, lighted and looking real, was on the back of the stage, when a projected moon was moving on the background screen. This game with perspectives and realities gave a very beautiful result.
In general, I have to say that I enjoyed very much the show. All the scenography was very inspiring (even if I didn’t like everything aesthetically). Even if I am not a big fan of opera, I have to admit that seeing an opera directed from a new perspective and introducing cinema and multimedia in it, the result can be exceptional.
Some weeks ago I went to see “The Rake’s Progress” at Royal Opera House. (I have to say thanks to Esteban that gave me the invitation!) This is an opera of Stravinsky that Lepage directed. I don’t know if it was one of the most characteristic works of him but it was the first play of him that I could see. (I have only watched some of his films)
Of course an opera is an opera and this was a classic story, light and amusing. The performance was a big production with a lot of technology involved. A series of cinematic and poetic images were created with the use of a huge screen as a background, the objects on the stage that played with scale and the use of light. The 3d objects on the stage interacted with the moving (or not) image behind to create a new 4 dimensional reality (as the projection even though it has two dimensions it represents three).
I found also very interesting some scenes that played with the scale of the objects and the depth of the stage. For example, when Anne was leaving her house, she was standing close to the edge of the stage and a small model of a house, lighted and looking real, was on the back of the stage, when a projected moon was moving on the background screen. This game with perspectives and realities gave a very beautiful result.
In general, I have to say that I enjoyed very much the show. All the scenography was very inspiring (even if I didn’t like everything aesthetically). Even if I am not a big fan of opera, I have to admit that seeing an opera directed from a new perspective and introducing cinema and multimedia in it, the result can be exceptional.
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