visual language of performance Vaso Papadopoulou

2009-06-11T13:30:00.001-07:00

Budget
I m planning to use second hand materials. Wood will be the main material I will use, and especially the small construction I will make, they will cost nothing.
For the biggest ones, the cost of their construction depends of the materials I will mind for free in the wood workshop.

Timetable
12 June – 28 June: Construction of the big parts of the set and some of the smaller ones
28 June – 19 July: Construction of the details
20 July – 30 August: Details

2009-06-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

Samples of the buildings I will construct

2009-06-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

2009-06-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

2009-04-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

PROJECT PROPOSAL
“The Birds”

Aims
My research is based on Kant’s theory through Aristophanes’ work. In his plays, I explore human imagination as a creator of another reality as the imagination is the mean used by the characters so as to change their conditions of life.
The autonomy of fantasy creates here a whole society among the sky and the earth, as a result the world of reality and the world of hypereality are distinct, yet in the same time they coexist.
As the choice of the space is characteristic and as the set design is the field I focus on, the main aim of this project is the construction of a set based on “The Birds”. The spectator should be free to create, with the help of the set and of his fantasy, another dimension of reality.

Methodology
Research:
a) As the starting point of the play is situated in a real community of citizens the first research area was the construction of modern societies, towns, buildings, and in general, the contemporary way of living.
b) Ways to escape from the above: 1. mental ways: fantasy
2. practical ways: travel, flying

Conclusion of research-Proposal:
Buildings-made by seeds of wood-create a corridor. The spectator wears a mask, which remind bird, but also the mask of Zanni, which the doctors during the Black Death used to wear. He walks through the corridor and the buildings he passes start to getting smaller and smaller, giving him the impression he flies. In the end, he watches himself looking like a bird in a mirror in the end of the corridor.

Process
- Design of the set
- Decision of materials and colors (wood, fabric, mirror, pale colors)
- Construction of the set (buildings, corridor, sky, mask, lights)
- Editing of back round music(street, cars, construction of buildings,
saws)

Implementation
A computer
Speakers
Lights

2009-04-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

Vasiliki Papadopoulou
MA: Visual Language of Performance
Diploma Stage
“Fantasy: the creator of a new reality”

The deluge of images overwhelms modern society. Our eyes, our senses are accustomed to the image to such an extent, that the image is seen as a continuation of reality. Haven’t the borders between reality and fantasy been blurred? Couldn’t we feel that our modern society starts resembling the ancient Plato’s Republic, a Republic of ideas? Difficult-to-answer questions that nevertheless lead us to the statement that the matter of image and fantasy is always present and interesting, no matter how much dilated in the past.
The course of history reveals that the line of demarcation between realism and illusion has acted as an inspiration as well as a subject for deliberation for artists and philosophers. From the ancient Greeks with Plato’s Republic of ideas and Aristotle’s rationalized outlook of fantasy to Albert Camus’ and Jean-Paul Sartre’s points of view: a glimpse at the fact that fantasy has always been taking a leading role in the philosophical and artistic scene.
When it comes to the theatrical act and the definition of reality and fantasy we consider a priori the intercourse between them as given. Given is also the fact that this relation appears in many faces. A constellation of theories have rose about the role of fantasy, nevertheless this study will gravitate to the way fantasy can function as a driving force contriving to create a new reality; a reality that can be integrated to the already existing one. As a result, a situation where the realistic joins the fictional and coexists with it is brought into play. Situations of this kind step into the sphere of hyperreality and their expressions in the modern way of living have been analyzed by Umberto Ecco and Jean Baudrillard. However, the present study will concentrate on Immanuel Kant’s theory about productive imagination as interpreted through Aristophanes’ work.
Kant analyzed fantasy as a process of the human mind that gives birth to a new reality; the latter though does not consist of images reflecting an already existing situation. It is not the case of imitation and reproduction as it was until then advocated by philosophers but, contrariwise, the case of creating a new, authentic and independent reality. Richard Kearney (1988, p.173) mentions about Kant’s theory:
“Now the imagination is free to work with itself alone. It is no longer bound to any external reference. Its end is exclusively internal, autonomous. In this aesthetic role, imagination is revealed to as a ‘productive activity of its own”.
But how does this theory about realism and fantasy integrate into the theatrical reality? Primarily, dual nature defines theatre itself: a made up, fictional reality is presented in front of a real, actual audience. Both the sender and the receiver are aware of this fact. From the outset, an agreement is always made between them, although the type of the agreement differs according to the type of theatre. In the same time, yet, other expressions of this duality -innate in the play- make their appearance. The actor is viewed as a distinct entity and on the other hand as the character he acts. In addition the latter may sometime cross in the play the border separating reality from hyperreality, as we will note happening in Aristophanes’plays.
Aristophanes’ work provides us the ground to study the way fantasy can act as the driving force enabling to create a new reality, which at once can be integrated into the realistic frame. Kant’s theory about productive imagination is sensed in Aristophanes’ comedies, as this imagination is the mean used by the characters so as to change their conditions of life.
Consequently, in his plays, fantasy acquires multiple aspects. It becomes the mean spreading laughter, the element creating a poetic atmosphere, but also it constitutes a political decision. The choice of the adjective “political” is not by any means random and this is because fantasy in Aristophanes’ work was the vehicle used to escape from the established order, raising this choice to political action. Nor occasional is the fact that all of his 9 comedies start with a citizen’s indignation caused by the problems of his society and his will to reform it. In that point, fantasy takes the leading part and both real and unreal elements coexist.
Which fictional elements in the overall work of the poet are of interest to the present study?
At first, the external, visible characteristics of the play: for instance a fictional town could be chosen for scenery, the characters could present animal traits or conversely they could be represented by animals with human features. Secondly, the inner characteristics of the plot: Aristophanes’ protagonist moves in an imaginary dimension, separating his position from the audience right from the very first beginning. Driven by his discontentment, he attempts drastic moves; as a result he slides away and creates a new reality, point that constitutes the culmination of the play.
“it is established that the ‘great and mighty deed’..moves each Aristophanic plot from ‘reality’ to ‘surreality’, from the world of the everyday to magic. Each play begins with the hero outlining an intolerable situation, domestic, political, or both, and deciding to take some extraordinary step to resolve it”. (McLeish. K. Aristophanes, Plays: Two, 1993, p. xvi)
Which are the means used to attain this fictional culmination and how is the spectator persuaded by such an illusive situation? First and foremost, a kind of informal agreement is established between the audience and the writer in which the former takes the fictional elements’ autonomy and authenticity for granted. As McLeish claims in his study about Aristophanes, this is happening as illusion succeeds reality and the audience is gradually prepared for this transition. In addition, the poet has an intimate knowledge of his audience’s psychology and of the importance that must be accorded to the conditions of real society. He manages so to integrate transcendental elements in real life and in the same time to inject incidents, institutions and values standing in real life into the transcendental world. A constant shift of realities predominates and the characters while lying on a unreal situation, talk on stage about existing problems of their society. The worlds of reality and hyperreality are distinct, yet in the same time they coexist.
That is what Aristophanes proposes: the transfer of human existence and psychology from one condition to another. Despite the fact that the new imaginary “product” is more ideal than real life, it cannot stand by itself without the solid basis of reality. One could argue that, for the poet, the triumph of fantasy precedes in importance real life. The answer is negative. When fantasy triumphs, life triumphs as well. This is the reason explaining why his comedies end with feasts and proceedings symbolizing institutions of real life.
The present study centres on one of Aristophanes’ comedies, Birds, on the ground that the above mentioned work constitutes an illustrative example of a comedy in which the power of fantasy has made up a reality differentiating from the already existing one. Nan Dunbar (1988, p.6) highlights:
“Some scholars have seen Birds as a comedy of pure escape from harsh reality into poetic fantasy”
Kant spoke about the autonomy of fantasy that gives birth to something new, a reality found also in Aristophanes’ work. It shouldn’t surprise us that a theory about productive imagination is found applied in comedies of the 5th century BC. The transcendental element, as we mentioned above, comes into being by different general elements present in all of Aristophanes’ works. Particularly in Birds those elements are:
Action
To begin with, action is the main fictional element; the creation of a whole new society placed in the sky and inhabited by indignant citizens who have moved to this domain. Cloud-cuckoo-town, this fantastic city, is the main figment of productive fantasy. The two heroes are determined to escape from the inflictions put upon Athens’ citizens, hence they shape a new world presenting features absolutely fictitious. The poets sets new conventions that map out a different time-space. Going closely through Kant’s theory about fantasy, we find that Aristophanes’ choice conforms with the philosopher’s points of view:
“We construct or create for ourselves, in space and time, through a homogeneous synthesis, the objects themselves” (Critique of pure reason, A 723/B 751)
And as Donald W. Crawford (2003, p. 164) mentioned about Kant’s theory:
“The mind through its power of creative imagination can produce certain objects without any reliance upon experience…In artistic activity, the productive imagination also makes it seem as if the mind is master of nature..”

Time
Motivated by the above mentioned reference to time, we will underline time perception as one of the imaginary elements of the comedy. It is significant that the creation of this new society is completed in only one day. In this connection C.F. Russo (1994, p.152) remarks:
“The grandiose chief undertaking of Birds is contained within the space of a single day.. This paradoxical comedy unfolds, quite naturally, in accordance with an equally paradoxical suspension of time and distance”
Accordingly, the march of time does not keep pace with the march of events, time dimension is adjusted to the plot in a way that all those events are compacted in the duration of a single day. According to Kant’s theory (1781[2008], p. 51), time
“..is the real form of our internal intuition…Time, therefore, is not to be regarded as an object, but as the mode of representation of myself as an object”.
Space
The choice of the scenery is a characteristic that should be mentioned and highlighted. Cloud-cuckoo-town is built among the earth and the sky, point that on the instant indicates the presence of a dual nature, the being among reality and fantasy. Inspired by Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of the Space and the chapter on The Dialectics of Inside and Outside, we could view in a performance this poetic space as a “dialectic of the realistic and unrealistic element” where the fantasy of the receiver interprets space in a way more intuitive than descriptive. For Immanuel Kant (1781[2008], p.43):
“…Consequently, the original representation of the space is an intuition a priori, and not a conception”.
Parabasis
Last but not least, the element of parabasis must be noted as one of the imaginary features of the piece. In the middle of the play, action is interrupted and the poet via the chorus talks about his victory in the poetic contest, in which Birds is presented. In this point we would like to stress the importance of parabasis and of the way it acts as a dramaturgic component. It is the poet’s choice to break the theatrical convention he has until then built with his audience, and so to make his own voice and opinion on the state of society be heard. Hence, he transfers momentarily the audience from one reality to another; the imaginary atmosphere drops and the viewers are brought back to the reality of their society. Aristophanes has enriched the play with the element of “mobility”, the element of transfer from one situation to the other and laughter in the audience is spread.
“..like everything else in Aristophanes, the passing from illusion to reality and back is used to serve ne or other of his two main purposes: either it emphasizes the serious message which underlies the comic plot, or it is simply there for its own amusing sake” (McLeish K. The theatre of Aristophanes, 1980, p. 92)
In the present essay, we attempted to expand Kant’s theory about productive imagination and marry it with the wondrous Aristophanes’ work; the fruit of this union is an alternative view of fantasy. The latter can be conceptualized as the mean that does not only spark off the birth of a new reality, but also that changes the already existing one. Aristophanes brings into play productive imagination and apart from the laughter that is induced, fantasy gains a political accent and character. It is extremely intriguing to note how every society reveals an interest about the role of fantasy in a realistic environment that stays undiminished in the flow of time, opinions, movements and political situations.
Can we then deem fantasy as an intended reaction to the status quo, as a political choice? Can the escapism to illusion provide solutions to personal or social problems? Do modern artists sympathize with Aristophanes view of fantasy? For a certainty, Aristophanes’ work and its significance stay imperishable and remind us not to forget that the change, made by fantasy and its products, should pivot on realistic grounds. Every one’s wondrous Cloud-cuckoo-town glides between earth and sky.

REFERENCES

Aristophanes. Plays: Two. Translated and introduced by K. McLeish, 1993. Great Britain: Reed Consumer Books Ltd
Bachelard, G., 1958. La poetique de l’espace. France: Presses Universitaire de France
Dunbar, N., 1988. Aristophanes. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Guyer. P, 2003. Kant's Critique of the power of judgment: critical essays. Rowman & Littlefield
Kant, I. 1781. The critique of pure reason. Translated by J. M. D. Meiklejohn, 1860. Republished 2008 by Forgotten Books
Kearney, R., 1988. The wake of imagination. London: Century Hutchinson Ltd
Russo, C. F., 1994. Aristophanes, an Author for the Stage. Ed. Routledge

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carlson, M., 1984. Theories of the theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey, from the Greeks to the Present. United States of America: Cornell University Press
Fortier. M., 1997. Theory Theatre: an introduction. London: Routledge
Rugg. H., 1963. Imagination: An inquiry into sources and conditions that stimulate creativity. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers
Wade, J. N., 2005. Perception and illusion: Historical Perspectives. United States of America: Spinger Science+Business Media, Inc

2009-04-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

PHASE LAPSE
This week we attended the second’s group performance “Phase lapse”. A woman’s walk towards death became a ritual movement with “universal” characteristics. A set design really simple, just a imaginable corridor, which was her footpath from life to death, from the land to the river. The river just a piece of cloth, in the shape of waves.
Form the very start of the performance it seemed to me that the basic element of it was the actor. Basically, it was a performing based project, and in my opinion, the empty space helped the performer to develop better her character. The dress she was wearing could by from any culture, from any country. It reminded my the custom of so many cultures to dress death people in their formal clothes for their “last travel” towards death.. The ambience had a ritual character too. The way she was walking, the way she unlashed her hair, or the way she quenched the candles.
The point I was thinking of after the performance was if it should last this long, but I m not quit sure for the answer. It seemed to me that maybe it would be shorter, but I think that this is not so important finally.. the other thing I was considering it was if the performance achieved to communicate the main idea that the group wanted. I have already know the subject, so I attended the visual representation of it, ignoring the leading idea or the group’s purposes. But once again, I think that it is not quite an important remark, as the audience was free to communicate with the performer in a different level of understanding.
All in all, I believe that in its simplicity it achieved to have a nice result.

AMBIENT NOISE

2009-03-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

2009-03-26T14:43:00.001-07:00

2009-03-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

2009-03-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

Masks

The set design of the Ambient Noise is coming to an end. A wall, mainly made by fabric and some parts of it, by plastic and wood, is the border which separate and connect at the same time the actors and the audience with the outside world.
Holes on the wall give the impression of a damaged room in the middle time of a war. This image is accomplished by masks placed on the wall. Behind them, there are boxes with little soldiers in imaginary scenes of war, in the aesthetic of a “carte postale”.
Below there are photographs of two of the masks.

2009-03-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS FROM THE REHEARSALS

2009-03-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

REALISATION OF IDEAS ON THE FINAL SET DESIGN
- PROCESS -

2009-03-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

AMBIENT NOISE - SET DESIGN
SOME IDEAS TESTED ON THE MODEL BOX

2009-03-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

AMBIENT NOISE - SET DESIGN
SOME IDEAS TESTED ON THE MODEL BOX

2009-03-01T15:30:00.001-08:00

2009-03-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

other ideas on the collaborative project set design

2009-02-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

2009-02-22T16:06:00.000-08:00

2009-02-22T16:02:00.000-08:00

THE BALCONY

For the collaborative project, our group chose “The Balcony” of Jean Genet to work on. We can test the real life, the escapism and the sound on it –which are our individual project subjects. The group have already chosen the script and the space, which will be a brothel – as Genet set there his play.
We want to create transparent walls, as the borders between reality and fantasy are not definite in the play. The cloth it would be a nice idea, but as the walls will cover a lot of meters it will not be affordable.
As my project is on escapism and on fantasy, I trying to find ways to create a set design which will give this impression. How can we show what is going on in the outside world, where the war has decimated the whole society? The heroes are in a protected, but fragile environment. They are hidden there, “performing” their sexual fantasies where they are assuming roles of power, of authority.
Reading the play, you can not understand what is true and what is not. What is happening for real, and what in their minds. I believe that our set design also should be characterized by this ambiguous element: this room is a room where people are protected? Or not? They live there their real life, or just an illusion? What is happening outside? The war is real, or it is a dream? It is maybe a wrong information, as the Golf War, which is said that never existed?
The room we want to create it’s a brothel. And a brothel in a war zone, so in a period that people have animal instincts, they become cruel, they are interested just in themselves. The madame of the brothel insist in the “quality” of her place. She says that after their services men fell well again, they love their family, they can understand mathematics.. This place should be familiar and cold at the same time: they should fell free to do whatever they want, and keep themselves away from the reality of the war, but when their time is over, they have to leave.
It’s a “distorted” place – if we can use this word for a place – but it is healthier than the outside world. It’s getting dirty from it, the out side of the walls are dirty, blood there is on them, it’s trying to get – in a metaphoric way – in the room.
I imagine the walls like an old tapestry, which tries to keep its old lordliness and delicacy, but it’s damaged now. A decadence in planned in the room. At the same time, I imagine it like these houses that people make in war periods, just “carbon” houses, with materials they can find for free, in order to have somewhere to live – or like slum houses. Maybe, we could create these images with several effects. First, different qualities of transparent material. Plastic with bubbles, opaque or scratched plastic. Maybe in some corners (in limited space) we could use other kinds of materials, like carbon, metal or wood.
I was thinking to create masks, which will be hanged behind the wall. Masks of tattered faces, with frozen characteristics. They will be covered by cling film and be placed on the wall, as being part of it. As people who died can see people who are still alive and live in this brothel. They are built in the wall (since death is a situation between reality and hyperreality..)
Finally, another way of representation of the outside world I was thinking of, was to create shadows by carbons, as it is happening in the theatre of shadows, and ropes that will be handed by the roof.

2009-02-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

2009-02-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

“BIRDS”

This week I m trying to make a mask inspired by the “Birds” of Aristophanes. It is the first time that I’m constructing the shape of a mask by clay, and it is a really interesting process. Following the directions of Val Charlton, I made the shape by clay and then I covered it in cling film. When I assured myself that the clay was airtight, I started putting paper with glue on it, I order to create a papier – maché mask, because as lighter one mask is, the better result we have.
I inspired the mask by birds, but more by the masks of commedia dell’arte, as I wanted to combine the mask of Lazzi, which looks alike a beak, with Aristophanes play.
The main subject of the “Birds” is the decision of two men to leave their society because they cannot stand the problems that it faces, and the behavior of the citizens. They decide to relocate in a society where the birds live. The play has so many subjects, in which I am interested. First of all, the idea of living in a society in clouds, where the citizens are birds, it is something that transfer both the hero of the play, and the audience who watch the performance, in another reality. They achieve to travel with their imagination in an other world, where different rules and laws exist.
I will write down my first approach on the play:
I was thinking of an installation, which will de presented in parts, as I want to show a development on the topic. The first idea was to create this mask and to place it behind a door, which will have on the top a glassy window. So, the audience could see the mask behind this window. In the second stage, the audience see the back of the door and of the mask. With instruction, one by one could wear the mask and look through the window, where they see puppets which are looking towards to the mask.
This I want to achieve is to transfer the audience in position of the heros’ of the play. At first, they are down on the earth, and they are looking towards to the mask. They live a normal life in a regular society, facing the problems that every common people faces. The mask on the window is looking down at them, and at the same time, the audience see a mask. But this mask is a symbol of an other world, in which the audience is called to join it. When the audience wear this mask, and see down, they have transferred in mask’s world.
But what is this world? It is different, but, it is better? And, if it is, how can I show this? I m thinking to make a video where I will show scenes of people who are trying to make their life better. I want to show the effort that people are doing, in order to make a step forward in life.
That was just a first approach in the “Birds”..

2009-02-15T07:19:00.001-08:00

Complicite “Shun – Kin”

“Shun – Kin” is the last performance of the “Complicite” theatre company, based in the work of Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, one of the most important writers in Japan. It’s the story of a blind woman and her always loyal to her husband, who stands her cruelty love and can find the beauty and the intelligence that are hidden behind this behavior.
The performance combine the characteristics of the Japanese theatre and of the “Complicite” identifiable style. 110 mins with no interval was the harmonic result of this combination.
Whereas the performance was really exciting, the mediums that they used were really simple. Sometimes, I was wondering if the video that they projected served the performance, or, if it was not necessary. The previous performance of “Complicite” that I attended was the “A disappearing number”, where the video created every time the set design - actually, it was the set design. I was just thinking if the use of video is finally an easy way to create a more intense atmosphere, or contrary, if it is really difficult to achieve to create this, by combining video in theatrical forms…
All in all, “Shun – Kin” was one of the best performances I have attended in London.

2009-02-11T07:27:00.002-08:00

2009-02-11T07:27:00.001-08:00

2009-02-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

2009-02-11T07:24:00.001-08:00

MIME FESTIVAL –Part 1
“Collectif Petit Travers”
“Family Floez”

I felt the London International Mime Festival as a celebration. Large queues out of the theatres, and difficulty to find available tickets for the performances. I was lucky I attended four of the events that took place in this festival. Le Petit Travers, Family Floez, Faulty Optic and Sharmanka was the titles of the performances I will talk about, performances with so many different characteristics, styles and ways of expression.

“Collectif Petit Travers” is a French company which organize many different projects. Cirque, theatre, graphic design, fine arts. The performance I attended had characteristics of circus and mime theatre. Two musicians who live in a room, they are trying to get along together, putting on so much psychological pressure each one to another, till a duct of water breaks and the room fills with water. In my opinion, the most interesting part was the way the two performers created the space during the performance. Having a very simple set design, in 70 mins they achieved to recreate the space, carrying the furniture in different corners in the room, like having different rooms in one empty stage. In the end, the stage full of water, and the two performers in the middle, sit on the pile of furniture, they gave the impression of Noah’s ark. I found this performance clever, with dainty tricks and its set design effective.

“Family Floez” it’s a German company, experts of mask theatre. “Hotel Paradiso” was the performance which presented in Mime Festival. In a hotel strange things are happening and a family story appears to the audience. In my opinion, the masks worked very nice in the play, and that was the stronger characteristic of the performance – whereas, criticizing from an aesthetic point of view I didn’t found the figures quite attractive. The set design was very neutral and realistic, just transferring the audience in a German spa resort.
In general, I was too interested in both two performances, as they are very close to my research field.

2009-02-11T07:23:00.001-08:00

Project Proposal
Visual Language of Performance

TITLE: How could a man escape from the routine of his daily life in modern society?
In our contemporary world, where the quickness, the machines, the technology try to rationalize our lives, how a man can find exits in the world of fantasy, of art, of dream?

By this project a great opportunity appears to me: to describe reality by a not-realistic way. The separation of the performance in two recognizing areas – the daily life on one hand and, the escape tensions from it on the other – would signify the division of the world in two sides, or, after a further analysis in a number of couples of contrary meanings (life in routine - life in an oneiric dimension, life uninterested – life in passion etc)
The topic presents some survey levels, which would be investigated. First, the dramaturgy side must be considered.:
- Why people need to escape from the frames of reality? How could we include aspects of hyperreality in the every day life?
- When this need is intense, and when does it appear less powerful? Which are some of the ways that people choose in order to realize this need they have? How does the use of their fantasy could change the conditions of their life?
- But what is fantasy? Where do we meet it? Is it hidden, or it could be obvious in front of us any single time? Is there enough time to include the dimension of fantasy in our every day life?
- Is there enough space for Art in our life? Can people escape from their routine with the help that the arts could provide them with?
- Which are the ways we can live in a different reality? Does the power of our mind and of our fantasy help? Does our desire for change is powerful enough? Or, we can achieve the change just with exterior elements, like drugs or medicines? Is it possible the mentality problems which are created by some illnesses to enhance life with aspects of hyperreality?
- Where are the limits? Where this confusion could conclude to be useful or danger for our daily life?
- How could we learn living again like children, who live in a world full of illusions?
- Finally, does the denial of the reality make people happier or not?

The second part of research would be the technical one, and this will be the most important. As the subject is offered for further analysis and experimentation, I would desire to try a large variety of means, in order to present my dramaturgic research.
From the simplest methods, to the most developed uses of technology.
For example, I would like to use both daily objects and theatrical figures, such as puppets and masks in a combination of reality and hyppereality in the same performance. The construction of them it will be on of the field I will focus on.
In addition to this, I desire to investigate if videos, projections, and generally the technology serve the theatrical action. I want to try a combination of technology and fine arts. To see how the sound and the lights can give on their own the ambiance I want to create.
All in all, the experimentation on mediums will be my main activity on this term. I am open in every idea concerning the presentation of reality in a not – realistic way.

2009-02-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Visual Language of Performance
2008 – 2009

“How a man can escape from his daily life and arrive in the world of hyperreality? How dream and illusion could be inserted in our life, giving an ambiance of poetry, of art?”
My research field is better completed after the exploration of the image and the form that I want for my final project. I am interested in the presentation of hyperreality and of an illusionary dimension of world. The main goal, the main proposition of my performance will be the domination of fantasy and the end of everyday routine.
I will display all the performers, directors, but also movements that influenced me from the ancient years until today, and that I believe they achieve the result I would like to give in my project.

Aristophanes
In arts generally and especially in theatre there have been a notion in artists trying to present world in a non realistic base since ancient years. It was in 5th century that Aristophanes wrote many comedies that the heroes were transferred in another kind of reality. Theatre in ancient years allowed audience's fantasy free and made them be part of the performance atmosphere.
“We are used to ‘theatre of illusion’ – the three sided box and special effects make us believe that we are there, watching what goes on. But Greek Drama is “theatre of convention,” or, in Taplin’s phrase ‘theatre of mind’”. (Meinek, Peter. ed. (2000) Aristophanes Clouds).
The classical plays of ancient Greece are still investigated by scientists because theses plays present the needs of human beings and this is always current. The exploration of a new life was obvious in plays of Aristophanes. As Nan Dunbar notice “Some scholars have seen Birds as a comedy of pure escape from harsh reality into poetic fantasy”.
The thirst of knowledge and the need of an advanced quality of life, the need of escape bad situations, the doubts and the investigation of world are totally going with human nature.
“People are still in dept, still trying to escape hustle and bustle of everyday life, still looking for their own Cloudcuckoolands”, as Peter Meinek mentions.
For these reasons, Aristophanes and set designers, who have worked on his comedies like Dionisis Fotopoulos, would be one of my research fields.

Commedia dell’arte and artists influenced by it.
As leaving the work of the Greek writer we could find other forms of theatre that response to my research proposal such as commedia dell’ arte. The masks, the costumes and the element of grotesque in the behaviour of the heroes of the plays influenced later many artists through the centuries, such us Moliere, or even later Marx brothers. Even in 20th century we can recognize the figure of doctor or pantaloon or Pierrot.
After a further consideration, these two sources of research and of inspiration are related between them. S. Rhodie notices that K. McLeish in a study of Aristophanes’ Birds concludes for the main heroes of the play that
“Peisistratos and Euelpides are a double clown act of strtaight man and fool. He compares them to the couples Laurel and Hardy and Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont”.

Fellini
Laurel and Hardy had influenced Fellini, who will be the third field of research. Sam Rohdie writes about him:
“The dreams ...took the place of the maternal real. It was a happier place than the real. It was a liberation from it.” And, he adds “The real in Fellini’s films is a version of unreality. The illusions are illusions admitted as an aspect of the true of imaginary and of images. No reality is proposed as original. There are only instead different multiple levels of unreality”.
Fellini was a director who permitted his fantasy to lead his work and his way of thinking, as a consequence he manipulated and reformed anew the real facts giving to them an oneiric dimension. The clowns, the caricatures, the illusions and the dreams are Fellini’s world, a world that looks to me so attractive.

Parade - Picasso
Another reference that I will use is “Parade” of Picasso. This ballet was inspired by commedia dell’arte and events influenced by this, like circus and travelling fair. As L. Massine noticed
“It’s true we utilized certain element’s of contemporary show business – rag time music, jazz, the cinema billboard advertising, circus and music hall techniques – but we took only their salient futures, adapting them to our own needs”.
J. Cocteau admitted that
“We had combined the accidental art of the circus with the happy remembrances of childhood”.
The element of fantasy that this ballet had, created an illusionary situation with a mood of play, something that existed also in the works I referred above. All of them aimed to achieve a non realistic atmosphere, a poetic presentation of life made by hypperealistic images and situations...

Marc Chagall
One other artist the work of whom I would like to explore is Chagall. The figures in his paintings, and the ambiance he creates could be one of the sources of my inspiration.

Contemporary companies
“Improbable” is a company that I want to investigate more, as its aesthetics seems to me so close to what I have on mind for my final project. In an interview, Lee Simpson, member of the company said about the role of fantasy in theatre “The only thing that makes theatre work is the audience imagining that it works. So you have to give them time to imagine… You’ve got to give them time to believe and to decide for themselves what it is. If you tell them they might not see that, there’s nothing worse than being told what to think.”
Other companies that seem to me interesting are “Le theatre du soleil”, “Le cirque du soleil” and “The tiger lilies” band, each one for its particular, visual characteristics.

All the artists I mentioned, have dealt with the illusionary side of life and realized it on their work. My research will be on them, as I believe that they would be great sources of inspiration.

Bibliography

-Argan, C. Giulio, (1970), L’Arte Moderna, Dall ‘Illuminismo ai movimenti contemporanei, RCS Sansoni Editore S.p.A., Firenze.

-Arnheim, Rudolf (London 1970), Visual Thinking, ed. Faber and Faber Limited

- Belli, Gabriella/ Boschiero, Nicoletta/ Passamani, Bruno (1989), Depero, Magic Theatre, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto

- Blume, Horst – Dieter, (1978), Einfuhrung in das antike Theaterwesen, ed. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Darmstadt.

-Burian, Jarka (1971), The scenography of Josef Svoboda, ed. Wesleyan University Press

- Carter, Huntly (1914), The Theatre of Max Reinhardt, ed. Benjamin Blom New York

- Cocteau, Jean (Complied and edited by Andre Bernand and Claude Gauteur, 1992), The art of cinema, ed. Marion Boyars Publishers

- Dover, K. J (1972), The aristophanic comedy, ed.University of California press. Berkeley and Los Angeles

- Drake, G.T (1946), The English circus and fair ground

- Dunbar, Nan (1998), Birds: With Introduction and Commentary, ed. Oxford University Press.

-Εκπαιδευτικη ελληνικη εγκυκλοπαιδεια ΘΕΑΤΡΟ ΚΙΝΗΜΑΤΟΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ – ΧΟΡΟΣ. 1999, Ekdotike Athenon S.A {Educational Greek Encyclopaedia THEATRE CINEMA MUSIC – DANCE (1999), ed. Ekdotike Athenon S.A}

- Evans, A.B (1977), JEAN COCTEAU and His Films of Orphic Identity, ed. London: Associated University Presses

- Green, Martin Burgess and Swan, C. John (1993), The Triumph of Pierrot: The Commedia Dell'arte and the Modern Imagination, ed. Penn State Press

- Kearney, Richard (1988), The wake of imagination, ed. Routlege

- Meineck, Peter (2000), Clouds, ed. Hackett Publishing.

- Moretti, Charles (2001), Theatre et societe dans la grece antique, ed. Librairie Generale Francaise, Paris.

- Philips, Adams (1998), The beast in the nursery, ed. Faber and Faber Limited

- Russell, Douglas. A ((1976), THEATRICAL STYLE, A Visual Approach to the Theatre, Mayfield Publishing Company

- Zimmermann, Bernhard (1998), Die griechische Komodie, Patmos Verlag GmbH &Co.KG. Artemis &Winkler Verlag, Dusseldorf und Zurich.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

2009-02-11T05:43:00.001-08:00

SECOND TERM: STUDY PLAN

The tasks and the responsibilities I will assume at this term are divided in two projects: a collaborative and a solo performance. Both of them should advance my research on escapism and, in general, on conditions of hyperreality. As concern as the practical issues of this term I will explain below my aims and my thoughts about the two projects:

Project 1: Ambient sound

“The Balcony” of Jean Genet was chosen to be the text our performance will be based on. Having our project and research proposals combined, we conclude in this play, as it contains all the areas and the fields which we are interested in.
As my previous studies are in theatre theory and history, I would like to approach first the dramaturgy and the history of the text. In my opinion, every answer in our questions is hidden in the text, and the more we have solved our questions and we have understood the meanings of the play, the better inspiration we will have.
As the performance will last around 20 min, we should make an adaptation of “The Balcony” and keep just the elements we need and we think they go forward our collaboration project.
Parallel, as we have already taken special responsibilities and I will work on the set and the lighting design, I will research the image, the aesthetic view of the performance, the materials we will use, the colors and the props the performance should have. Apart from the design, I will deal with the construction of them, or with the research of them in markets and in internet. As in my project proposal puppets are included as a medium of images of hyperreality, I will try at this term to get information about masks and puppets and how they can function in a theatrical space. Moreover, as I have never dealt professionally with the lighting design, I want to investigate this field, and learn to transform the spaces with light.
The work of the company will be both collaborative and individual. Which means that except for the set and lighting design, I will contribute in the other responsibilities of the performance.
My personal goal in this project, as concern as the collaborative point of view is to learn how to find solutions between different opinions and to recreate a new form, a new idea.
Concerning my project and research proposal, I would like to find ways of how I can represent the need of escapism, and conditions and figures of hyperreality.

Project 2: Solo performance
My ambition for the solo project is to make maybe an installation, or if I find an actor to create a performance. But the most important for me is the scenography, the space that I will create and not the direction of a performance. So, I will try to create a theatrical space in which I will test the mediums that can result in an unrealistic representation of the world.
As I have mentioned before, masks and puppets would be a medium of how I can reach the world of illusion and of fantasy. I m doing now a research on Aristophanes piece of work “The Birds”, a play written in the 5th century B. C in ancient Greece. I chose it as its main subject is the escapism. Two men disappointed from the institutions of their society, they chose to leave it and live in a society of birds in Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. I have started making a mask inspired by these birds, but my goal is not to create a mask for the play, but just to get inspiration from this. In this mask, I was wondering how the elements of commedia dell’ arte, which is a field of my research proposal, could fit in a mask inspired form an ancient Greek play.
Apart from the mask, the construction of puppets will be one of my aims in this term. Moreover, as it will be a project where I will be the only one responsible for, I want to learn all the basic technical issues, which are necessary for a performance (lighting, sound, projection etc)
My solo project appears as an opportunity to test all the ideas that I proposed in the first term in real. I will combine the different influences I have in one piece of art, and this will be the first attempt of these characteristics, before my final project.

2009-02-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

2009-02-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Proposal for Company Performance

Name of performance: Ambient Noise
Company Members: Bo Young Kim, Sarah McLaughlin and Vasiliki Papadopoulou
Synopsis: We are proposing a 20 minute performance based on Jean Genet’s seminal piece of literature, The Balcony. This text has been chosen for its unique synthesis of, and approach to, the core themes of reality and escapism. We wish to explore the tension that exists between ones political responsibility and ones desire for escapism. In so doing, we will take particular care to address the role of sound in either stimulating a political consciousness or conversely inducing a personal fantasy. Whereas the characters of Genet’s original play chose to ignore the sounds of war and destruction that could be heard from outside the brothel; our production will confront the audience with a similar choice. We plan to provide each participant with a choice of aural stimuli. From outside of the playing space they will hear the sounds of modern warfare; however inside the space they will be greeted by a solo performer who indulges in his own false reality. Since Genet’s script famously created an ambiguity between truth and fiction, our performance will also aim to distort the boundaries of what is real. Consequently, we hope to call into question the validity of our knowledge of contemporary international conflict, which is based entirely on the information that is disseminated through various media bodies.

Implementation
Time Frame for installation and strike:
This performance will be conducted in the TV Studio between the 19th and 25th of March. Our Production will be ready for public viewing on Wednesday evening at five o’ clock with a get-in on Tuesday morning between 10 and 12. The company strike will take less than a half day to complete.
Budget:
The Company have decided a collective budget of £100 to realize this production
Delegation of tasks:
Bo Young Kim: Sound and Costume design
Sarah McLaughlin: Direction and Projection design
Vasiliki Papadopoulou: Set and Lighting Design
Technical Rider

Equipment needs for performance
6 Stage Lights (par cans and source four pars are preferable),
2 projectors,
Hazer,
2 speakers,
amp,
mixing desk,
CD Player,
ladders for installation
and safety cables to secure the equipment.

Equipment needs for Documentation
3 Camcorders
3 Tripods,
1 stills camera

Basic Set Elements
Couch,
TV,
10 pieces of 4x8 Plaster Board,
Paint

project 2

2008-10-17T07:46:00.000-07:00

research..