TOWARDS A THEATRE OF OBJECTS: Updated Proposal
The Violence of Transformation: A praxis based investigation into the use of the object in performance.
Theatre is transformation. It is a vision created by an artist transforming… himself or a puppet or even an object into an imagined character.
Henryk Jurkowski 1988:37
The essential thing about theatre is transformation. Dying. And the fear of this last transformation is general, one can rely on it, one can depend on it.
Heiner Muller cited in Postdramatic Theatre by Hans-Thies Lehmann. 2006:47
To argue towards a theatre of objects is to argue towards a theatre of objectification, a theatre without subjects. A theatre without subjects is totalised, it’s participants (both performer and spectator) and the objects (costumes, props, puppets etc.) are all collectively acting as one in the event. This notion of theatre is typified in Ritual performance. The Italian Fascist spectacle of 18BL (1933) a “theatre of the masses for the masses” (Schnapp, Book Title, 1996) is a terrifying example of how such a theatre of objects can be realised with an audience of over 20,000 sharing in the event. Robin Hardy’s film The Wicker Man (1973) can be seen as another example of how ritualism can collectivise its participants that can drive them to barbaric action. At the heart of both these Ritual performances is an object, a unifying centrepiece, a focus. In 18BL it is a fiat truck of the same name, a symbol of fascist military power (which takes on a personality in the performance) and the giant figure of the wicker man who is ceremonially burnt. From an ethnographical standpoint, it is not surprising that puppetry, like all theatrical forms have roots in human ritual. It is not my intention to dissect theses examples but use them to begin too establish what is meant by a ‘theatre of objects’ (beyond a theatre that just contains objects) and to establish a context from which to develop the argument that currently concerns me: the moment of transformation from inanimate to animated.
To turn a dead object/puppet into something that has an illusion of life requires a process of transformation. This process of transformation relies on the investment of both the performer and the spectator in the believed life of the object. I purpose that this process of transformation is inherently violent, that through interaction with objects we are allowed to play out desires or project erotic, sadomasochistic, or brutal actions. There are of course varying levels to this violence and complex variations, not every encounter will appear ‘violent’. It is the goal of my research to extract evidence in support of these convictions. There are clear parallels that can be drawn in the transformations that occur in totalised Ritual performance that also suggests a collective violent undercurrent.
My research will be predominantly practice lead but I wish to establish a dialogue between what is produced in the studio and the development of my theoretical arguments. I will begin my exploration with two contextualising chapters that will locate my work within the traditions of critical debate surrounding the use of the object in performance. Firstly the discourses of modernism, where arguments of replacing the actor with an object first emerged and followed by a more in-depth study of the theatre of Tadeusz Kantor, who’s use of animated objects sidestep modernist notions and present a more integrated “dialogue between people and objects” (Lehmann 2006:73). I will briefly introduce the ideas of this contextualising.
CHAPTER 1
The Modernist Junction Box: In Search of the Ideal Actor.
…The absence of the human seems to me essential. When a human appears in a poem, the great poem of his presence dims everything around him. A man can only speak in his own name; he has no right to speak in the name of the dead.
Maurice Maeterlinck Cited in Jurkowski 1998:20
Puppet and object have long provided a radical appeal to the avant-garde, the experiments of modernist theatre embraced the plastic aesthetic of the puppet as an opposition to naturalist theatre. It is due to the initiatives of modernism embracing the potential that has provided the foundation for contemporary uses of puppetry. Along with the work of Maeterlinck I will consider the pioneering theories of Edward Gordon Craig and the Uber Marionette who demanded the immediate removal of the actor from the stage and replace it with another presence.
CHAPTER 2
Tadeusz Kantor: Ceremony and The Theatre of Death.
The mannequin as EMPTY object. The DUMMY. A message of DEATH. A model for the actor.
Kantor in ‘The Theatre Of Death: A Manifesto’ in The Twentieth-Century Performance Reader Ed. Huxley and Witts, 2003:253
Kantor’s theatre is a significant departure from the theories of the Uber Marionette as he does not discriminate against the actor but unties object and living presence in the “realm of death” (Lehmann 2006:74). His theatre environments are meticulously filled with all manner of surreal apparatus, machines and mannequins that integrate with the performers so that as in The Dead Class (1977) it is difficult to distinguish, which is which.
CHAPTER 3
The Violence of Transformation: Practical Explorations.
This chapter will provide the main body of my research. It is the most underdeveloped at this stage as I intend my practice to inform theory and vice versa. I will locate my own practice within the contexts I have discussed building upon the themes and ideas extracted and ultimately construct an argument towards a theatre of objects making claims for how processes of (violent) transformation can provoke fear and pathos in an audience (either enjoyably through narratives of horror or disturbingly through uncanny recognition) The chapter will be presented as a documentation of my findings.
I will pursue the following research as a point of departure to inform or support exploration workshops and/or performance work:
• A response to Kantor’s Theatre of Death: Doppelganger happening
• An examination of anti-humanist discourse: connections with ritualism and the idea of a theatre of objects.
• A study of traditions of violence in puppet theatre.
• An examination of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and an attempt at staging part of his unrealised (and unfinished) total theatre work, There is No More Firmament.
I am aware that all these elements need to be focused but feel that the work needs to remain expansive at this stage as my arguments continue to formulate.
Henryk Jurkowski 1988:37
The essential thing about theatre is transformation. Dying. And the fear of this last transformation is general, one can rely on it, one can depend on it.
Heiner Muller cited in Postdramatic Theatre by Hans-Thies Lehmann. 2006:47
To argue towards a theatre of objects is to argue towards a theatre of objectification, a theatre without subjects. A theatre without subjects is totalised, it’s participants (both performer and spectator) and the objects (costumes, props, puppets etc.) are all collectively acting as one in the event. This notion of theatre is typified in Ritual performance. The Italian Fascist spectacle of 18BL (1933) a “theatre of the masses for the masses” (Schnapp, Book Title, 1996) is a terrifying example of how such a theatre of objects can be realised with an audience of over 20,000 sharing in the event. Robin Hardy’s film The Wicker Man (1973) can be seen as another example of how ritualism can collectivise its participants that can drive them to barbaric action. At the heart of both these Ritual performances is an object, a unifying centrepiece, a focus. In 18BL it is a fiat truck of the same name, a symbol of fascist military power (which takes on a personality in the performance) and the giant figure of the wicker man who is ceremonially burnt. From an ethnographical standpoint, it is not surprising that puppetry, like all theatrical forms have roots in human ritual. It is not my intention to dissect theses examples but use them to begin too establish what is meant by a ‘theatre of objects’ (beyond a theatre that just contains objects) and to establish a context from which to develop the argument that currently concerns me: the moment of transformation from inanimate to animated.
To turn a dead object/puppet into something that has an illusion of life requires a process of transformation. This process of transformation relies on the investment of both the performer and the spectator in the believed life of the object. I purpose that this process of transformation is inherently violent, that through interaction with objects we are allowed to play out desires or project erotic, sadomasochistic, or brutal actions. There are of course varying levels to this violence and complex variations, not every encounter will appear ‘violent’. It is the goal of my research to extract evidence in support of these convictions. There are clear parallels that can be drawn in the transformations that occur in totalised Ritual performance that also suggests a collective violent undercurrent.
My research will be predominantly practice lead but I wish to establish a dialogue between what is produced in the studio and the development of my theoretical arguments. I will begin my exploration with two contextualising chapters that will locate my work within the traditions of critical debate surrounding the use of the object in performance. Firstly the discourses of modernism, where arguments of replacing the actor with an object first emerged and followed by a more in-depth study of the theatre of Tadeusz Kantor, who’s use of animated objects sidestep modernist notions and present a more integrated “dialogue between people and objects” (Lehmann 2006:73). I will briefly introduce the ideas of this contextualising.
CHAPTER 1
The Modernist Junction Box: In Search of the Ideal Actor.
…The absence of the human seems to me essential. When a human appears in a poem, the great poem of his presence dims everything around him. A man can only speak in his own name; he has no right to speak in the name of the dead.
Maurice Maeterlinck Cited in Jurkowski 1998:20
Puppet and object have long provided a radical appeal to the avant-garde, the experiments of modernist theatre embraced the plastic aesthetic of the puppet as an opposition to naturalist theatre. It is due to the initiatives of modernism embracing the potential that has provided the foundation for contemporary uses of puppetry. Along with the work of Maeterlinck I will consider the pioneering theories of Edward Gordon Craig and the Uber Marionette who demanded the immediate removal of the actor from the stage and replace it with another presence.
CHAPTER 2
Tadeusz Kantor: Ceremony and The Theatre of Death.
The mannequin as EMPTY object. The DUMMY. A message of DEATH. A model for the actor.
Kantor in ‘The Theatre Of Death: A Manifesto’ in The Twentieth-Century Performance Reader Ed. Huxley and Witts, 2003:253
Kantor’s theatre is a significant departure from the theories of the Uber Marionette as he does not discriminate against the actor but unties object and living presence in the “realm of death” (Lehmann 2006:74). His theatre environments are meticulously filled with all manner of surreal apparatus, machines and mannequins that integrate with the performers so that as in The Dead Class (1977) it is difficult to distinguish, which is which.
CHAPTER 3
The Violence of Transformation: Practical Explorations.
This chapter will provide the main body of my research. It is the most underdeveloped at this stage as I intend my practice to inform theory and vice versa. I will locate my own practice within the contexts I have discussed building upon the themes and ideas extracted and ultimately construct an argument towards a theatre of objects making claims for how processes of (violent) transformation can provoke fear and pathos in an audience (either enjoyably through narratives of horror or disturbingly through uncanny recognition) The chapter will be presented as a documentation of my findings.
I will pursue the following research as a point of departure to inform or support exploration workshops and/or performance work:
• A response to Kantor’s Theatre of Death: Doppelganger happening
• An examination of anti-humanist discourse: connections with ritualism and the idea of a theatre of objects.
• A study of traditions of violence in puppet theatre.
• An examination of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and an attempt at staging part of his unrealised (and unfinished) total theatre work, There is No More Firmament.
I am aware that all these elements need to be focused but feel that the work needs to remain expansive at this stage as my arguments continue to formulate.
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