Images, art & religion

I had a couple of thoughts collide this morning. Early this morning alas. The first was that art begins at the first point of information contact with a potential audience. By that I mean that for most indie companies it is the advertising/marketing materials which should be one of the strongest artistic points of a production. A provocative, seminal, arresting, deep image will set the tone and expectations in a profound way. Or conversely something quirky and attention getting. If, like that terrible old saw, you only have one chance to make a first impression, then this material is your first impression.

I love these two images as the first {Sex and the Saudi} stamps the story immediately and the second {Arm's Length} intrigues one in. {Both shows at Summerworks www.summerworks.ca  I seem to have used up all my space for this post so some links won't stick}

I was told by a producer that I really respect that one of our posters looked like it should be in an art gallery. He didn’t mean it as a compliment. He felt that it did not do enough to sell the show. I felt caught between God and Mammon. Ok a bit of hyperbole but you get my drift. Was it about the art of first contact or to sell the show or to strive to find a perfect balance?

The second early morning idea was that without the knowledge of Judeo-Christian religion it is much harder to understand a great deal of Western Art/Theatre/Culture. Ok you can throw in Greek and Roman mythology as a bit of seasoning.

Here is the image {http://www.canstage.com/2008-2009/play.php?ID=17} for Studio 180’s production of Blackbird. A simple shot of an apple and yet:

Apple = Garden of Eden = Original Sin = Forbidden Fruit = a play about pedophilia.

I love the idea that it’s a Golden Delicious Apple as well. All of that works as long as you know your history and Christianity.

And if you don’t? Well then how much time would you have to spend to explain it? No time at all if you are writing as one of the main stream culture but it struck me that playwrights who are coming from other cultures where an audience here might not know all of the cultural modifiers now have a bit of a dilemma. Do they spend time doing exposition to explain, do they leave it up to program notes or do they just forget about it and let people catch as catch can. 

I was coaching an actor the other day and one of the lines referenced “Cupids strongest bow”. I asked her what was her image of Cupid and then did a Google search for images. Well the Valentine’s Day chubby came up alongside of paintings of Cupid making love to Pysche. You could use either image for your poster or for your imaging of the text. They would each tell a hugely different story and would skew the perception of your play. And that is the point isn’t it? To shape that first reception perception and to use cultural context to enhance the work.

Morality and Art

Wendy Rosenfield of The Mirror up to Nature has a great post up about morality and theatre. 

While she takes particular issue of man vs crustacean the article also talks about right/wrong vis a vis pedophilia. That particular post is here.

It feels a bit like in Toronto we are in the midst of talking about pedophilia what with productions of Absit Omen’s My Fellow Creatures, CanStage’s Doubt and Studio 180’s Blackbird. A veritable inundation of the discussion in fact.

However one of the morality issues that has long been part of my internal discussion has been about Eric Fischl’s Tumbling Woman. This piece was created after 9/11, installed and then the controversy had it removed. 

Public art vs morality or taste. It is always a continuing debate but for me Fischl’s work is one of the most compelling, disturbing and powerful images I have ever viscerally felt. The thought of it not having a place in our public spaces is a profoundly depressing one.

Neutral Masks

Ok I know that everyone who went to theatre school had to do mask work. It’s just one of those things that theatre school is all about and no one ever seemed to make an issue when all the masks came from a European background. I mean it's not like Africa or Asia or anywhere else in the world had a tradition of theatre/religion and masks. Even the famous neutral masks were neutral in the sense of bandaids being skin coloured…..heh… what skin, what colour, you may well ask.

So a few years back I bought a couple of these neutral masks because they were ummmmm Afro Neutral. They are hanging in the Obsidian office and I loan them out when asked because it just seems like such a great idea to have neutrality defined per particular race as opposed to just one race. They come in female and male and are really lovely to have hanging about looking back at you.

Now if theatre schools would only broaden their curriculum to include plays outside of the European canon we might actually be getting closer to 2008.

The Roan Group

I first met Neill Archer Roan at a CAPACOA conference a few years back. I was truly impressed by his two-day presentation and took away a ton of insights that have served me well. We , as theatre artists, tend to look down somewhat on the marketing folks. I think that deep inside we think that they only care about selling a product which, just so happens this time, to be us. Neill loves performers and their work and that shows in his wide range of topics and ideas.

I have read a number of his articles and this one is one of my favourites because it shattered my own ideas about supporters/donors.

"People who love you most will leave you quickest."

I am still working that one out.

When Numbers Lie

He hasn’t been posting much lately but I would encourage you to go to his site and cruise about.