The Idea for “Awakening The Energy: Recharging”
Awakening The Energy: Recharging - was the starting point for this series of photoshoots documenting my own process of awakening the energy in order to break through the impermeable shell.
The idea behind this session was to amass as much energy as possible through movement and transcend the limitation of my physical body.
Awakening The Energy: Recharging - was the starting point for this series of photoshoots documenting my own process of awakening the energy in order to break through the impermeable shell.
The idea behind this session was to amass as much energy as possible through movement and transcend the limitation of my physical body.
The Idea for “L'artiste à Deux Têtes”
The idea for l'artiste à deux têtes photos came to me while viewing the photos from the “Inside Out” photoshoot. For this “Awakening The Energy” photos, I was trapped inside my own bubble and trying to recharge myself as much as possible as to “break through” the impermeable shell. Because of the material I was using as a shell and the marked and distinct shadows this creating with the lighting, the photos reminded me images from Cocteau’s movies. After going through these photos, I decided I wanted to explore further the idea - this time on purpose - and, do a series of Cocteau-like portraits of myself to go with these photos.
The idea for l'artiste à deux têtes photos came to me while viewing the photos from the “Inside Out” photoshoot. For this “Awakening The Energy” photos, I was trapped inside my own bubble and trying to recharge myself as much as possible as to “break through” the impermeable shell. Because of the material I was using as a shell and the marked and distinct shadows this creating with the lighting, the photos reminded me images from Cocteau’s movies. After going through these photos, I decided I wanted to explore further the idea - this time on purpose - and, do a series of Cocteau-like portraits of myself to go with these photos. I will be sharing, with those interested, some of the Cocteau-like shots from “Inside Out” and future shoots on the subject in The Bare Canvas - a private virtual viewing room.
The Absolute Creative Space
A VIRTUAL LABORATORY IN THE ABSOLUTE PLANE
While devising TRIPTYCH, I experimented with the three planes of existence, their physical location on stage and the "transcending" level of the characters to be able to navigate between these planes. The third plane - THE ABSOLUTE PLANE - was nirvana-like plane , a physical and spiritual plane that only could take place in the safety of the "sacred space" the actors strived to achieve on stage after they themselves had transcended to what I called their ABSOLUTE CHARACTER. The reasoning was that once the actors and the audience left the theater, the protection of this "safe bubble" they had created, would fade and they would - if the experience of the play had been successful - move down to the second plane or THE TRANSCENDED PLANE. Only in THE ABSOLUTE PLANE the actors - if they managed to reach that level of transcendence during their performance - would feel completely free to be themselves and free themselves of limitations imposed both by the outside world and themselves. THE ABSOLUTE CHARACTER is a level of transcendence that very few of us have been able to experience and when we do, it doesn't last too long. A few years back, when working on BECOMING A ROSE, I transcended to my ABSOLUTE CHARACTER and felt all the euphoria and intense mixed feelings that come with it.
Reaching THE ABSOLUTE PLANE on a regular stage is quite difficult because unless you engage the audience you will not be able to move up from the second plane but on a virtual stage - and in a solo show like Becoming a Rose was - it is much easier to create this "safe bubble" or "virtual womb". On a regular stage, the audience is right there with you but in a virtual stage ... you are on your own in this bubble and even if you know people are watching - unless you somehow open communications with the audience - they can't hurt you, judge you or break into your personal pod. In virtual theater, because of the intimacy that this platform provides, more than a regular audience ... the spectators become some sort of voyeurs and not knowing how they are reacting could go from being terrifying to incredible encouraging. It was this element of virtual theater - which I strongly believe to be unique to this language - that inspired me to open up and share a "secret" but "essential" side of me which I only get to let free in the safety of THE ABSOLUTE PLANE.
Like I wrote in my post: Honesty vs. Too Personal and ... now that I think about it ... told my actors repeatedly when rehearsing ... it's not about what you do or say on stage or in front of a camera but "why" you do it that the audience/viewers react to. Sharing with you my ABSOLUTE CHARACTER is important to my transcendence as an artist and as an individual and that's why I have decide to experiment with the idea of recreating THE ABSOLUTE PLANE in this virtual laboratory ... a VIRTUAL ABSOLUTE PLANE ... the ABSOLUTE CREATIVE SPACE.
Someone once told me that I was a "generous artist" ... which might be true but I believe that while I'm perfectly able to create for myself - and value my integrity as an artist more than recognition or fame - I'm a Sensory-Somatic Artist in practice and a Creative Energy Coach at heart. My work is not a statement of my own truth but a mere reflection of your musing energy and a bridge between you and the world.
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Honest vs. Too Personal
FINDING THE POINTS OF CONNECTION
While living in Montreal I had the opportunity to assist - as a casting director - several general auditions hosted by The Quebec Drama Federation. I saw hundreds of actors audition for the many casting directors, agents and so forth. I had held and continue holding auditions for my own projects throughout the years but, I guess since I wasn’t there to really cast anybody but just to watch the auditions, I learned many valuable lessons which I was sure to pass on to my acting students. One thing that became evident to me from the start … actors usually mistake honesty and vulnerability with being too personal.
As an artist, I have always pursued honesty in my work and as I have grown and transcended creatively, I have become less concerned about social limitations and strived to be myself without excuses or self-imposed boundaries.
In my virtual play: Becoming a Rose, I shared a video of what I called my Sacred Secret Photo Sessions … a sample of a private ritual I often perform but that no one had ever seen. I suppose it doesn’t get any more personal than that but … the first word coming out of an old friend was … I appreciate the honesty in the work. As I contemplate sharing more of my secret and sacred world with you on the Absolute Creative Space, I remind myself and share with you the findings about honesty vs. too personal I gathered from my acting coaching sessions.
In simple words … the big difference between being too personal and being honest are what I called “the points of connection” or finding that in our work - monologue, scene, photographs, etc. - that is shared by others or that makes our “personal experience” into a “collective experience”. The most common mistake I found actors made was that they did exactly the opposite and … not to bash anyone … they actually enjoyed a little too much making it about them. So … what’s exactly the problem with doing so … that most people don’t want to intrude or pry into other people’s personal affairs or tragedies so … the casting director would “disconnect” him/herself from your monologue and the audience of your play would do the same as saying … that’s not my problem or my experience.
No … not everyone take private pictures of him/herself in secret or have lived whatever experience or situation you might present to them in your monologue, play, etc. but … there’s something in your intention, motivation or even the reason why you picked that particular piece that is part of a “collective experience” … a point of connection.
Jean Genet has always been a big influence and inspiration in my work. When I first discover his plays, I was immediately drawn by them. At that time I had no idea why the experience of a person who could not be more different from me and whose world I could not even conceive resonated so much with me. After reading most of his work through the years, working on some of his plays and “technique” and devising Becoming a Rose - which was inspired by his work - I finally grasped … and tried to share with the audience of my play … what is the “point of connection”. To put it in the words of another artist - “To create one’s own world takes courage” - Georgia O’Keeffe. It is also “courage” what connects my “honest” work with other people … they either admire it, appreciate it, wish they had it or see their own courage reflected … it has nothing to do with the actual work but the courage it takes to be myself in front of them.
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Rebirth of The Old Man
BREAKING THROUGH THE IMPERMEABLE SHELL
“Energy … coalescence of earth, wind, water and fire … a boundless and inexhaustible force free of age, gender, physical appearance and social identity.”
Many years back, Salvador Dali’s painting “Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man” inspired many of my photographic and theatrical projects at the time and it became a symbol for my life-long search for a way to access and harvest my sexual/creative energy isolated from it’s “containing shell”; in other words: my body.
At the time, the egg-like object in Dali’s painting did not represent to me but just a “mental barrier” from which this man was “liberating” himself. I was more concern about the concept of freedom to be myself and the artist I wanted to be but today, that egg has become an “impermeable shell” which both protects me but also isolates me from the outside world.
“The Birth of a New Man” … as I then called my take on Dali’s painting has become the “Rebirth of The Old Man” because today, rather than re-inventing myself, as I was doing then, I’m looking to break out of a shell hardened by age and fear by means of re-awakening my sexual/creative energy from within that shell.
In order to break the shell I not only need to amass a great amount of energy but more importantly, I must be willing to renounce the safety provided by my mental and physical pod to venture into a world where my naked and vulnerable soul might not be well received or appreciated.
At the time this words were written, the main focus of my creative explorations is on both re-awakening my sexual/creative energy, breaking out of my “impermeable shell” and “making my unknown known”.
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The Impermeable Mask
Like many of my other ideas, projects, realizations, etc., the visual representation of my current personal and creative life came to me in a dream. There I stood in front of a group of people fighting to break out of this impermeable shell - my public self - which with age and the loss of my senses have become hardened and stronger in the last few years. After I woke up, I was able to put everything into perspective and visualize the path to follow to avoid loosing myself completely and becoming the mask.
“To create one’s own world takes courage”
Like many of my other ideas, projects, realizations, etc., the visual representation of my current personal and creative life came to me in a dream. There I stood in front of a group of people fighting to break out of this impermeable shell - my public self - which with age and the loss of my senses have become hardened and stronger in the last few years. After I woke up, I was able to put everything into perspective and visualize the path to follow to avoid loosing myself completely and becoming the mask.
I also recognized this struggle as a constant motivator in my creative work. In the summer of 2021, I experimented with the permeability of masks in a solo virtual theater show: “Becoming a Rose” and began exploring the concept of total deconstruction of the mask in a segment of the show entitled “Secret-Sacred Photo Sessions”. The intimate quality of the new virtual theater language encouraged me to pierce open the mask and establish a direct connection between my inner self and each individual watching the show. “Becoming a Rose” also gave me the opportunity to grow as a visual artist - not in the traditional sense but - as an artist who communicates with images. “Becoming a Rose” also marked the beginning of “Transcending The Impermeable Mask” - a journey of self-exploration journaled with photographs and videos - and because it was an intimate solo show, I had to put in practice my “bring-your-own-menu” approach - in other words - I had to peel off my own mask and could not hide behind another actor’s mask.
RELATED POSTS“THE MUSE MASK”