No More Masterpieces
“No More Masterpieces”
Experimental Art in Modern Society
Although in “No More Masterpieces” Artaud was mostly referring to the value of producing previously written “masterpieces” that, in his opinion, not always represent the society at the moment in which they are produced, his words also define the current situation in the arts. Experimentation is a luxury that most artist can not afford and the creative process is often of no value unless it concludes with a product and hopefully … a masterpiece.
Financial and other socially imposed limitations restrict artists’ creativity and bound them to schedules, deadlines and the contractual delivery of a finished product.
In the very few occasions when I was able to recruit actors to join my theater company with the sole purpose of experimentation, they got antsy after a little while and I had no choice than to come up with a “project”, deadlines and a promise to deliver but, I’m not complaining … after all, in most cases they were not getting paid so expecting something concrete in return it’s understandable.
I myself often get haunted by the ghost of “completion”. I’ve been pressured and derailed many times in the past and probably will again in the future. I have lost my path before and have “judge” myself for either not “delivering” or “producing” works that I’m not proud of. I have in many instances broken the oath to my beliefs and fiats by compromising my work to please others.
As a sensory-somatic artist, I truly believe and do my best to “live in the present”. Too busy looking backwards or planning for the future, we forget to enjoy the moment … like waiting for prince or princess charming not noticing that he/she is right there beside you.
By sharing on this site some “registered” moments from the creative process of both “finished” and “unfinished” works, I hope to shed some light on my views on transcendence through art, the idea that art could never be considered “unfinished” but “transmuting” and “ongoing” and that like emotions and sentiments, there is not such thing as a single “masterpiece” but “a myriad of unique and essential pieces masterly interconnected”.
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