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The Artist’s Solitude

CREATING ONE’S OWN WORLD TAKES COURAGE

The Artist’s Solitude: Creating One’s Own World

“Added to the moral solitude of the murderer comes the solitude of the artist, which can acknowledge no authority, save that of another artist”
— Jean Genet

THIS IS A THREAD OF THOUGHTS - NEWER ENTRIES WILL BE AT THE TOP

THE AMNIOTIC EMBRACE
Sep 8, 2021

I believe water could have the same connecting and isolating qualities as a camera lens. This is a poem I wrote a while back after shooting a short underwater video.
”Like twins sharing the protection of their mother’s womb, our naked bodies embraced at a distance through the amniotic blue waters of our manmade sheltering space.  Isolated and protected from the world we danced to the rhythm of our souls, to the beat of our hearts, free, careless and in perfect union.  We shared innocence, cold, discovery, discomfort but most of all the beauty of our hearts.  Once separated by the world outside, I was left alone, incomplete and empty. I yearned for your warmth, your touch, your heartbeat and the comforting feeling of our amniotic embrace”.

STAGE FRIGHT
Sep 8, 2021

The "illusion" of being alone and intimately connected with each one of the viewers was the first thing that caught my attention and ignited my interest in this new Virtual Theater language. The quality of this "connection" has been something I've been exploring and trying to create in live theater for as long as I can remember but, what are the trade-offs? Even if we are successful in making the virtual audience feel they are "alone" and only "connected" with us (the performers) ... how about on our end?

When devising Becoming A Rose, my first virtual theater production, I wanted to really experiment with this "intimacy" feeling so I decided to make this one-man-show a real one-man-show ... meaning: no crew or audience in the space where I was performing and streaming the show from. Just before I went live for the first show I made a very unexpected discovery: I was experiencing "stage fright" and fear was making solitude feel more like loneliness ... the very same feeling I was trying to avoid by establishing this intimate connection in the first place but, this post is not about me complaining but about me sharing with you my findings during this fascinating experiment and my personal views on the artist's solitude and how this is directly linked to the artist's courage to create his/her "own" world. 

TO BE CONTINUED

“To create one’s own world takes courage”
— Georgia O'Keeffe
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LIVESTREAM THEATER, VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE Guido Luciani LIVESTREAM THEATER, VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE Guido Luciani

Livestream Theater

THE DAWN OF A NEW LANGUAGE
ON DEVISING “BECOMING A ROSE”

Livestream Theater: The Dawn of a New Language

“Genet’s books are brothels, in which you slip in through a crack, hoping that you will not encounter anyone; as soon as you are inside, you appear to be completely alone”
— Jean-Paul Sartre

"BECOMING A ROSE: An Artist's Survival Guide According to Jean Genet"  is, in essence, a peek into my private world of dreams, sexual fantasies and the incantatory rituals of the theater. It is a bold and uncompromising exhibit of art aroused by sexuality and a celebration of my creative communion with Jean Genet.

I'm first and foremost an ImageMaker, a Sensory-Somatic Artist who communicates and expresses through images: visual representations of an idea as well as sensory-somatic impressions recorded in our unconscious. These images, in addition to the written word are the fundamental building blocks of Luciani's Absolute Theater's Sensory-Somatic theater language.

At first, the idea of virtual theater, a theater without a live audience ... without the traditional four-wall space did not sit well with me. I rejected the idea the same way that as a photographer I dismissed digital photography or as a filmmaker put down videography. But, after the initial judgement, it became clear to me that virtual theater is not just a digital recording of live theater nor just a product of social distancing but a full blown new theatrical language. Just like digital photography and video share some components with their analog counterparts, the livestream virtual theater language contains some common elements not only with traditional theater but also with film and video.

Devising BECOMING A ROSE for livestream theater both, challenges me to remain true to the Sensory-Somatic language and, offers me the great opportunity to create using some tools, that in my opinion, are unique to this new theatrical language. 

I performed my first play in a friend's living room and my first theater ensemble operated out of a small basement we transformed into a small theater. These were just the first in a series of living rooms, garages and small theaters in which I have performed my plays throughout my career so, I think it's safe to say that my theater work is personal and intimate in nature. As member of the audience, I also prefer to watch plays , physical theater and dance performances in small spaces and, if possible, I like to sit in the first row so I can smell, see -and sometimes get splashed by- the performers' sweat, hear their breathing, etc. In sum, I like to take advantage of the opportunity that only live performances can offer us of immerse myself in the show or, invite my audience into my world. I supposed that is why I devised the Absolute Theater's Sensory-Somatic language but, although I have tried it, I'm not a fan of participatory immersive theater or forcing the audience to take part of the production. I believe in a voluntary connection with the audience through the senses: a reciprocated sensory-somatic seduction but ... no matter how small of a theater you are in or how close you sit to the performers ... we are not alone, there are other members of the audience and cast there to break the magic spell that is bringing us together.

There are many other unique components of the livestream theater language that fascinate me and I'm excited to explore but, it is the "intimate" quality of the virtual connection with each and everyone in the audience what makes this platform the right canvas for my work, the perfect "crack" -as Sartre puts it- through which to slip "alone" into my sacred creative space without anyone around to judge you ... just you, me and Jean Genet.

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No More Masterpieces

EXPERIMENTAL ART IN MODERN SOCIETY

“No More Masterpieces”
— Antonin Artaud

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”.

ALSO ON THIS THREAD

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