Darker shadows

"To exist one need only let oneself be,
but to live,
one must be someone,
to be someone,
one must have a BONE,
not be afraid to show the bone,
and to lose the meat in the process."

-Antonin Artaud 

 

Jorge recently introduced me to a choreographer named Ann Van den Broek.  The piece, which he showed me called Co(te)lette (which means "chop" as in pork chop), is about women, their bodies and sexuality. 

There are 3 female dancers in the 148-minute work and they move non-stop the entire time.  The movement is physically and emotionally demanding and I found the work quite astounding and powerful.  I appreciated the intensity of the piece and its lack of pleasure and entertainment value. It’s not a work that is concerned with making the audience comfortable, but is rather showing the human body and specifically the female body in the confines, demands and constructions of social space. You can watch a film of the performance on UBU.

Watching the performance made me think of Antonin Artaud and his Theater of Cruelty. For Artaud, the theater isn’t a place to drift off into fantasy, but rather it is a place of harsh sounds, movements and images that were intended to sort of “attack” the audience and wake up them up.  

 

Drawing by Artaud

 I am deep admirer of Artaud’s ideas and on some level subscribe to his intention although over the years as my work has changed I see that it isn’t driven as much by that kind of aggressive energy. Watching Co(te)lette made me miss this profound darker expression and although I am not the angst-ridden person I once was, I am also not a GAP ad.  Rather, I think what was once angst has been transformed into a deeper understanding of the human condition and I know there is a place for this unsettling passion in my work. As I continue my practice, I want to continue to nurture the more gentle and sensual parts of my work as well as make space for the darker shadows.

Pastel by Michele copied from an illustration by Henri Michaux
when he was under the  influence of peyote