The Scene as a Machine and Richard Foreman as Scenographer summaries

The Scene as a Machine, by Baugh, discusses and questions scene language, the way a scene relates with the actor, and the purpose of scenery. It also focuses on the work of two designers, Appia and Craig, and their different scenographic styles. Both saw the stage as a place that could achieve its ultimate artistic life through the act of live performance.
"All theater artists have to contend with the complicated inter-relationship between the real-time existence of living performers and the physical actuality of their surroundings- their place of performance" (Baugh 46).
The interaction between architecture and scenography is an important aspect considered by both designers as it is a space that must be articulated to serve as a venue for performances of all kinds. Architectural devision between the audience and the performance was eventually abolished, followed by the idea of including the audience itself in the atmosphere of performance by sharing the lighting. It was Appia's goal to reflect the atmospheric qualities of the performance and physically embrace all participants.
Both designers understood and showed through their work that physical scenography is given form, color, texture and dimension by the use of light.
Richard Foreman as Scenographer, by Aronson, explains Foreman's style as unique and unmistakable designer. "Text, character, sound, language, space, thought and decor are, in a sense, all aspects of a single entity in Foreman's world; inextricably bound up with each other and each functioning essentiality of the play" (Aronson 161). His style is an embodiment of a rich and textured mind. He stated that the stage is a landscape in which all details are significant; the audience's perceptual flow may not be uniformly focused. The distorted perspectives and creation of a spacious stage reflects the flow of Foreman's consciousness. Designing and re-designing the set is "a pretty much normal procedure" (Aronson 169).

Operation Red Duck

Since I'm going to be the wolf.. I was wondering if you guys wanted for me to do my hair a certain way. Or would you like for me to wear my furry looking hat along with some wolf ears?
-justin

Operation Red Duck

Communication post for operation red duck. if there are any ideas, questions, whatever, post it here.

Tricky

The Stage is a Dangerous Machine Summary

George Tsypin is considered the principal designer in postmodernist stage design. His range of work, from The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez to Henry IV, to Don Giovanni, all support this claim. His favorite material to work with is steel: “I’m obsessed with metal….is very hard and dangerous, but at the same time it’s flexible, and you know, it rusts (George Tsypin).”His use of metal creates a danger, both artistically and physically. The actors themselves must deal with his intricate sets, while the audience must deal with his sometimes harsh landscapes.



Tsypin’s inspiration comes surprisingly from the past. He is inspired by the medieval, ranging from architecture to statues. He uses these historical inspirations in conjunction with the play’s content to create his inspirational sets. He likes to use vertical space to create a large sense of scale. Additionally, these vertical spaces suggest a spiritual connection to the audience as Tsypin tries to transcend the physical limitations of the theater space. Such uses of this vertical space include a highway to nowhere and a giant net. Tsypin also uses light effectively in his designs. His designs must reflect light in a way to reflect his scale. Additionally, he uses projections to add to his lighting scheme.

A unique challenge for Tsypin was working on a film instead of a traditional stage. His odd perspectives were in contrast to the realistic sets required for a film. Additionally, film proved to be less dimensional than traditional theater space.

Around the 1990s, Tsypin career took off, designing more than thirty productions. His materials have grown to include a lot of glass, stone, and wood. His designs have become more symbolic and grand, settling his place as the ideal modernist.

-Vincent

Poet's Creed

Borges states that:
1. poetry is the language that is music, passionate
2. for a book to be great, you need something pleasing to the imagination, characters people believe in. it is not the story or the parable that people believe but what makes it believe, but it is the characters that people believe.
3. some works (like Edgar Allan Poe's work)should be read when you are young.
4. literature begins with verse and so forth (a pattern). a free-verse disrupts the pattern so it is harder to write than a verse.
5. if the reader thinks the writer has a moral defect, he will not put up with the writer or his work.
6. we are already modern so there is no reason to strive to be modern; we live in the present.
7. being a writer means being true to imagination; one must be loyal to the dream, not the circumstances around it.
8. only believe in allusions.
the meaning is not important but music, like the way of saying things, is what is important.
9. ultimately, we are writing for the audience and their experience.