Life and Times with Artaud (late as ever....)

1) As in popular opinion, I found that the most obvious cinema of cruelty effect within the film was evident in the rehearsal scene between Artaud and Collette. I think that it illustrates the difference between cruelty as described by Artaud and as we may understand it now, ie there was no physical violence; the attack was instead psychological and emotional. For me, watching Collette's distress was actually more uncomfortable than I think I would have been had she been under physical attack; the raw emotion is hugely affecting and I think an excellent example of the way in which Artaud wanted theatre to affect the audience on an extreme personal level.
2)I can see that most people weren't too keen on the use of sound in the film, but I actually thought that it worked to an extent. I think, rather simplistically I'm sure (but never mind), that the juxtaposition of the folk (ish?) music worked to emphasise the rather nightmarish existence unfolding on screen. I also think that the use of perhaps unexpected music served on occasion to create an eerie and disturbing atmosphere when one considers the action it accompanies. The use of silence in the film, particularly during the sequence in the theatre, was also extremely powerful. Without sound at this point I think an audience is forced to really consider what they are looking at, to force themselves to think where they may not otherwise have to. For me silence during performance constitutes an important part of what I understand theatre of cruelty to be.
3) Having seen the film in black and white I find it impossible to imagine it presented in any other way. Not only does the stock, as has been mentioned, give the film a depressed, melancholic feel, it manages I think to create for the audience an impression of the haze (drugs, alcohol, sex etc) in which much of the lives we see must have been lived.
4) If forced to rate the film I'd give it a four. I think it's an excellent account of the way Artaud lived and worked and the effect he and his practices had on others. In this sense I think the documentary style works really well; to express the same story from Artaud's point of view wouldn't work I think; I think it is far more powerful to see his life through the eyes of someone else, albeit not impartial, and I think in this way we get a real impression of his own struggles and suffering.

Readings for week 10

Dear Artaudians

I have left 5 copies of the following readings with kate in the School office:

• Lynn MacRitchie, ‘Marina Abramovic: Exchanging Energies’ Performance Research #1.2 Routledge,1996: 27-34.
• Tanya Augsburg, ‘Orlan’s Performative Transformations of Subjectivity’ in P. Phelan and J. lane eds. The Ends of Performance, New York and London: NYU Press, 1998: 285-326
• Orlan, ‘Intervention’ in P. Phelan and J. lane eds. The Ends of Performance, New York and London: NYU Press, 1998: 315-327.
• ‘Breaking Through Language’ an interview with Mike Parr, Edward Scheer and Nick Tsoutas 100 Years of Cruelty: Essays on Artaud ed. Edward Scheer. Sydney: Power Publications and Artspace (2000)
• Edward Scheer, ‘A Vast Field of Lyrical Aggression. Recent Durational Art by Mike Parr’ Broadsheet Vol 33 Number 2. 23-7. (June-August 2004)
• Edward Scheer ‘Performing Indifference, An Interview With Stelarc’ Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture. #1, (March 2005) www.performanceparadigm.net

please share and copy these with other students..

see you next week

ed

Essay Questions.

School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies

Aspects of Theatre & Performance
Autumn Term Module 2007

THEATRE AND THEORY AFTER ARTAUD

Essay Questions. Essays (c. 3000 words) are to be submitted to the Departmental office by 4pm on Monday 14th January 2008 (Week 2, Spring Term)

Choose one of the following topics:


Q1. Andre Breton once said that ‘the simplest surrealist act consists in descending to the street with revolver in hand and shooting at random, as fast as one can, into the crowd.’ (The Second Manifesto of Surrealism) What is the surrealist aesthetic in regard to performance and how is it evident in Artaud’s work (artworks, radio, film, theatre writings etc)?

Q2. In dealing with the question of mental illness and creativity, Michel Foucault asks as to the difference between ‘hallucination’ and ‘inspiration’ and says that ‘Artaud’s… madness is precisely the absence of the work of art, the reiterated presence of that absence…’ (Madness and Civilization p287) Considering Artaud’s prodigious output, how do you explain Foucault’s thesis?

Q3. ‘Smash language to touch life!’ (Artaud, ‘The Theatre and its Double’) What is the function of language in the theatre of cruelty? You may wish to consider how Artaud’s work in other media (cinema, drawing, radio, poetry) influenced his writing about the use of language in theatre.

Q4. ‘Conceived as an art form at the juncture of other signifying practices as varied as dance, music, painting, architecture and sculpture, performance seems paradoxically to correspond to the new theatre invoked by Artaud.’ (Josette Feral in Elizabeth Wright Postmodern Brecht pll5) How does Artaud’s theatre of cruelty explain developments in contemporary performance? Discuss with reference to at least 2 of the artists on the course.

Q5. In Pour en finir avec le jugement de dieu Artaud calls for a reworking of the human body, in the form of a ‘body without organs’ which will liberate man and ‘teach him to dance inside out...and that inside out will be his true side out.’ (PF p79) Discuss this image in relation to the body in performance art. In what sense does performance art stage a ‘body without organs’?

Q6. Devise your own topic in association with your lecturer. NB. this must be completed and a wording agreed upon by end of week 10 in Autumn term.

Tell me when it hurts

Does anyone know where we can get the 'Tell Me When it Hurts' reading for this week from?

1. are here any cinema of cruelty effects?
2. comment on the use of sound in the film
3. how effective is the use of Black and white stock?
4. rate the film out of 5

1.The scene where Collette is performing Artaud's work there is an obvious attempt to barrage the senses. The music and visual aspects are not there to support story line and structure but to act on their own which could be seen as indicative as cinema of cruelty. My problem with it however is that it does just seem to be thrown in with little thought as if the director has gone "ok here's the bit where we show what Artaud wanted from theatre and then be done with it" Apart from that I'd say not, we experiance cruelty on characters but as a viewer we do not I don't think.

2.I found the use of sound fairly tedious which perhaps may have been the point. Actually what I found tedious was the jazz/blues music they kept slotting into the film, yes we get it it's paris, it's cool everyone smokes and has affairs and they're artists we don't need a constant reminder of that with hip music at every scene change that sees them in a cafe or a street. The sound effects such as on the train were fairly standard but I did like how the sound builded heavily at one point I seem to remember

3.Black and White stock seemed like a fairly natural choice in creating atmosphere and the sense of Paris's place in history, also at the time film noir was starting to become incredibly cool and popular I think so there is a homage to that perhaps, correct me if I'm wrong. Asthtically it created beutifull cinematography. I do think however that when making a film about artists in Paris it is a device used fairly often.

4. I'd only give the film a generous 3. It was fine, but so cliche in places it was cringe worthy (that music) As an insight to Artaud, usefull certainly but the device of telling it from Pervel's perspective I thought was a little safe. It creates a distance from the subject matter in a very easy way.

Nick.