#Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre From a State of Isolation

[arbeaone]

Excerpt:

The short piece that Martello-White came up with is tricky to explain. It is called Central Hill, after the area of Crystal Palace in which he lives, and is a kind of meta-apocalyptic-thriller, a 10-minute horror film within a horror film. Julian Barratt plays a director desperately trying to keep his shooting schedule on track while the world collapses around him. It’s the result, Martello-White says, of his current interest in “elevated horror” and the work of film directors Jordan Peele and Bong Joon-ho.

[jamesginortonblog]

Casting has been announced for Headlong's new series of online shows, which will be presented from next month.

Called Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre From a State of Isolation, the series will be performed by a cast of over fifty UK actors while in isolation as the coronavirus outbreak continues.

The companies will also be working with BBC Arts to broadcast the pieces from May.

[disaffectednotes]

Corona & culture / cultural studies - Scattergun virus thoughts

Putting some scattered thoughts down, largely inspired by a steady diet of high-fibre podcasts in recent weeks. These notes are fragments, really, and hardly add up to more than passing thoughts, given the unfolding situation and the partiality of any knowledge right now. I’ve noticed in myself the will to “master” the situation by consuming as much information as possible – even as I know this will inevitably fail. Perhaps the following can be read in the same spirit of failed mastery, or to sublimate the anxious energy that’s all around...

“We’re all in this together.” The virus as the “great equaliser.” Such appeals to the common good and common ground have been… common. War mobilisation rhetoric is also doing the same work of unifying the disparate population. At the same time, disgruntled jokes are made about celebrities and royals getting tests when frontline medical staff cannot. It’s also clear that this virus will rip through some communities more than others, as reporting this weekend about effects in black communities in the US has made clear. Arundhati Roy also made this clear too in her excellent piece for the FT this weekend. India is only just at the start of this. The economic crisis has reached many poorer countries before the virus itself hits.

On the cultural level, some of this mobilisation of fellow-feeling and resentment has been played out through celebrity culture (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/arts/virus-celebrities.html). There will be people on this list more expert in celebrity culture than me (paging Celebrity Studies scholars), but commentary is engaging in the cyclical argument about how this will be the end of celebrities. As if seeing in 1080p the smooth interiors behind celebrities cocooning at home will rupture the culture industry and the star system. And yet, the hatred is real. “The film Parasite, in which a poor South Korean family cleverly cons its way into the home of a rich one, has been converted into a well-worn social-media retort whenever celebrities offer glimpses inside their own manses; the reference succeeds partly because so many superrich people have such blandly similar minimalist homes.”

More abstractly – how do the universal and the particular interact in this moment? We seem to have the interaction of universalism in the sense of appeals to and mobilisations of public health (with its birth as a discipline in Soviet healthcare, no less) and the particularity of suffering.

Closer to the question of Cultural Studies as an intellectual formation: what reconfiguration of economy, culture, society etc might follow from this. After the financial crisis a decade ago, there was, no doubt, a new opening onto political economy in cultural studies. As Randy Martin put it in 2015, “the very architecture by which knowledge of the social has been made legible – the grand trinity that partitions economy, polity and culture – has come undone, and from these ruins issue all manner of challenge and possibility.” Of course, this pandemic event adds another dimension to the broken trinity – or, put differently, where do quasi-natural factors like novel viruses fit in the trinity? Chuang and Rob Wallace suggest the historic spread of pandemics cannot be untied from urban development, intensive agriculture and capitalist markets. If there’s no unsullied “nature” outside global capitalism, this also suggests the open question of whether this is an exogenous or endogenous shock to an interlocked world system.

Another plank of this concerns the status of the “economy” as an object, and what its abstract claim is on politics (in our really-existing world of market-dependence, obviously). E.g. the increasing attempts to weigh up the economic cost of lockdowns vs care of population. Already as part of a wide-spread legitimacy crisis post-2007-8, there was a growing sense, I think, that people did not see their lives reflected in GDP figures (see Will Davies on this). Sure, the numbers are going up, people seemed to say en masse, but I’m not seeing that in my life. Wellbeing budgets (e.g. NZ and UK) were one attempt to deliver a fix for this gap between lived experience and economic indicators.

What is being asked for here is an unprecedented global demobilisation and isolation, almost concurrently. There’s anxiety about this. It’s unknown territory. Above all, those clamouring for a return to the Service of Goods right now seem to be desperately ensnared by the oikodicy that Joseph Vogl talks about. “A theodicy of the economic universe: the inner consistency of an economic doctrine that—rightly or wrongly, for good or ill—views contradictions, adverse effects, and breakdowns in the system as eminently compatible with its sound institutional arrangement.” Nothing needs to change; just get the people back to their stations and everything can carry on. The hangover from this governmental largesse will surely come in the form of austerity lashings for many.

On the conjuncture in which this virus appeared – it seems important to remember the crisis of legitimacy that has been underway (at least) since the last financial crisis. This has had several effects, I think, on trust in politicians and trust in experts. Lockdowns have played out in rather draconian ways, I think, because flows of trust between citizenry and state are at low levels. (Equally in those countries that English-language media are lumping together as “Asian” or “East Asian”.) The US and the UK have fumbled their management terribly, and lost a lot of time to quell the virus in the process. Aside from the obvious political disaffection and so on surrounding elected officials, there was already an epistemological crisis surrounding the “expert” and expertise, the media and information sources — and now? It seems to be going in two directions. In some ways, epidemiologists and other public health actors seem to be trusted; in part, they seem to be figures of faith for acting in the best interests of the public / society / everyone. Goodwill seems to be carrying their message through, helped by endless news reports of deaths. And yet conspiracy theories continue to be rife – 40% of US Republicans believe the virus is a Chinese concoction from a lab; on the weekend, we’ve seen 5g mobile towers burned in the UK in some sort of anti-tech connection with China. It will also be interesting to watch the anti-vaxxer groups in the wake of this, themselves one of the chief symptoms of a rear-guard response to the epistemological crisis around science.

At the level of everyday life, it will be interesting to experience the new tempos and rhythms of everyday life that will come out the other side of this. Obviously, people are right now being enlisted in a series of new habits around social distance, but time is also being enlisted too. We check the news to see updates on the length of lockdowns, the next meetings, the rise over the past 24hours. Morbid scoreboards measure out days and deaths, for our fascination and horror. We hear that lockdowns will come ago. Six weeks, two weeks, maybe six months, up to two years, maybe five years. Yet the future as a space of projection feels utterly blank. Who can plan anything, other than as a coping mechanism with an asterisk of a disclaimer (to be confirmed)? Epidemiological metaphors, otherwise describing dynamics visualised on graphs, have slid into the language with almost universal recognition. Flatten the curve (even in German they say this, auf Englisch). Now people speak casually about “the hammer and the dance.”

Another cultural question of everyday life – what will survive of neighbourhood businesses, given the economic ruin that is already evident in unemployment statistics and massive companies going on rent strike. In Berlin, neighbourhood places like cinemas, bars, restaurants and cafes, unable to open for weeks, have taken to asking people to support them by buying vouchers and merchandise online. Cancelled gigs and events ask people who can afford to ignore refund, so that music venues and theatres and promoters and artists can come out the other side. I’m sure similar things are happening elsewhere. But there’s a chance this could alter the face of local communities (in places already changed by gentrification, no doubt, and other processes).

Equally – what will cultural policy and support for cultural industries and artists look like? Responses already seem divergent. Germany has trumpeted a huge package of money for operators at all sizes (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/berlin-senate-bailout-process-1820982 & https://news.artnet.com/art-world/german-bailout-50-billion-1815396). In Berlin, bookshops are essential services and remain open. In Australia, the other case I know something about, anxiety was rising before the lockdown that this could decimate those artists already struggling with high costs of living and piecemeal work (https://www.themonthly.com.au/blog/anwen-crawford/2020/19/2020/1584580982/coronavirus-cancelling-culture). I don’t know that any systematic response has emerged to this situation from the Australian government(s). Meanwhile, Jerry Saltz suggests the art world could look different after this – https://www.vulture.com/_pages/ck8ivxorc0000yeyerntsmxxj.html. By that we can also include the mass sackings of culture workers with barely any hope of reinstatement anytime soon – https://hyperallergic.com/551571/moma-educator-contracts/

I wonder if there might be a new “paranoid style” in culture and everyday life. What does life look like after we have been so thoroughly inculcated into logics of the other (and self) as virus vectors? It seems hard to imagine that sociability will not be affected by this sustained mentality. I imagine there could be an ecstatic return of sociability? Matched with paranoid moments? Prevailing at different points? Except, I think we already being prepared for a staged return to normal social mixing. So the ecstatic moment may not come. People wonder out loud too about parallel epidemics of loneliness and mental health from weeks of limited social contacts.

In cultural production, it will be interesting to see how this paranoid style might play out in formal and generic novelties, rather than simply the pandemic *content* that will be pushed through the Netflix pipe. The “bottle episode” format might become even more of a mainstay. And the lockdown nostalgia genre (like the “blitz spirit”) is probably already in the making. Will “flatten the curve” become “keep calm and carry on” kitsch?

It’s interesting to watch what Adam Tooze called a clumsy rewiring of globalisation – where Zoom comes to the fore as platform, where relations to flying around the world become more fraught and second-guessed. This ad hoc reconstitution of institutional and individual practices is obviously apparent at universities. It will be fascinating to see what the afterlife of this moment will be in the sector. Again, like the ecstasy of reunion with friends (and strangers), will the metaphysics of presence reassert itself as a thousand and one postponed conferences are launched onto the market for papers and academic attention? Or will the convenient and environmentally sustainable virtual conference finally become more acceptable? For those at a distance from the conference centres of the northern hemisphere, there’s been a certain obliviousness among, e.g., European academics about the many costs involved in travelling from, e.g., Australia for a conference. The Fridays for Future movement and others had already instilled greater awareness about this; so perhaps this accelerated acquaintance with these technologies will make the option viable. I’ve been part of several online reading groups already in the past fortnight, and their decentralisation has been inspiring. For example, one group hosted in Ireland had its largest number of participants in India and Israel. Obviously cultural, symbolic and financial capital will continue to accrue among the big-name academic cities and campuses, but these initiatives have opened onto new constellations of community, discussion and collective endeavour.

What are the subjective effects of all this? Some psychoanalysts co-wrote a letter a couple of weeks ago about their patients with some striking insights.

“And yet, against the predominant narrative of trauma and the dangers of isolation, we find many patients who are doing fine or even doing better, who like externalized chaos, or whose melancholia is abated by the nearness of death and reproach; those who are used to doing their own thing and who find their anxiety and sadness contained and cohered by the pervasive force of a virus that shuts all down. We hear those who have longed for everything to be cancelled, for life as we know it to be paused, hushed and stopped, even to the point of daring to express their own desire to, in fantasy, be one of the affected, which is to say, infected. Many admit that they are feeling strangely fine—no more FOMO—and even a few are looking forward to enjoying the spiteful reality that the virus effects all, rich and poor. Beyond this, there might seem very little worth saying. Some now don’t talk at all in session, while indicating that they are talking all the time, like the run on social media. Symptoms, despite so many breaks in the fabric of reality, persist, sometimes blindly and deafeningly so; it feels crushing. The continued contact can be important, but perhaps only for that—to know the analyst is still there.”

Other things to say… but I’m running out of steam and you’re probably running out of patience… so now in the form of suggestive promissory notes for further thoughts…

These ideas all came from listening to Adam Tooze talk about the current crisis and how it compares to 2008: Incoherent American power — soft power and culture yet literal bankruptcy of American social model, meanwhile Fed is efficiently fighting spotfires and Trump is a clown show; running 2008 playbook but at high speed; public balance sheet taking over from private again; fiscal conservatism as cross to nail progressive politics to cross for years; expansionary fiscal policy nationally vs contractions and austerity locally; emerging markets pressure (South Africa — immunosuppressed HIV population + downgrade of currency); timing of crisis with oil shock and uncertain global supply chains; car-making is dead right now; VW is worried about liquidity; what might bailout conditions be?; German governments talking about mass buying VW electric cars to ensure work when factories can reopen, while aiding in VW’s need to increase electric sales.

Media companies — some experiencing a massive boost in visitors right now, but with drop off in advertising. Who wants to sell stuff next to death charts? Who is in mood for big spending? Media outlets cutting staff or closing.

Mutual aid groups and solidarity networks have sprung up informally – and been mirrored formally by state calls for volunteers. This puts me in mind of the anarchist / horizontalist moment of Occupy a decade ago. Then, since, the return to state by activists for Corbyn and Sanders. What now?

Also, what do social movements do to respond to what will be inevitably be an uneven roll out of crisis response? Plus, the draconian enrolment of police and military, with powers for six months to two years? How do groups organise against that? What are the forms of creative protest in times of physical distance? Cementing affected and affective communities somehow – maybe seeding these online to go “live” when restrictions are lifted. Thinking also about ACT UP and other social movements – e.g. How to Survive A Plague. Those movements, internationally, put their bodies on the line, staged die ins during AIDS-HIV crisis. Militant disobedience might be demanded to get better crisis response. (Sidebar: Fauci and Birx, both experts on HIV and AIDS; Fauci was targeted by ACT UP but was sympathetic.) Some small protests in Berlin on the streets in recent weeks, using social distancing. Calling on politicians and population not to forget refugees at EU’s borders. Others occupying empty apartments (& Airbnb) to call for homeless relief. Also, what could cultural protest look like right now? (https://hyperallergic.com/550091/illuminator-covid-19/).

What might the crisis do for an ethics of care – and awareness of social reproduction too. Some public health thinkers have talked about “social immunity,” particularly in the US. And the flipside seems to be the social contagion that Chuang invoke. (No doubt here all the biopolitical debates come up again, e.g. Esposito on immunity)

And there’s been interesting work on geographies of movement and exclusion. Various visualisations of how the virus moves around the world and what this illustrates about travel, business, leisure etc today. But also the unevenly distributed luxury of working from home – the NY Times piece about poorer workers in NY moving around the city much more than the knowledge workers who could “shelter in place”. Five bus drivers have died in the UK. Meanwhile, in Germany, the former socialist eastern part of the country has far fewer cases. This once again underlines a deeply sensed feeling of stasis – both a distance from the cosmopolitan cultural power of an EU-level project but also the literal (comparative) lack of infrastructure for things such as fast-speed rail links between cities from eastern German states into western states and beyond into other parts of Europe.

No doubt these reflections are parochial and limited, drawn from what has most captured my attention – selfishly – in a truly global crisis, and one with many months to run….

For rolling lists of good discussions on these topics:

https://the-syllabus.com/coronavirus-readings/

https://yourpart.eu/p/QuarantineSchool_COVID19

[vsplusonline]

Empty space amid coronavirus

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/empty-space-amid-coronavirus/

Empty space amid coronavirus

In cities and regions hard-hit by the coronavirus crisis, quarantine measures and self-isolation efforts have left many public spaces deserted. Classrooms, plazas, malls, sports venues, cafes, houses of worship, and tourist destinations appear eerily empty as people stay home, cancel plans, and await further news.

As the Czech government bans events hosting more than 100 people to contain the spread of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19), here is the view of the National Theatre in Prague.

National Theatre seen in Prague | REUTERS

A man wears a mask as he looks at an empty St Peter’s Square after the Vatican erected a new barricade at the edge of the square, Rome, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Italy entered its first day under a nationwide lockdown after a government decree extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit north to the rest of the country to prevent the spreading of coronavirus.

St. Peter’s Square after the Vatican erected a new barricade at the edge of the square, in Rome | AP

Juventus and FC Internazionale players line up prior to the Serie A match between Juventus and FC Internazionale at Allianz Stadium played behind closed doors after rules to limit the spread of Covid-19 have been put in place.

Juventus’ and FC Internazionale players line up prior to the Serie A match | Getty Images

A woman wearing a protective mask stands in front the Colliseum, the third day of an unprecedented lockdown across of all Italy imposed to slow the outbreak of coronavirus, in Rome, Italy.

A woman wearing a protective mask stands in front the Colliseum | Reuters

A nearly empty 7th Avenue in Times Square is seen at rush hour after it was announced that Broadway shows will cancel performances due to the coronavirus outbreak in New York, US.

A nearly empty 7th Avenue in Times Square | Reuters

General view of Kaaba at the Grand Mosque which is almost empty of worshippers, after Saudi authority suspended umrah (Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca) amid the fear of coronavirus outbreak, at Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

General view of Kaaba at the Grand Mosque which is almost empty of worshipers | Reuters

Empty chairs are seen on a beach which is usually full of tourists, amid fear of coronavirus in Phuket, Thailand.

Empty chairs are seen on a beach in Phuket, Thailand | Reuters

Fan leave after an announcement that the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz game is canceled just before the tip off at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Empty view Chesapeake Energy Arena | Alonzo Adams-USA

Muay Thai fighters perform at Walking Street inside an empty bar, lacking tourists, after the coronavirus outbreak in Pattaya, Thailand

Thai fighters perform at Walking Street inside an empty bar | Reuters

A general view of the hemicycle showing a few MEP’s during a monthly plenary session of the European Parliament, shortened due to coronavirus outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium.

MEP’s during a session at the European Parliament | Reuters

A staff member walks inside an empty classroom of a school after Kerala state government ordered the closure of schools across the state, amid coronavirus fears, in Kochi, India.

A staffer walks inside an empty classroom of a school | Reuters

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[urbanmishmash]

Events, exhibitions and things to do this week in Paris

Our selection of some interesting things to do, see and experience in Paris this week and over the weekend.

Photography

Irving Penn: Centennial

At Grand Palais, 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008, Paris

From September 21, 2017 to October 5, 2017

The Irving Penn: Centennial exhibition of works by American photographer Irving Penn (1917-2009) is on view at the Grand Palais, Paris from September 21, 2017 to January 29, 2018. The exhibition marks the centennial of the artist’s birth and is the most comprehensive retrospective to date of his work.

Co-curated by Maria Morris Hambourg, independent curator and founding curator of The Met’s Department of Photographs, and Jeff L. Rosenheim, Joyce Frank Menschel Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs at The Met, the exhibition features more than 200 photographs Penn made during his 70-year career as also a selection of his drawings and paintings.

The exhibition will be presented at C/O Berlin Foundation from March 24 to July 1, 2018, and at the Instituto Moreira Salles from August 21 to November 25, 2018.

The exhibition catalogue in English can be purchased here.

Book your ticket for this event

Art

Continua Sphères Ensemble – exposition

At 104 CENTQUATRE, 5 rue Curial, Paris

From September 16, 2017 to November 19, 2017

Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE underlines the desire that has guided the GALLERIA CONTINUA and the CENTQUATRE from the start: to bring contemporary art to the largest audience possible. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the GALLERIA CONTINUA in France as well as the tenth anniversary of its collective exhibition project Sphères that started there, the desire to invite a large public is augmented by the pleasure of bringing together over twenty galleries and institutions from five continents. The event Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE also allows the visitors to discover artworks that have rarely been seen in France, while also showing other forms of artistic association and production.

Sphères was born in 2007, 50 kilometres from Paris, in Boissy-le-Châtel (Seine-et-Marne). GALLERIA CONTINUA inaugurated at that time Les Moulins, its French gallery. Among the big exhibitions in the space, nine editions of Sphères have since then enabled visitors to discover many international artists. The tenth edition of Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE will be held at the Centquartre Paris. With an ambitious and generous offering, Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE brings together galleries and institutions from five continents in an unprecedented manner and, contrary to fairs, invites them to join forces rather than be in competition with each other, offering the visitors a unique experience of contemporary creation.

Artists

Ai Weiwei | Leila Alaoui | Jocelyn Anquetil & Charles Harrop-Griffiths | Iván Argote | Kader Attia | Agostino Bonalumi | Daniel Buren | Alberto Burri | Enrico Castellani | Loris Cecchini Chen Zhen | Nikhil Chopra | Berlinde De Bruyckere | Mark Dion | Sam Falls | Aurélie Ferruel & Florentine Guédon | Lucio Fontana | Lee Wan | Lu Yang | Carlos Garaicoa | Douglas Gordon | Shilpa Gupta | Subodh Gupta | Zhanna Kadyrova | Anish Kapoor | Brigitte Kowanz | Reynier Leyva Novo | Luis Enrique López-Chávez | Ahmed Mater | Moataz Nasr | OPAVIVARÁ! | Giovanni Ozzola | Michelangelo Pistoletto | Philippe Ramette | Rosângela Rennó | Jems Koko Bi | Paolo Scheggi | Andreas Schmitten | Pascale Marthine Tayou | Sislej Xhafa

Galleries and institutions 313 Art Project | 40mcube | A Gentil Carioca | ATHR Gallery | Galerie Cécile Fakhoury | Chatterjee & Lal | Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto | Collection Lambert en Avignon | GALLERIA CONTINUA | Galleria Franco Noero | Gazelli Art House | Galerie In Situ – fabienne leclerc | König Galerie | Galerie Krinzinger | mor charpentier | M WOODS | Perrotin | Tornabuoni Art | VNH Gallery | Galerie Xippas Countries

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Art

Être Pierre: Anselmo, Brassaï, Giraud and Siboni, Picasso, Zadkine, Paterson

At Museum Zadkine, 100 bis rue d'Assas, Paris

From September 29, 2017 to February 11, 2018

To commemorate the 50th death anniversary of sculptor Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967), Musée Zadkine’s exhibition Être Pierre will examine the links between stone and Zadkine and other artists. In a context marked by environmental concerns and a renewed link between humans and their ecosystem, the exhibition Être Pierre explores the dynamic role of stone through a mix of works by several generations of artists. The exhibition will also study the use of stone in these artists’ work with several media – sculpture, photography, drawings, videos and films – as well as through archaeologic objects and primitive arts.

The exhibition will include over 130 works by several artists, including Giovanni Anselmo, Brassaï, Constantin Brancusi, Claude Cahun, Marc Couturier, Paul-Armand Gette, Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni, Pablo Picasso, Ossip Zadkine, Katie Paterson, Auguste Rodin, Oscar Santillan, Giuseppe Penone and Akio Suzuki.

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Exhibition

Raymond Depardon: Traverser

At Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, 2, impasse Lebouis, Paris

From September 13, 2017 to December 17, 2017

The exhibition Raymond Depardon: Traverser at the Fondation Henri-Cartier Bresson presents the works of photographer, writer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon. With a selection of over 100 prints, texts, films and documents, the exhibition hinges on four main themes: La terre natale (Homeland), Le Voyage (Journey), La Douleur (Pain) and L’enfermement (Confinement). Depardon’s writings run as a symbolic Ariadne’s thread throughout the exhibition, creating a constant dialogue between Depardon’s work over the last sixty years starting from his early beginnings at Le Garet Farm.

Art

George Segal

At Galerie Daniel Templon, 30 rue Beaubourg, Paris

From September 9, 2017 to October 28, 2017

Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris will offer visitors an opportunity to rediscover the work of George Segal (1924-2000). Perhaps the most existentialist of pop artists, George Segal is known for creating environments populated by disturbing plaster figures.

Born in 1924 in New York, George Segal lived and worked in New Jersey, USA, until his death in 2000. Discovered at a collective pop art exhibition in 1962, Segal’s sculptures have since achieved international recognition for their ability to transform everyday realities into a theatre of mysterious and poetic apparitions. Among his numerous solo exhibitions were major retrospectives in 1978 at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA, in 1997 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (Canada), in 1998 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C; in 2002 at Utsunomiya Museum of Art, Utsunomia, Japan and at the Hermitage State Museum in St Petersburg (Russia). Galerie Templon presented George Segal’s works for the first time in 1979 in Paris, as part of the group exhibition ‘La peinture  américaine‘.

George Segal’s works play on the permeability of spaces, inviting the viewer to converse with his anonymous and motionless figures. Segal flips the hierarchies: the objects are as real and permanent as nature itself, whereas the human figures are made by hand out of one of the most fragile materials: plaster.

In the 1960s, George Segal developed a layered plaster bandage moulding technique by applying the bandages directly to the model’s body. He used this technique to reveal the evocative power of gesture and its poetic, social, erotic and political dimensions. The bandage, an instrument of healing, thus becomes a metaphor for the fragility of life, underlining a need for transcendence below the body’s empty shell.

Galerie Templon’s retrospective is the first in France in 20 years and features a comprehensive selection of the American artist’s works. Originally a realist (The Dancers, The Couple), George Segal’s works began to evolve in the 1970s, turning towards a more expansive and freer style of expression. The coloured works of the 1980s, both figurative paintings and still lives (Nude on Red Chair, Girl on Wicker Lounge), enter into a dialogue with the history of art and master painters like Cézanne and Degas. By isolating and highlighting fragments of body parts, the opulent bas-reliefs and series of erotic paintings (Hand Fragments) refer in particular to the women washing and dressing motif. In the 1990s, the artist shifted his focus to expressionist naturalism. The dual plastering/moulding technique offers greater detail on the surface (42nd Street Deli, Bus Passengers), while the fusion of sculpture and painting brings to life a plethora of artistic expressions via colour, light and emotions. The darker works (Woman Standing in Doorway, Woman Lying on a Bed) operate as a negative presence – like the inside of a mould or incarnation of a shadow.

    Art

Niki de Saint Phalle: Niki de Saint Phalle's Women

At Galerie George-Phillippe & Nathalie Vallois, 36, rue de Seine, Paris

From September 8, 2017 to October 22, 2017

A new monographic exhibition at Parisian art gallery Galerie Georges-Phillippe & Nathalie Vallois focuses on one of the central themes in artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s work – the representation of the female body. The exhibition features a selection of twenty pieces from the period 1960s and 1970s, including her iconic Nanas (a series of life-sized papier maché dolls representing the ‘everywoman’) as well as her singular relief sculptures.

Niki de Saint Phalle is known for her monumental sculptures of voluptuous female bodies. Her women are big, muscular, old, fragile, with bellies ripped open, dancing light giants, matrons, brides, women giving birth. For Saint Phalle, dealing with the feminine, showing its anxieties and its revolts, its dreams, its power and its poetry, always meant showing women’s bodies. Everything women may go through is embodied in her figures which challenge the idealised representation of women’s bodies as also the rigid patriarchal notions of women’s role in society.

Design

Christian Dior: Couturier du rêve (Designer of dreams)

At Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris

From July 5, 2017 to January 7, 2018

Check out the lavish Christian Dior exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the creation of the House of Dior, this stunning exhibition follows the illustrious universe of the House of Dior’s founder and the designers who succeeded him: Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and, more recently, Maria Grazia Chiuri.

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Exhibition

David Hockney

At Centre Pompidou, Place Georges Pompidou, Paris

From June 21, 2017 to October 23, 2017

Centre Pompidou, in collaboration with London’s Tate Modern and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, will present a monumental exhibition dedicated to David Hockney’s body of work. This comprehensive retrospective celebrates the artist’s 80th birthday and retraces his entire career through more than 200 works – paintings, photographs, engravings, video installations, drawings and printed works. These will include his most iconic paintings of swimming pools and double portraits to his more recent Yorkshire landscapes. A true celebration of this terrific artist’s long and varied career.

  Exhibition

Derain, Balthus, Giacometti: A friendship in art

At Musée d'art moderne, 11 avenue du Président Wilson, Paris

From June 2, 2017 to October 29, 2017

The Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris brings together the works of three major artists of the 20th century – André Derain, Balthus and Alberto Giacometti – for an excellent exhibition, ‘Derain, Balthus, Giacometti: A friendship in art‘. The show features more than 200 works by the three artists, connected to each other by a solid friendship that was born in 1933 in Paris. The exhibition presents an original way of looking at the works of these three men, whose paintings, sculptures, maquettes and drawings seem to bear witness to a long-standing mutual admiration.

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Exhibition

Medusa: Jewellery and Taboos (Bijoux et tabous)

At Musée d'art moderne, 11 avenue du Président Wilson, Paris

From May 19, 2017 to November 5, 2017

The Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris (Museum of Modern Art, Paris) presents an extensive and beautiful exhibition titled Medusa: Bijoux et tabous (Medusa: Jewellery and Taboos) examining the cultural significance of jewellery in various societies throughout history. Whether designed by artists or high-end brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, or as symbols of ethnic identity, an allusion to fantasy or as simple pieces of jewellery, the exhibition brings together over 400 bracelets, neckpieces, rings and other improbable creations to show how a piece of jewellery can trigger attraction or repulsion depending on what it is made of or how it is worn. Through the ages, jewellery has been used to express and fortify identities, values, body and sexuality. The pieces exhibited are at times strange, at times dazzling, and at times both. With an excellent scenography, the exhibits include works by celebrated artists (Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Alexander Calder and Niki de Saint Phalles), high-end brands and smaller, unknown or anonymous creators. The exhibition comes in partnership with the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts, which has loaned the iconic crystal glove worn by Michael Jackson during the Victory Tour and the neck clock worn by hip hop group Public Enemy’s Flavour Flav.

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Art

Kiefer-Rodin

At Musée Rodin, 77 rue de Varenne, Paris

From March 14, 2017 to October 22, 2017

Musée Rodin’s exhibition Kiefer-Rodin (on view until October 22, 2017) is one of the major events organised in France to commemorate the death centenary of sculptor Auguste Rodin. This stunning show is the result of painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer’s exploration of Rodin’s creative process, particularly his book Les Cathédrales de France (The Cathedrals of France) published in 1914 and his manner of fragmenting, reconsidering and reusing his work. The exhibition features three monumental canvases (The Cathedrals of France) with layers of oil, acrylic, emulsion and shellac piled up on them and sheets of lead (one of the artist’s preferred materials to work with) that you could stare at for hours. There are also his glass vitrines, where he combined relics of his own life with different objects and materials, crude and beautiful at the same time. Then, there are Kiefer’s books, almost sculptures, with free-flowing female nudes on stacks of cardboard.

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[remierin-blog]

Major production research

Teechers and John Godber

John Harry Godber was born on the 18th May 1956, in Upton, West Riding of Yorkshire. He trained as a teacher of drama at Bretton Hall college, he then went on to become head of drama at Minsthorpe High School, the school that he once attended as he was a child, and later wrote for TV series ‘Brookside’ and ‘Grange Hil’l. After leaving teaching, he went on to venture into plays and then in 1984 he became artistic director of Hull Truck theatre company.

What set Godber apart from his peers was that he was well known for his innovative work in theatre, for example ‘Bouncers’, ‘Teechers’ and ‘Up n Under’, bringing to light social issues, that most people were to scared or ignorant to take notice of. He was also named the third most performed British playwright after Shakespeare and Ayckbourn. Godber inspired a new wave of theatre audiences, encouraging not the usual theatre goer of his time to venture to the theatre, drawn in by his relatable life like plays, appealing to the average every day type of person.

Godbers influence on modern theatre is that the theatre is more open and appealing to all social classes of the public than ever before, he heavily assisted in paving the way for working class plays and theatre goers.

His legacy will be the change and recognition that he brought to topics looked over by public majority and the government, for example he wrote ‘Shafted’ which is based on the UK miners strike and portrays the misfortune of a post mining community, something he had a personal connection to, he also wrote a play about a women’s rugby team called ‘Muddy Cows’, after he went to see female rugby teams The North play The Midlands. In an interview with the Yorkshire Post in 2013 he explained that the thought behind the play was to bring recognition to certain social problems that he wanted to tackle, the main one being certain body types which young people are told they should have by society and the media, the interview states “But for all the talk about the need for equality in sport these days women’s rugby is still dogged by sexist cliches and preconceptions, something Godber wanted to tackle. [Godber states] ‘I have two kids and they are bombarded with body types and told they should look like this and that and if they don’t wear such and such they’re square. So with ‘Muddy Cows’ I tried to get under the skin and look at real women, because the great thing about rugby is if you’re big you play prop, if you’re fast you play on the wing and if you’re adept you play fly-half, so there’s a role for everyone”. Along with one of his most famous play ‘Teechers’ which portrays issues the government seemingly overlook, as stated in the manchester evening news “’Teechers’ is no musty old piece of ephemera, its overarching themes still relevant to the challenges still found in classrooms today” Godber done the unthinkable of the time and spoke out against the government and the system that we are put into based on our social class. Godber is extremley well versed in theatre styles and addressed working class culture, issues and appealed to a variety of audiences, paving the way for working class writers such as Jim Allen and Alan Bleasdale.

The UK theatrical climate at the time of ‘Teechers’ first production, which was in 1987, was an extremley hard time for the arts as a whole, as this was Thatcher era. ‘Teechers’ premiered in the same year that Thatcher was reelected for an unprecedented third term, and then Godber burst onto the scene, a complete left wing activist, who was all for bringing a voice to the working class people. Thatcher had no understanding of what a central place the arts have in British life, during her era funding to key arts organisations were dramatically cut, Thatcher had little cultural sophistication or understanding, she activley hated culture, as she recognised it as a form of dissent. 

A particular film that premiered during the Thatcher era which, just like Godber did, bravely questioned the society we live in, was ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ the film tells the story of a young Pakistani who is given a run down laundromat by his uncle, eventually reuniting with his former lover, the film shows the social forces that threatened their relationship and business success, due to social issues at the time, including class, homosexuality and racism within the social and economic era of Thatcherism, as stated in word press “the country shown in the film is Margaret Thatcher’s England, where the official political agenda had a clear colonial nostalgia.” 

The film questions the boxes society seemingly places us into, and the leading characters question everything that they are told to do and believe, the film reflects themes that Goober still questions and writes about today.

My character

The character I will be playing in ‘Teechers’ is Lillian ‘Hobby’ Hobson, she is a well liked and popular girl within the school and is best friends with Salty and Gail, although, her and Gail are complete opposites, Hobby is a tomboy and quite reserved in comparison to Salty and Gail. Thinking back to when I was in school there are a few people who remind me of my character, very tomboy-ish, yet always hung around with the most popular people in school, when studying Hobby I’ve come to believe that she hangs around with Gail and Salty and thinks so much of them because she’s scared of being on her own, whether that’s because she’s just scared of being lonely or because that would make her vulnerable to other people, because she knows she’s different to other girls this makes her worry that if she didn’t have Salty and Gail’s protection she would be picked on and bullied. I also believe that Hobby has been let down by family members, such as her mother, her mother has never been around and she has been raised solely by her father and elder brother, hence the reason that she is such a tomboy. I also think this is why she clings on to Gail and Salty so much because she is afraid of them leaving her just like her mother did.

I think it is extremely difficult for teachers to carry out their work today, especially in the poorer communities because as sad as it is, there are many kids just like Hobby, Gail and Salty who are not given fair and equal opportunities, resulting in them going against the education system and not taking it seriously, making teachers jobs a lot harder than what they need to be. With this being said, the teaching facilities that are available now compared to years ago are a lot more advanced, for example technology now makes it a lot easier and creates more fun ways to learn, as stated on Lehigh Valley Health Network, research has found that “video games encourage children to solve problems by forming hypotheses, probing for new information, rethinking a problem as a result of new information and persisting in a task...Electronic media doesn’t necessarily make children more isolated and depressed. Research suggests that video game players are consistently more social, more confident and more comfortable solving problems than non-gamers. Technology helps educate children in ways that are best suited to their personal learning styles. An estimated 60-80 percent of children are visual learners, and technology makes it easier to supplement verbal content like reading and lectures with pictures and graphs.” But just like ‘Teechers’ states, these facilities need to be made ready available to all children, of all social classes, not just for the children whose parents can afford for them to have these facilities.

Bibliography

HIBBERT, A. Review: Teechers @ The Lowry In-text: (Hibbert, 2017) Your Bibliography: Hibbert, A. (2017). Review: Teechers @ The Lowry. [online] men. Available at: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/review-teechers--lowry-quays-7058992 [Accessed 4 May 2017].

Website HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP CHILDREN LEARN - LEHIGH VALLEY HEALTH NETWORK - A PASSION FOR BETTER MEDICINE In-text: (Lvhn.org, 2017) Your Bibliography: Lvhn.org. (2017). How Technology Can Help Children Learn - Lehigh Valley Health Network - A Passion For Better Medicine. [online] Available at: https://www.lvhn.org/wellness_resources/wellness_articles/technology_and_your_health/how_technology_can_help_children_learn [Accessed 4 May 2017].

Website THE BIG INTERVIEW: JOHN GODBER In-text: (Yorkshirepost.co.uk, 2017) Your Bibliography: Yorkshirepost.co.uk. (2017). The Big Interview: John Godber. [online] Available at: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/what-s-on/theatre/the-big-interview-john-godber-1-5928600 [Accessed 4 May 2017].

Website THE SYMBOLIC MEANING OF THE LAUNDRETTE IN MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE In-text: (einblogvonvielen, 2017) Your Bibliography: einblogvonvielen. (2017). The Symbolic Meaning of the Laundrette in My Beautiful Laundrette. [online] Available at: https://einblogvonvielen.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/the-symbolic-meaning-of-the-laundrette-in-my-beautiful-laundrette/ [Accessed 4 May 2017].

[dusudaunord]

Additional dates for Opéra de Montréal’s “Another Brick In The Wall”

The worlds of opera and rock and roll will descend upon Montréal for the hotly-anticipated world-premiere of Another Brick In The Wall – The Opera, based on Roger Waters’ legendary work The Wall. With more than 17,000 tickets already sold, the Opéra de Montréal has added additional dates to meet the demand for what is fast becoming an opera phenomenon.

“Ten shows is abs””olutely unprecedented for the Opéra de Montréal, this is the biggest run we’ve ever done,” says OdM Director General Patrick Corrigan. “We also have a bunch of producers travelling to Montréal from across Canada, the United States and Europe to see the production to find out more about this show. There is a lot of interest in this show continuing on, to travel the world.”

Another Brick In The Wall – The Opera tells the story of Pink, a troubled rock star who isolates himself from the rest of the world following his father’s death during World War II, and continuous abuse from his mother and teachers. The break-up of his marriage represents the last brick in the metaphorical wall he has built for himself. If his survival depends on it, will Pink be capable of demolishing his inner wall?

Pink will be played by Montréal native Etienne Dupuis, “one of the biggest baritone stars in the world today, who did so much of his formation here in Montréal, and has been featured several times at the OdM,” says Corrigan. “He has a huge international career today, is a headliner at the biggest opera companies in Europe and is one of the biggest artists working in opera today. We are thrilled to have him here for this project.”

Another Brick In The Wall – The Opera was composed by Julien Bilodeau based on the lyrics and music of Roger Waters. It will be directed by Dominic Champagne and, in addition to Dupuis, will feature 10 soloists, 48 chorus singers and 70 musicians with Alain Trudel conducting the Orchestre Métropolitain.

Corrigan says Bilodeau “is one of the most exciting composers in the country right now and he is working directly with Roger Waters. He has completed the piece, of course, and they have been in workshops for several months, and they went into full rehearsals on February 13.”

The seed for Waters’ iconic 1979 masterpiece The Wall was planted in 1977 when Waters infamously spat on a fan at a Pink Floyd concert at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

“My response to that was to write a show that involved building a huge wall between me and the people I was trying to communicate with,” says Waters, “I am very happy 40 years later that this piece that had its conception (in Olympic Stadium) with an appalling act that I committed all those years ago, should find its way back home to Montréal.”

Corrigan says it is fitting that Another Brick In The Wall – The Opera is being presented as part of Montréal’s 375th anniversary celebrations.

“We all have this sense that we are making history for lyric theatre,” Corrigan says. “That’s a real thrill. This is a big and audacious production and everybody involved is really knocking themselves out, everybody has the pedal to the metal, to make this one of the most exciting events that Montreal has ever seen.”

Another Brick In The Wall – The Opera will be performed at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on March 11.13.14.16.18.20.22.24.26, 27, 2017. Tickets and info at http://ift.tt/2kpaFCy.

Up next: Montréal’s winter and spring 2017 opera, ballet and classical music season

  The post Additional dates for Opéra de Montréal’s “Another Brick In The Wall” appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

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[arbeaone]

Denise Gough, Arthur Darville, More Set for BBC Short Play Showcase Unprecedented

BY DAN MEYER APR 21, 2020

The digital short plays will air as part of the BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine initiative.

Dozens of U.K. stage, film, and television stars have been tapped for the upcoming short digital play series Unprecedented: Real Time Theatre From a State of Isolation, including two-time Olivier Award winner Denise Gough and Broadway alum Arthur Darvill. Other notable stage performers joining Gough (Angels in America) and Darvill (Once) are Olivier winner Monica Dolan (All About Eve), Jodie McNee (Faustus: That Damned Woman), Rory Keenan (Long Day's Journey Into Night), and Gemma Arterton (Saint Joan).

The shorts will air as part BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine initiative with playwrights Jennifer Haley, James Graham, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Duncan Macmillan, and more previously reported creators. They'll craft over a dozen new works, which will each be presented using digital conferencing technology and combining live and pre-recorded material. The series plans to go live in May after initially setting its sights on April.

Also attached to perform are Sadia Ahmed, Kae Alexander, Esh Alladi, Patricia Allison, Julian Barratt, Paul Chahidi, Ines De Clercq, Risteárd Cooper, Natalie Dew, Erin Doherty, Michael Elwyn, Frances Grey, Kathryn Hunter, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Geraldine James, Lennie Jame, Sue Johnston, Lisa Kerr, Rory Kinnear, Laurie Kynaston, Alex Lawther, Archie Madekwe, Anna Madeley, Marcello Magni, Lucianne McEvoy, Cecilia Noble, James Norton, Enyi Okoronkwo, Abraham Popoola, Boadicea Ricketts, Golda Rosheuvel, Sid Sagar, Rochenda Sandall, Gyuri Sarossy, Kiruna Stamell, Rebekah Staton, Alison Steadman, Rhashan Stone, Meera Syal, Stuart Thompson, Amy Trigg, Dickon Tyrell, Olivia Williams, Gabby Wong, Fenella Woolgar, and Sargon Yelda.

Curated by Headlong, Century Films, and BBC Arts, Unprecedented explores our rapidly evolving world, responding to how perceptions of community, education, work, relationships, family, culture, climate, and capitalism are evolving on an unprecedented scale.

[vsplusonline]

Coronavirus: UK heads to 'wartime' scenario as 71 die of Covid-19

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/coronavirus-uk-heads-to-wartime-scenario-as-71-die-of-covid-19/

Coronavirus: UK heads to 'wartime' scenario as 71 die of Covid-19

The UK must act like a “wartime” government and do whatever it takes to support the country’s economy, Prime Minster Boris Johnson has said as Britain’s death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 71 and the number of cases stand at nearly 2,000.

London is described as the hotspot of the pandemic as the virus rapidly spreads across different parts of the UK, which remains in semi-lockdown in line with the UK government’s advice for everyone to avoid non-essential social contact and travel, both domestic and international.

Johnson’s remarks came as India closed its borders to those travelling from the UK. The Indian High Commission in London has set up a system of online registration for all Indian citizens in the UK worried about their visas and keen to travel back to India and said it was working to “address all concerns”.

India on Monday banned the entry of passengers from Europe, Turkey and the UK from March 18 till March 31 to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

“We announced the steps that we did – advising against all unnecessary contact – steps that are unprecedented since World War II. They will have an effect on the spread of the disease,” said Johnson in his daily briefing related to the pandemic from 10 Downing Street on Tuesday.

The current death toll in the UK stands at 71 – with half of England’s fatalities reported in London alone. The cases exploded by 407 to 1,950 on Monday, the biggest daily increase yet.

“We must act like any wartime government and do whatever it takes to support our economy,” he said, as UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a massive 330-billion pounds bailout package for businesses to survive through the crisis.

The Indian-origin finance minister said his set of measures, including a tax and mortgage holiday for an extended period as well as grants and easier access to loans, will help relieve the pressure on companies as he promised to do “whatever it takes” to protect livelihoods.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the government to suspend home rental fees and ban evictions of tenants during the coronavirus crisis.

Far-reaching emergency powers that will allow the police to detain people who may be infected with the coronavirus and force them to be tested will pass through the House of Commons soon without the need for a formal vote.

UK health secretary Matt Hancock said that the law would be used only “when it is absolutely necessary” to help to cope with the impact of the virus. The measures have been agreed between the parties and are likely to be passed through the Commons “on the nod”. They are expected to gain royal assent before the UK Parliament goes into its Easter recess next week.

“Public support and compliance is crucial and we are grateful for the flexibility people have shown, but we need to ensure police and immigration officers have the authority to enforce these measures where necessary,” said a UK government spokesperson.

As in any wartime scenario, supermarkets in the country are set to restrict what customers can buy to prevent stockpiling. They will also urge customers to use less cash to prevent passing on the virus and may scrap self-checkout tills.

“We have enough food coming into the system but are limiting sales so that it stays on shelves for longer and can be bought by a larger number of customers,” said Mike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury’s.

Others have temporarily scrapped 24-hour opening at some stores, closing doors at midnight or 10pm to allow shelves to be replenished. Social media images showing shelves emptied of lavatory rolls are said to be partly to blame for triggering further panic buying.

A new document published by a COVID-19 team at London’s Imperial College, which is advising the Boris Johnson government on its coronavirus response, warns the current public health threat is the “most serious” from a respiratory virus since the Spanish Flu in 1918 when 50 million people had died in the UK.

It has advised Britain to adopt a strategy of “epidemic suppression” – for a period of potentially 18 months or more – rather than “mitigation” to help the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) cope.

The resulting government advice for the public is that those who live alone and have a high temperature or a new and continuous cough should self-isolate for seven days. Those in a household with others and have a high temperature or a new and continuous cough, everyone in the household should stay isolated together for 14 days.

Everyone, whether displaying symptoms or not, should stop all unnecessary contact with others and all unnecessary travel and should work from home where possible and avoid venues such as pubs, clubs, theatres and restaurants.

The outbreak, which first emerged in China’s Wuhan city last year, has marched across the globe, infecting 198,006 people and killing 7,948, according to a tracker maintained by the Johns Hopkins University.

ALSO READ | | Coronavirus: First human trial of vaccine begins in US

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