The art of scenography.
Scenography were lectures taken by Alex Halll which I thought were relevant lectures to relate to our groups final performance. Scenography is all aspects to do with a performance i.e lighting, costume, set. It is the interplay of space, time, movement and light on stage. Scenography makes or breaks the performance and allows everything that happens on the stage to be experienced visually.
‘Scenography allows you to transform space, objects and clothes into a whole different universe on stage.’ (Hall, A. 2010) This was something which Alex said during our lecture on 15th December, which I found to be appropriate for our performance which we were creating at the end of the term.
‘Scenography is the seamless synthesis of space, text, research, art, actors, directors and spectators that contributes to an original creation.’ (Howard, P. 2002. P.130)
We looked at scenographia, which means ‘to write a scene visually.’ (Hall, A. 2010) It is the spatial translation of a scene. It is all about the construction of a space, an understanding of the functions and internal and external perception of that space. It’s understanding the space as a whole and as its a scenographic approach, it does not divide elements of the performance, but encourages a holistic approach.
We then looked at the history of scenography and some iconic set designers.
Adolphe Appia
Adolphe Appia was the first stage of architect of the twentieth century, and ‘invented an architectural openness and freshness to his theatre spaces at a time when illusionistic painted scenery filling the stage was the standard arrangement.’ (Howard, P. 2002. 2) He created sets which distracted the audience away from the performers. Appia looked at rhythmic spatial arrangements, contrasting the effects of light and shadow. ‘Working on these different levels enabled actors to be isolated in specifically focused shafts of light, enhancing their presence on the stage in space without extra scenery.’ (Howard, P. 2002. P.3)
Edward Gordon Craig
Edward Gordon Craig focused on the symbolism of meaning and imagery and the concept of moving in space. ‘The symbolists mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul.’ (Hall, A. 2010) Edward said ‘a designer should design with their feet as well as with their hands’ (Howard, P. 2002. P.11)
© André Degaine in Histoire du théâtre dessinée, Nizet, 1992
Caspar Neher
Caspar Neher was a designer for Bertolt Brecht. This marked a move in a different style to set designs.
‘The decors and costumes of the great Neher
Are made of cheap material
Out of wood, rags and colour
He makes the Basque fisherman’s hovel
And imperial Rome. (Howard, P. 2002. P.121)
The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group look at spatial configuration, a hermetical world, the body in several spaces and recycle through pieces which they create. They looked at how space could change in accordance to what was performed in it. ‘Places become changed through action, performance and live artists embedded uncanny technologies, structures that ontologically and temporally displace the embodied subject, for example, through formal and structured intimacy.’ (Hill, L, Paris, H. 2006. P.27)
We then looked at what comes first, space of performance. Does space contextualise the performance? Gaston Bacelard says ‘that memory is made concrete through space.’ (Bachelard, G)
The body in space looks at restrictions that space may have for the body, the scale of the space, the costume that interacts with space and the meaning of the objects within the space. ‘The politics of place cannot control the perverse placelessness of subjectivity. The subject is only ever a spectre in the phenomenological chiasmus of becoming. Live art is a passport that stimulates belonging to multiple states of perception. It disrupts boundaries and disciplines.’ (Hill, L, Paris, H. 2006. P.29)
