The 'existing environment' and the 'savage' eye of the scenographer
My work starts always with what already exists. It is what I call 'existing environment'. I use the word environment as it refers better to what surrounds us. It is not only the space; it is the light, the sound, the smells, the air...
Is it warm or cold?
Is it humid or dry?
How all these combine and make a specific atmosphere?
Is this environment friendly? How does it make us feel? What kind of vibes does it transmit?
I can only describe what all the above constitute as an 'existing environment' that we perceive with all our senses.
As the 'existing environment' is the basis of my make work and the start of my making process, it is important to grasp every detail of it. When I encounter it for the first time, I have to put aside any ideas I might had; I have to give up my ambitions and expectations and move into the space without intention. I see myself as the first spectator, my first impressions are the most valuable and original. As Henny Dorr said:
'If you are making art that relies on the presence of spectators, first of all we should train ourselves to be one.'
Henny Dorr, tutor and course leader of the master scenography of HKU, mentioned this in a letter she shared with us, the group of first year's master students, during our first weeks in the course, in 2019. What stayed with me from this letter, was her suggestions to look at things with a 'savage eye'. As she continues:
'Maybe the eye for the scenographer is what the body is for the dancer. And it might be that the eye and the mind become lazy, or should one say economic. So this should be maintained properly, to prevent from starting to see what you are used to see or think to see.'
I must say that this was always a difficult task for me. I have this tendency to imagine before observing and planning before playing and making, which I am aware of. Thus, I am constantly searching for my 'savage eye' and reminding myself to use it. To name the 'existing environment' as such is another reminder. It reminds me to look with my 'savage eye' not only the space but what else is there to be grasped and felt.
The encounter with the existing environment
It is one of these in-between days, it is not summer but the weather is still nice; when you left home the sun was shining bright and it made you underestimate the cold in the shadows. I enter the space full of excitement and curiosity it is the space where I am going to create my first exhibited scenographic work. The first thing I get is the cold air of a basement; but this space is not a basement; it is just too big, empty and bad isolated. I walk in and move fast, I hastily scan the space; I known I will have the time later to look closer and deeper. At the moment I enter the main room I stop as I have the feeling that I arrived to my destination. It is so quiet inside that you clearly listen to all the little noises from outside, like you put your ear on the wall... And suddenly the sound of the passing train. It takes you out of your thoughts.
The light enters the space evenly without creating any shadows. I can count dozens of windows, creating a sloping roof and ending vertically on the inside facade, straight in front of me. This facade catches my eye. It is a puzzle of glasses. Glasses of different opacity that make me wonder of the outside world that I see through them. There is something powerful about this facade that attracts me like a magnet. It is the mystery, the promises of an endless garden that starts exactly behind these windows. And then there is this big bizarre door in the middle, with a big wooden frame and a covered with wood glass.
It is a place that makes you pause. Pause and listen, pause and wonder... What is outside?
There is a stillness. Everything inside is still and quiet, while outside there is life... Βut this door... gives the impression that it will not let you through.. It is like you are not allowed to go out. This looks like a dream where you are stuck and you can't move. Everything moves around but you are still. In this place, time is passing slowly while outside everything is going forward. You are losing the nice weather, you are losing the nature, you are losing the train. Trains pass every other minute and you are always here.
What is going to be replicated?
In my practice, the existing environment is going to be replicated. Also, it is the basis where the deceptive situation is going to happen. The question is, first 'what is going to be replicated?' and then 'how'. To replicate means to repeat; to copy. We are going to talk about the act of replication and what a replica means later, so for now let's accept the fact that a copy is related to duality and is linked with a prototype. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to say that the 'existing environment' is the prototype of the replica, as it is not. The prototype is what is selected to be replicated. Then what is that? and how to select it? Here comes the scenographer's eye to look, observe and carefully decide.
Every 'existing environment' consists of different elements which facilitate more or less the creation of a scenography and the creation of a narrative. The selection of different elements could lead to completely different processes and outcomes which means that there is no right or wrong selection, but only different ones. No existing environment is empty of content. A non-space doesn't really exist; even a black box has content. However, as my aim is to create a deceptive situation, some of the elements of the 'existing environment' facilitate better this purpose.
I feel that the word 'selection' here could might lead to misunderstanding. Selecting is a definite act that implies a fast and irreversible decision while in the context of an artistic practice everything should be questionable and flexible for change. Thus, I should supplement it with the words trying and experimenting. The form of the replica and the process of making the replica are also affecting the 'selection' of the elements and the parts of the 'existing environment' which are going to be replicated. If for example the replica is a mirror, the process of replication is immediate and facilitates the experimentation in relation to the selection process. On the other hand, if the replica is a scaled model, it doesn't exist before the selection.
If we talk about a process of selection, even one that is based on trials, there should be some criteria that frame it. Even if these criteria are acknowledged as a result of reflection on a selective process driven by intuition, they still exist. As the goal is the creation of a deceptive situation, the 'savage eye' is looking for deceptive elements that already exist in the environment.
In my work 'Alone' in the mountain of Ymittos in Athens, the replica was a mirror and the interaction with the existing environment which was an endless landscape, was direct. The savage eye was looking directly through the replica and the selection was almost a form of improvisation. Later though by reflecting on my collection of replications I realized that there is a certain pattern, followed and specific elements selected. In that case these elements were matching units: Two trees facing each other or similar textures of the landscape or elements with similar shape which would complement each other through the mirror.
On the other hand, in my work 'Boxed realities', which was a site specific performative installation that took place in an old factory in Culemborg, the replica was a wearable model. The observation and an selection of what is going to be replicated had to precede the construction of the replica. For this work, the inner facade of the building was selected as it attracted me from the first moment. This facade didn't have a deceptive element but it triggered certain feelings that inspired the narrative on which was based the whole experience.
Every existing environment creates different circumstances and opportunities for replication. By replicating specific elements I also highlight them and focus spectator's attention on them and this already creates a certain narrative. The replication of strong and bold elements of the existing environment makes them stronger while the replication of dim elements changes the existing balance and creates a dialogue. Furthermore, as not all the elements of the existing environment are equally stable, their replication leads to different results. To replicate physical objects and entities is totally different than replicating sound or smell or weather.
The existing environment is neither something stable nor fixed, as a core element of it is time. Time is not an element that we can grasp separately it is always linked to the other elements. We never perceive time as an independent entity we can only notice it through its effects. Through transformation, motion and decay; through change. As the presence of time is more evident in some elements, it creates different relationships with their replicas which are revealed through the process of replication but also when the replica is compared to the prototype during the experience. Time is not always perceived in the same way and thus this comparison is deceptive. Time is an illusion itself as Carlo Rovelli, a theoretical physicist, argues. So, if time is related to all the other entities when we replicate an entity we also replicate how time affects this entity.
The existing environment is the basis of my practice and also a source of inspiration that feeds the whole artistic system. I could go on and write about the different elements and what their replication would cause but it is not something firmed. Each existing environment consists of different elements and these elements are interrelated in different and various ways. Also the way of replication, the selection of the 'prototypes' and in which order these two processes will happen are subjects of experimentation. The only thing that is certain is that the more complex an existing environment is, the more opportunities it provides, as well as a greater variety of elements that could be original.
