English in Artaud LVA: SPACES AND EXCHANGES

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3VGa6Fp3zI

SKAKESPEARE, THE GLOBE THEATRE

CORRIGE DU DS

Theatre-going in Elizabethan times :

As an art form it can be said that the theatre fosters exchanges in a circumscribed / limited space Shakespeare’s theatre The Globe or the Wooden O is a case-in-point ( a fitting example)

· Its shape, a round structure without a roof, increased the spectators’ sense of participation

· Theatre-going was the most popular (and the cheapest) form of entertainment. It allowed people from all walks of life to RUB SHOULDERS (=To mix or socialize closely)

· The general public would pay 1 penny to attend a performance. Everybody could afford to go to the theatre. Some were called “the groundlings” because they would stand in the pit of the theatre, very close to the stage

· The wealthy nobles would pay to sit in the galleries where the acoustics was better

· People came not only to see a play but also to see each other and to be seen.

· Plays could only be performed during the day as most theatre could not afford candles, thus the audience did not sit or stand in the dark and the play itself was one source of entertainment among others. The actors and the audience could see each other, so everybody was involved in the play.

· There was a lot of interaction between the public and the actors: the audience would shout at the actors, they would boo or throw things at them if they didn’t like the play.

· On stage, there were 3 symbolic spaces: the top, with the zodiac signs represented heaven, sometimes an actor would be lowered onto the stage from a trap door, the stage itself symbolized the earth and the space underneath the stage (also accessible trough a trap door) symbolized hell

· It is interesting to note that the Church at the time was very critical of the theatre which the called “the next of the Devil” . So most theatres were built outside the city walls.

· All these elements combined indicate that the Globe theatre was a microcosm of Elizabethan society. It was a small world that reflected the larger outside world.

· In his play “As you Like it” Shakespeare compared the stage to the world “All the World’s a Stage” : the playhouse is space that symbolically encapsulates the whole world . All the men and women are merely players: so the world of MAKE BELIEVE(the theatre) and the real world blend in.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLk4rXC8YoQ

Benedict Cumberbatch: All The World's A Stage

2.

The Purple rose of Cairo - Woody Allen - 1984

The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imagined wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the actors act as if they cannot. (theatre) break the fourth wall

To Break the fourth wall: (in fiction, especially theater, film, or television) to break the illusion of separation between the audience and the fiction itself, either intentionally or unintentionally.

to break the fourth wall: In fiction, "breaking the fourth wall" often means having a character become aware of their fictional nature.

3.

STREET ART

Banksy's "unofficial residency in NYC" SEE EXAMPLES OF HIS WORK ON THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE:

http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/10/banksy-in-nyc/100618/

LOCATE HIS ARTWORK ON THE MAP OF NYC

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/10/interactive-map-banksy-tour-of-nyc.html

http://www.artfido.com/blog/banksy-is-back-and-in-new-york-keep-updated-with-exact-artwork-locations-here/

http://untappedcities.com/2013/11/04/photos-all-31-days-banksy-nyc-residency-better-out-than-in-map-of-locations/

Banksy captivates New York with guerrilla graffiti art blitz

theguardian.com, Saturday 19 October 2013

Famously jaded New Yorkers are getting swept up in the hype over Banksy, the renegade graffiti artist who is leaving his mark across the city this month.

Known for his anti-authoritarian black-and-white stencilled images, which have sold at auction for upwards of $2m (£1.2m), the British street artist is treating New Yorkers to a daily dose of spray-painted art – while eluding the police and incurring the wrath of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"Graffiti does ruin people's property," Bloomberg said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Reactions from other New Yorkers to the pieces – which appear overnight, usually on side streets in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn – have ranged from the defacing of images to offers of huge sums for walls Banksy has painted.

"Somebody offered me a million dollars if I took down the bricks," said Jose Goya, the manager of a Williamsburg, Brooklyn, building that Banksy spray-painted on Wednesday night.

Goya turned the buyer down and had Plexiglas placed over the Japanese-themed image of a man and a woman crossing an arched bridge. The art has a black squiggle spray-painted over it, the work of an apparent Banksy hater.

The mysterious Banksy is calling his month in New York his "Better Out Than In" residency.

Every morning, he announces the location of each piece on his website and invites people to call a hotline for droll descriptions of the artwork's inspiration.

The art is defined in part by the artist's mystique. It is still uncertain whether Banksy, who remains unidentified since emerging in England in 1993, is one artist or a group. In the 2010 documentary about Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which received widespread critical praise, the artist is always shrouded in a head covering or his face is hidden in shadows.

"He's sort of like Batman," Matt Adams, a Williamsburg resident, said as he photographed the Japanese-themed stencil. "No one knows who he is, he does his work under cloak of darkness and everyone in New York is looking for him."

New Yorkers have flocked to Banksy's art, eager to view pieces before they are defaced or removed, possibly by rival artists or those who think Banksy's work is shallow and his fame undeserved.

An image of the Twin Towers destroyed in the 11 September 2001 attacks that had been spray-painted by the artist on a wall in Brooklyn Heights was removed on Thursday night after less than a week in place. It is unclear who was responsible.

Among the hundreds who arrived to see Banksy's art on the Williamsburg wall was Evan Mannell, an Australian musician visiting New York who has rushed to three Banksy images. "Think of it like a jazz solo," he said. "Unless someone records it, it's all finished and it's over. I want to see Banksy's pieces before they're gone."
4.

Banksy : photo of an artwork by Banksy which can be seen in the Bronx

Space - street setting: a plain brick wall, a metal shutter, an old sofa

an underprivileged neighbourhood

on the wall: a stencil: a butler wearing white gloves, holding a tray with spay cans on it, waiting on a little boy (his master) from a wealthy/affluent family – the child has spray painted the words Ghetto4life on the wall,

Exchange: a man who presumably lives in the area is guarding the artwork which is valuable as it was done by a world-famous street artist: his presence adds to the irony of the piece. He is the one who will probably be in the ghetto for life. It is like a gift from the artist to a neighbourhood that could never afford his artwork (it fetches hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction sales). Thanks to the artist, the world of the privileged and the world of the underprivileged exist in the same space. In addition, the piece attracted many people to the neighbourhood, so they explored a place they would never have visited otherwise, In reality they are worlds apart. Artists like Banksy promote exchanges by investing public spaces (the street = a huge canvas, an open air museum)

the Bronx, on October 21, 2013 – a tray (plateau) – a butler (majordome) – spray cans – white gloves – a security guard – to spray-paint – a rope (cordon)

Banksy : photo of an artwork by Banksy which can be seen in Brooklyn

This piece represents 2 Japanese women on a bridge wearing a kimono, carrying a fan), there is also a small bonsai at the bottom. it’s a stencil. The graffiti was done on a wall in Brooklyn. This artwork triggered various reactions: we saw a picture of a rival graffiti artist trying to deface the work, he spray painted squiggles over the 2 feminine figures. He may have been jealous or maybe he hated Banksy’s work. Several other graffiti artists reacted negatively, because they considered that Banksy was trespassing and invading their turf, their territory. At the same time, there are 2 men who intervene and try to stop the artist from vandalising the piece.

After that, the owner of the building decided to protect/preserve Banksy’s work and he put some plexiglass over it and installed a metal shutter to protect it at night. There is also a man who is guarding the piece. Now people come and take pictures of it. Someone even offered the owner of the building a million dollars to take down the bricks in the wall but he refused (he turned down the offer). Banksy’s pieces are worth tens of thousands of dollars (at auction sales). On the pictures we studied, someone had written “value is arbitrary” next to the graffiti. This sort of thing would not be possible in a museum.

Street art promotes exchanges for better or for worse.

The Twin Towers (the World Trade Center)

A graffiti located in Lower Manhattan: it represents the twin towers, it’s a very small piece done at the bottom of a wall covered with other graffiti. What makes the piece striking is the red flower that Banksy stuck the top of one of the buildings. It’s a real flower. It symbolises the explosion, the moment when the plane hit the tower. It is also a way to pay tribute to all the victims of 9/11. This piece attracted a lot of attention. People flocked to see it and take pictures. Others added comments, people put lighted candles and flowers on the sidewalk. So this artwork really triggered all kinds of reactions. There is even a man who came every day to put a fresh flower on the drawing. Later it was painted over, so now it is gone (it doesn’t exist anymore), like most street art, it is ephemeral, short-lived.