From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Wed Mar 29 23:55 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA10830; Wed, 29 Mar 1995 23:55:35 -0500 Received: from audumla.students.wisc.edu (students.wisc.edu) by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQ5WNTAXC000A3K@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Wed, 29 Mar 1995 23:46:13 -0500 (EST) Received: from F181-195.net.wisc.edu by audumla.students.wisc.edu; id WAA40478; 8.6.9W/42; Wed, 29 Mar 1995 22:45:32 -0600 Return-Path: Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 22:45:32 -0600 From: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu (Shari Goldin) Subject: NYC Puppet Opera Performances X-Sender: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu To: puptcrit@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <199503300445.WAA40478@audumla.students.wisc.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Length: 2117 X-Lines: 51 Status: RO I'm passing this along in case anyone might be interested. Is there anyone else out there in puptcrit-land that might be working in critical theory? Social history? Media? Shari Goldin slgoldin@students.wisc.edu >Resent-Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 16:46:07 -0600 >Resent-From: >Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 12:49:08 -0500 (EST) >From: SUSSMANM@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU >Subject: NYC Puppet Opera Performances >To: PERFORM-L@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU >Errors-to: perform-l-owner@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU >Reply-to: perform-l@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU >Resent-message-id: <01HOPSVE1RPWYIFTH7@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> >X-VMS-To: PERFORM-L > > >For Immediate Release: > >Barnard College, Department of Theatre will present the world premiere of... > >FERDINAND FAITHFUL > >a new puppet opera based on a folk tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, to be >performed for one weekend, April 6-8 @ 8PM, April 9 @ 3PM in the Minor Latham >Playhouse on the Barnard Campus (enterance @ 117th St. & Broadway). >rance at >FERDINAND FAITHFUL will be designed and directed by guest artist Amy Trompetter,with original music by Greg Cohen, lyrics by Steve Friedman, lighting design by >Mark Sussman. > >The original fairy tale "Ferdinand Faithful and Fedinand Unfaithful" features >a talking horse who knows the future, a princess who beheads her husband, and >a good-hearted hero who can't seem to shake his evil twin. The opera will >feature music and songs of many genres, giant puppets, masks and magical >contraptions, and a cast of characters which includes giant birds, hungry giantsand a fish out of water. > >Director-designer Amy Trompetter was a principle member of Bread and Puppet >Theater for twenty years and is currently Resident Designer at Bates College. >Composer Greg Cohen was the arranger and collaborator with Tom Waits for >Robert Wilson's THE BLACK RIDER at BAM last season. Writer Steve Friedman and >designer Mark Sussman currently teach theater at Barnard. >Tickets: $5, general, $3 CUID. For reservations call (212) 854-5638. >For Press information, contact Douglas Parky Lee at (212) 854-2080. > From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 00:07 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA10842; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 00:07:09 -0500 Received: from dsd.camb.inmet.com by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQ6GAYUO00009F6@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 00:01:17 -0500 (EST) Received: by dsd.camb.inmet.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA16449; Thu, 30 Mar 95 00:00:38 EST Return-Path: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 00:00:38 -0500 (EST) From: ma@dsd.camb.inmet.com (Malgosia Askanas) Subject: Re: NYC Puppet Opera Performances To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <9503300500.AA16449@dsd.camb.inmet.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text Content-Length: 351 X-Lines: 9 Status: RO > Is there anyone else out there in puptcrit-land that might be working in > critical theory? Social history? Media? Shari, I would say that I, to some extent, work in critical theory -- although not in any systematic way. I do a certain amount of writing about performance, and a certain amount of theoretical reading and thinking. - malgosia From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 01:04 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA10869; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 01:03:57 -0500 Received: from audumla.students.wisc.edu (students.wisc.edu) by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQ8ANJQHS000AHG@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 00:53:58 -0500 (EST) Received: from F181-195.net.wisc.edu by audumla.students.wisc.edu; id XAA17447; 8.6.9W/42; Wed, 29 Mar 1995 23:53:19 -0600 Return-Path: Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 23:53:19 -0600 From: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu (Shari Goldin) Subject: Critical theory? X-Sender: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <199503300553.XAA17447@audumla.students.wisc.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Length: 764 X-Lines: 20 Status: RO > >Shari, I would say that I, to some extent, work in critical theory -- >although not in any systematic way. I do a certain amount of writing >about performance, and a certain amount of theoretical reading and >thinking. > >- malgosia > I'm not sure if there is a systematic way to study critical theory. In many ways, I hope there isn't. But I am curious about what critical work has been done on puppetry, whether it's in performance studies, cultural studies, literary criticism, anthro, etc. I have found that I'm often applying other studies of performance or culture to look at puppetry (ie., Bakhtin's theories of the carnivalesque come to mind), but puppetry never seems to be at the center of discussion. Shari slgoldin@students.wisc.edu From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 09:16 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA17922; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:16:54 -0500 Received: from ACF6.ACF.NYU.EDU by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQPHZFY1S000A9K@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:07:06 -0500 (EST) Received: from ACFcluster.NYU.EDU by ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (PMDF V4.3-13 #8043) id <01HOQPDQD03KYTRP7Q@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:06:58 -0500 (EST) Return-Path: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:06:58 -0500 (EST) From: BELLJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Subject: Re: NYC Puppet Opera Performances To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <01HOQPDQDKTEYTRP7Q@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> X-Vms-To: IN%"PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET="US-ASCII" Content-Length: 280 X-Lines: 7 Status: RO Cf. critical theory and puppet theater; I have been working in this area, especially with semiotic theories of performing objects. There is a lot of material of great relevance. Malgosia Askanas has also been thinking about these things..... John Bell bellj@acfcluster.nyu.edu From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 09:31 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA17946; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:31:34 -0500 Received: from dsd.camb.inmet.com by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQQ0N0UE8000ARB@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:21:22 -0500 (EST) Received: by dsd.camb.inmet.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA01207; Thu, 30 Mar 95 09:20:30 EST Return-Path: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:20:30 -0500 (EST) From: ma@dsd.camb.inmet.com (Malgosia Askanas) Subject: Re: critical theory To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <9503301420.AA01207@dsd.camb.inmet.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text Content-Length: 331 X-Lines: 8 Status: RO > Cf. critical theory and puppet theater; I have been working in this > area, especially with semiotic theories of performing objects. There > is a lot of material of great relevance. John, can you say more about pre-existing material which _directly_ deals with issues of puppet theater and performing objects? - malgosia From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 09:31 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA17951; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:31:41 -0500 Received: from ACF6.ACF.NYU.EDU by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQPRV4AU800078B@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:15:00 -0500 (EST) Received: from ACFcluster.NYU.EDU by ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (PMDF V4.3-13 #8043) id <01HOQPIIAXYUYTRP7Q@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:15:09 -0500 (EST) Return-Path: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:15:09 -0500 (EST) From: BELLJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Subject: Re: Critical theory? To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <01HOQPIIAXYWYTRP7Q@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> X-Vms-To: IN%"PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET="US-ASCII" Content-Length: 1344 X-Lines: 27 Status: RO Hi, my second response. I taught a class on Objects in Performance at NYU's Performance Studies Department last fall, which dealt a lot with Prague School theories and others. I would be happy to share the syllabus with you if you like. Puppetry theory is all over the place, in some ways, but it is often entwined within other approaches. But there are whole interesting aspects to it; for example, despite the current interest in (fetishization of?) "the body," puppet theater is interested in the opposite of the body, the material world. Also, the broader category of "performing object" gets into the most basic sorts of analyses of non-western cultures, as well as, say, Freud on taboo, all of the theory on fetish. Attention to performing machines (from Marinetti's automobiles, Italian futurist machine puppets, Oskar Schlemmer's Bauhaus work, etc) brings in a whole other element, leading right to the performing machine we are all looking at right now (cathode ray tube), as well as film and television as objects. My book "Mechanical Ballets: The Rediscovery of Performing Objects on European Stages from the 1890s to the 1930s" covers a lot of this. I would be interested to hear what other critical approaches people are thinking of. And, again, I would be happy to share my syllabus. John Bell bellj@acfcluster.nyu.edu From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Thu Mar 30 11:16 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA18092; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 11:16:42 -0500 Received: from dsd.camb.inmet.com by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOQTHOANZK000AWN@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Thu, 30 Mar 1995 11:01:29 -0500 (EST) Received: by dsd.camb.inmet.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA01655; Thu, 30 Mar 95 09:52:42 EST Return-Path: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 09:52:42 -0500 (EST) From: ma@dsd.camb.inmet.com (Malgosia Askanas) Subject: Re: Critical theory? To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <9503301452.AA01655@dsd.camb.inmet.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text Content-Length: 799 X-Lines: 16 Status: RO John said: > But there are whole interesting aspects to it; for example, despite the > current interest in (fetishization of?) "the body," puppet theater > is interested in the opposite of the body, the material world. This brings up the issue of live puppet theater vs frame-by-frame film animation vs filmed or televised puppet performances. In live puppet theatre, the puppeteer is _bodily present_ but expresses hirself through the manipulation of objects. In f-b-f animation, the mechanical machinery of film is used to "animate" the inanimate matter. In filmed performance, the manipulator is invisible and the objects are treated as if they were animate of their own accord. They all seem to represent different ways of relating to the material world and to ourselves. - malgosia From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Fri Mar 31 10:07 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA26679; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 10:07:46 -0500 Received: from AXP1.ACF.NYU.EDU by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOS5AUHSW0000BZS@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 09:50:16 -0500 (EST) Received: from ACFcluster.NYU.EDU by ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (PMDF V4.3-13 #8043) id <01HOS4XHSM1YYTPJXJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 09:48:26 -0500 (EST) Return-Path: Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 09:48:26 -0500 (EST) From: BELLJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Subject: Re: Critical theory? To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <01HOS4XHSN08YTPJXJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> X-Vms-To: IN%"PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca" Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET="US-ASCII" Content-Length: 1520 Status: RO X-Lines: 25 Hi, I think that even in frame by frame animation, the puppeteer (or filmmaker) is expressing herself through the manipulation of objects. For me the difference is that it is twice removed; that is to say, that in live puppetry, as you say, the performer reaches the audience through the medium of the manipulated object, while on film the performer reaches the audience through the medium of a manipulated object (puppet) represented by another manipulated object (film), which makes the performance twice mediated, or twice removed. Yes, maybe the illusion is that "the objects are treated as if they were animate of their own accord," but the secondary object (film) is at the same time understood as a manipulated object (the film must be run through the machine by the projectionist, and it is the obvious product of all those people whose names appear in the credits). The "not-body" aspect of puppet theater appeals to me because I am teaching in an area (performance studies) where the "body" is routinely and unquestioningly accepted as the "site" where performance occurs. We know puppet and object theater are different, or "opposite." I think that puppet theater is more inclusive of our situation on earth because it deals with the relationship between animate and inanimate - the major dichotomy of existence. It seems to me also, that with its concern with the inanimate, puppetry is consistently dealing (although perhaps sub- consciously sometimes) with death, and that is interesting. John Bell From postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Fri Mar 31 11:20 EST 1995 Received: from ODIE.ccs.yorku.ca by paris.lerc.nasa.gov (5.0/LeRC/DLW/TAF(1.22-local)) id AA26931; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 11:20:51 -0500 Received: from audumla.students.wisc.edu (students.wisc.edu) by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOS7OY6TNK000CJF@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 11:00:27 -0500 (EST) Received: from F182-045.net.wisc.edu by audumla.students.wisc.edu; id JAA24362; 8.6.9W/42; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 09:58:08 -0600 Return-Path: Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 09:58:08 -0600 From: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu (Shari Goldin) Subject: Re: Critical theory? X-Sender: slgoldin@students.wisc.edu To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-To: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-Id: <199503311558.JAA24362@audumla.students.wisc.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Length: 1549 X-Lines: 27 Status: RO Wow. A lot to think about here...In response to John Bell's first paragraph, I agree that puppets on film/tv/animated are twice mediated in that the representation occurs twice (actually, it's three times-mediated depending on how one sees the role of the puppeteer/artist..in which case, there would be the artist, the puppet, the medium....the audience...a fourth site of meaning making?) Anyway, I agree with the "twice mediated" idea, but I question the twice-removed aspect, particularly when you consider puppets on television. I'm not saying that television breaks a representational boundary, but only that the historical and cultural construction of television in the home can be seen as even "closer" to its audience. (Don't throw the rotten tomatoes yet, I just got on this list!!!) Also, if the puppet seems to be animate on its own accord within the visual medium, the direct address--puppet to audience--might also bring puppet closer. Then there's the whole notion of what the "puppet" says, but this is another topic. John, do you think you could say more about puppet and object theater as different, or "opposite?" I'm also interested in the relationship between animate and inanimate and the body...the body as a site of performance. I've been trying to compare the puppet body and Donna Haraway's conception of the cyborg, which is also a constructed body. It seems to me that the death metaphor is also there, but this time with a sense technological intervention. Any ideas? Shari Goldin [12140] FRI 03/31/95 20:09 FROM PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca: Re: Critical theory?; 54 LINES (FILED) Received: by Forsythe.Stanford.EDU; Fri, 31 Mar 95 20:09:16 PST Received: from ACF6.ACF.NYU.EDU by odie.ccs.yorku.ca (PMDF V4.3-10 #6007) id <01HOSWXJZ34G00077N@odie.ccs.yorku.ca>; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 23:01:13 -0500 (EST) Received: from ACFcluster.NYU.EDU by ACFcluster.NYU.EDU (PMDF V4.3-13 #8043) id <01HOSWGGI2ZGYTS4A4@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU>; Fri, 31 Mar 1995 23:01:51 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 23:01:51 -0500 (EST) From: BELLJ@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU Subject: Re: Critical theory? To: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Errors-to: postmaster@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Reply-to: PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca Message-id: <01HOSWGGI2ZIYTS4A4@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU> X-VMS-To: IN%"PUPTCRIT@odie.ccs.yorku.ca" MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Hi, the opposite I was talking about is not between puppet and object, which I consider basically the same thing (certainly they are in semiotic terms), but between object and body. That is, there is a lot of theorizing about the performance of the body, but not much about the performance of the object, which is what we are concerned with. There is a lot to be said for the performance of object, but in contemporary critical discourse, no one pays much attention to it, which is ironic because (I would argue) film and television are forms of object performance. By this (to try and elaborate on what I was saying earlier), I mean that when I watch t.v. I am watching a box showing projected images (a highly mechanized form of shadow theater). If those images are of human bodies, I am watching an object (the projected image) representing a body; if those images are of puppets, I am watching an object (the projected image) representing a puppet, which itself represents a body. I agree that there are many possible levels to this if you want to get into it; this can be considered not just once or twice mediated, but three, four or five times mediated, depending on how deeply one considers the means of mediation. An important thing for me about this theorizing is that it helps me think about film and television as extensions of pre-mechanical forms of image projection, which is to say that there are direct connections to be made, i.e., wayang beber -> ombres chinoises -> magic lantern -0 (whoops, I'll try again) i.e., wayang beber -> ombres chinoises -> magic lantern -> photographic slide projection -> film -> television. The progression is more complicated, I think, especially in terms of the pre- and semi-mechanical means of image projection or presentation in the 19th century, but the effort here is to see a geneology of performing object theater, or at least one aspect of it. John Bell