[DADeR/Aesthetics] “Aesthetics: Robter Wilson’s Dramaturgy of Dreams in Designing Smart Objects” – Daphne Patsourakou

Concepts: aesthetics, dramaturgy of dreams
Case study: Living Light by artist collective Beyond Earth

Abstract

Conceptualizing the notion of “aesthetics” through Robert Wilson’s dramaturgy of dreams, this paper examines through this perspective the design case Living Light, which combines art, biology, AI, and aerospace technology. Taking under consideration the environment in which the smart object will be placed in and the mise-en-scène, the dramaturgy of dreams and its designing tools can provide a different lens, with which the aesthetic aspects of the smart object can be reimagined.  This can be done by using a set of designing tools such as different “frames” and levels of tension of the light, various color pallets and combinations that create an anthesis with the environment, “weird” shapes, augmented sizes and different scales, absurd rhythm and repetition.

Figure 1. Image Credit: Space Perspective & Beyond Earth

Introduction

In this paper, I will connect the visual and creative processes of the Theatre of Images, as seen on the works of Robert Wilson, with the designing processes in robotics. The main focus of the work will be on the aesthetic aspect of the design case (Living Light), providing the reader with a different lens, regarding the appearance of smart objects. Using the term “Aesthetics” as a starting point in order to indicate the aim of this paper, I will narrow it down and examine it from the perspective of the Theatre of Images. As Patrice Pavis observes in his dictionary of performance and contemporary theatre, is difficult, or rather, impossible to talk about a catholic definition for the theatrical aesthetics, “There is great difficulty in giving any definition at all of theatrical aesthetics, since the very notion of theatre is considered to be a Western idea, and is questioned by Performance Studies, which appear as a huge, endless territory that would require a great number of specific and local aesthetics.”[1]

Acknowledging the restriction for a generic use of the term aesthetics, the focus will inevitably be led on the work of a director, following a specific theatrical style. As I already mentioned, this paper will examine Robert Wilson’s creative approaches on designing images for stage. In the analysis process of his work, I will not exclude his furniture designs as they “are born on the stage as a key element, envisioned as performers on equal par with the actors”[2].

Examining Wilson’s work on theatre, we can use many terms that can describe the qualities of his aesthetics: oneiric, surrealistic, defamiliarization, surprise, unfamiliar. Terms that are mainly associated with dreams, and by extend, far from any naturalistic approach. Dreams have a function that always catch their “spectators’” attention. Dreams are never boring. In a similar way, these terms find their way in Wilson’s work. He constantly tries to explore “unfamiliar” ways of creating. This way is far from realism but close to the concept of defamiliarization. As Victor Shklovsky has claimed: “Art exists to help us recover the sensation of life; it exists to make us feel things, to make the stone stony. The end of art is to give a sensation of the object as seen, not as recognized. The technique of art is to make things “unfamiliar,” to make forms obscure, so as to increase the difficulty and the duration of perception. The act of perception in art is an end in itself and must be prolonged. In art, it is our experience of the process of construction that counts, not the final product.”[3]

Therefore, we are talking about a way of thinking, a way of imaging and seeing things that is unfamiliar and it is led by surprise and mystery. This process is identified when it comes to design in Wilson’s work. Dreams interact with the audience in way that keeps them at the edge of their seat. The element of surprise is key when describing this interaction. But dreams can also be mesmerizing and can grip the “audience’s” attention. In order to build the mystery and achieve the surprising moment, one has to create first an environment, in which the antithesis of the surprise can occur.

In theatre studies the discourse around the terms in which I briefly referred to in this introduction (oneiric, surrealistic, defamiliarization, surprise, unfamiliar), exists partially within the discourses around other concepts and terms e.g., posthumanism. Focusing though, on the designing tools that the aesthetics of the dramaturgy of dreams can provide, I believe that we can create a wider pallet, from which we can be inspired for designing smart objects. Thus, in this paper, using as a design case the installation project Living Lights, I will try and to identify and analyze all the aspects that can shape a new way of re-imaging the appearance of smart objects.

Design Case: Living Light

Living Light is an installation-project that was designed by the all-female (Richelle Gribble, Elena Soterakis and Yoko Shimizu) transdisciplinary artist collective Beyond Earth. The collective aims to create artworks that will explore the connection of our planet with space. Their artistic “mission” is to transcend and blur the boundaries between humankind and outer space. By combining art, biology, artificial intelligence and aerospace technology, they created this piece of art that highlights the connection between life on Earth and life on space. This project was carried out by Space Perspective– a spaceflight company that commercializes travels to space- using their prototype work Neptune One. The installation was attached to Neptune One, that launched to space on its first test flight.

The large-scale project Living Light was inspired by various marine animals, mainly focusing on jellyfish and comb jellies (Ctenophora). The latter creatures, that live deep into the ocean, have a mesmerizing feature. The combs (cilia) that they have, diffuse the light in different directions causing color alternations. The shifting of color was one of the main ideas that Beyond Earth used when designing Living Light. When the installation was attached to Neptune One, the pulsating movements of the vehicle caused color and light alterations, making Living Light alive and present. The pulsating movements, that were translated into color shifts, made possible the interaction of the installation with the environment. This interaction was captured by a DNA capsule that was part of the installation, allowing the DNA to be altered by the changes that occurred in the colors and the light.

The team was able to recreate the color changes that jellyfish and the comb jellies have when they move and interact with light, with the use of iridescent fluorescent materials that cover the external part of the installation. Starting with the biological structure of these animals and the antitheses that they create in their environment, the artists reimagined life in its “extremes”, from the darkness of the ocean to the darkness of outer space.

Aesthetics: Designing from Dreams

As in dreams, shapes and actions present themselves,
disappear and return in other forms.[4]

The dramaturgy of dreams, as Robert Wilson’s theatrical approach has been described[5], is a dramaturgy that focuses on elements that cause the unfamiliar. As I mentioned above, some of these elements are the oneiric, surrealistic, unexpected, surprise and the mystery. The work of Wilson reveals a theatrical world of antitheses. The aim is not to create images that can be easily identified by the audience and cause a familiar feeling but, rather, it is the opposite. From the lights, to costumes, make-up, objects and acting, Wilson is aiming to create unfamiliarity by working with antitheses. The antitheses are a characteristic creative tool in the surrealistic approach “the surrealistic creates bizarre images by juxtaposing objects that normally do not travel together”[6]. An image, an object or even a feeling is usually accompanied by its opposite. In Wilson’s work the unexpected is usually used as a tool for creating images. This aspect is also depicted in Wilson’s furniture designs (Figure 2). The unfamiliar is used in daily life objects as they have been created for stage. The ordinary furniture acquires a “bizarre” unexpected aesthetic. This aspect is used also when directing and advising the actors “Never let it become predictable. […] To make theatre you have to know how and when to pull the rug out from beneath the audience’s feet. Shock the audience. It makes them listen. It makes them think. Let them figure it all out”[7]. The dramaturgy of dream thus, is a dramaturgy that causes the unexpected, with the use of the antitheses and defamiliarization. The spectators interact with these images in the way that they see dreams. Entering an unfamiliar (almost trance) situation and then thinking on what they saw.

The dramaturgy of dreams is closely related to mise-en-scène. The arrangement of the various elements on stage is one of the main aspects of the ‘Theatre of Images’ or the Visual Theatre of Wilson. As Patrice Pavis observes “When the mise-en-scène is centred on visuality, it produces a ‘theatre of images’ […] The term ‘theatre of images’ is used less and less, as if this criterion had lost its relevance, since mise-en-scène necessarily uses images”[8]. Thus, taking under consideration the environment in which the smart object will be placed in (ecological approach) and the mise-en-scène -when designing smart objects[9]-, the dramaturgy of dreams and its designing tools can provide a different lens, with which the aesthetic aspects of the smart object can be reimagined. The connection between the ecological approach and the aesthetics of Wilson’s theatre will be achieved by extracting an object as it has been perceived and created in the mise-en-scène designed with the dramaturgy of dreams. The reconfiguration of the aesthetics of a smart object will be by using a set of designing tools such as different “frames” and levels of tension of the light, various color pallets and color combinations that create an anthesis with the environment, “weird” shapes, augmented sizes and different scales, absurd rhythm and repetition.

Figure 2. Wilson’s furniture designs. In: https://robertwilson.com/furniture-and-design.

The design of Living Light has been created in a way that is close to the dramaturgy of dreams. The process of creating a smart object firstly in its environment -as in this case the design of Living Light is inspired and positioned in the aquatic world– and then extracted from the “original” environment and placed in a different one (space). The result thus, is set in the concept of the unexpected. The “audience” watch an unfamiliar object ascending the sky, surprised by its shape and mesmerized by its light and color formations. In Living Light, we have an augmented size of the smart object (large scale comb jelly or jellyfish) and various color combinations as a result of the pulsating movement of the vehicle, that carries the object, and the interaction with the light. In this project, an aspect that was also taken under consideration regarding the design of the smart object, was the material that it was made from. A material that is not commonly used in aerospace design; the iridescent and fluorescent membrane that covers the external part allows the color transformations. Respectively, in Wilson’s work the theatrical objects are not a result of a realistic representation of their use and image but are rather the creation within a wider, unfamiliar and abstract image.

Conclusion

In this paper I tried to analyze and present the elements that form the dramaturgy of dreams, in Robert Wilson’s Theatre of Images, in order to provide a set of tools that will help to develop the aesthetic designing process of smart objects. My argument -formulated by the tools of the visual theatre and the idea of extracting an object from the mise-en-scène and placing on different environment, making possible the effect of the unexpected to occur- is that the dramaturgy of dreams can be of valuable help when designing smart objects. The variety of tools and the inspiration that it can provide is wide. Focusing not on the naturalistic approach when designing the appearance of a smart object but with the use of the processes of designing as in dreams, the “pallet of tools” that the designer has is expanded. The parameters of designing are increased. We have wider color pallets and numerous color combinations, augmented sizes, abstract shapes, different qualities of the light, combination of various materials etc.

Considering the limitations of the functions of the smart object, in each case, and the limitations of the environment that the smart object will be placed in, I believe that the elements of the dramaturgy of dreams can provide the designers with a valuable “toolkit”, which will give allow them to reimagine the aesthetics of the smart objects in total.

[1] Pavis, Patrice. 2016. The Routledge Dictionary of Performance and Contemporary Theatre. Oxon and New York: Routledge. p. 4, “Aesthetics”.

[2] Brief introduction and description of Robert Wilson’s furniture and sculptural pieces, in https://robertwilson.com/furniture-and-design .

[3] Berger, Arthur A. 1995. Cultural Criticism: A Primer of Key Concepts. USA: Sage Publication. p. 34.

[4] Strearns, Robert. 1984. Robert Wilson: from a Theatre of Images. In: Robert Wilson: The Theatre of Images. John Rockwell et. all. USA and Canada: Contemporary Arts Center and The Byrd Hoffman Foundation. p. 32.

[5] Holmberg, Arthur. 1996. The theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 152-181.

[6] Holmberg, Arthur. 1996. The theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 155.

[7] Holmberg, Arthur. 1996. The theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 158.

[8] Pavis, Patrice. 2016. The Routledge Dictionary of Performance and Contemporary Theatre. Oxon and New York: Routledge. p. 269-270, “Visual Theatre”.

[9] Bleeker, Maaike and Rozendaal, Marco C., “Dramaturgy for Devices: Theatre as Perspective on the design of smart objects.” p. 43-56. In: Designing Smart Objects in Everyday Life. p. 46-47.

References

Beyond Earth. n.d. “Living Light”. Accessed January 30, 2022. http://beyond-earth.org/projects-living-light/

Berger, Arthur A. 1995. Cultural Criticism: A Primer of Key Concepts. USA: Sage Publication.

Bleeker, Maaike and Rozendaal, Marco C., “Dramaturgy for Devices: Theatre as Perspective on the design of smart objects.” p. 43-56. In: Designing Smart Objects in Everyday Life. London, New York, Dublin: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.

Drago, Gaetano. 2021. “Living Light, The Art Installation That Goes Up Into Space” Data Aided Design. November 5, 2021. https://dataidedesign.com/living-light-the-art-installation-that-goes-up-into-space/

Designeboom. n.d. “jellyfish-like balloon installation is the first large-scale artwork to fly into space”. Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.designboom.com/art/jellyfish-balloon-installation-first-large-scale-artwork-into-space-10-19-2021/

Holmberg, Arthur. 1996. The theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

John Rockwell et. all. 1984. Robert Wilson: The Theatre of Images. USA and Canada: Contemporary Arts Center and The Byrd Hoffman Foundation.

Kelleher, Joe. 2015. The Illuminated Theatre: Studies on the Suffering of Images. Oxon and New York: Routledge.

Pavis, Patrice. 2016. The Routledge Dictionary of Performance and Contemporary Theatre. Oxon and New York: Routledge.

Pavis, Patrice. 1998. Dictionary of the theatre: terms, concepts, and analysis. Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press.

Space Perspective. n.d. “Neptune One”. Accessed January 30, 2022.  https://www.spaceperspective.com/neptune-one

Warden, Claire. 2015. Modernist and Avant-Garde Performance: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Wilson, Robert. n.d. “Furniture & Design”. Accessed January 30, 2022.   https://robertwilson.com/furniture-and-design