ALPHA WHO - STAGE DESIGN
A SHOW BY MATT FRANCO
The screen Painting was born under the impulses and suggestions of the themes researched in Alpha Who?, in the attempt of juxtaposing the act of the Performance and the physical presence of a Painting on stage. Therefore, it becomes a crucial player in the flowing relationship between Text, Movement and Space. The Performer represents the Man looking for clues to reach the next level of consciousness, sharing his journey with the audience, welcoming it in his Cave in a limbic and metaphysical dimension of reality: the infinite and timeless Mind. In this scenario, the Painting can be considered a set of cave paintings that the Performer tries to decipher in order to bring his story forward. A story that gleans from the journeys of mythological figures such as Atlas, Epimetheus and Prometheus. Aesthetically, the Painting is an interpretation of the physical interior landscape of a living mammal being. The brush paths and the mixture of four different red variations - the colour nuances of blood - recall the shapes of the organs, in particular the Brain, the Stomach and the Uterus. One piece, The Key, stands out of this abstract landscape, attempting at a geometrical representation of the infinite Mind, in contrast with the finite Brain. The Key shows a system with cogs and orbits, suggesting connections with the mechanisms of a clock or of a planetary system. The technique used for the Painting - ink and rice paper on canvas - enhances the qualities of flexibility, lightness and high transparency. This has allowed a free dialogue between the Inside and Outside of the performative space in front and behind the Painting. The Screens that compose the Painting are arranged and repositioned to shape the space on stage, switching between rooms, corridors and monoliths. The different arrangements that manifest themselves are: typical windscreens to hide, hang and divide; an image to be contemplated; a set of monolithic sculptures; a rotating key to the puzzle.
Part theatre, part dance and part visual art installation, Alpha Who? is a scripted solo piece in three acts that combines language with a fusion of Gaga/Butoh/Bodyweather choreography, a curious journey through our personal cultural pressures to conform into one definition or another. Alpha Who? is created by Matt Franco Collective, in collaboration with Julius studio. Alpha Who? deals with mental health, suicide and vulnearbility in the contemporary society. It has been showed at Tatwerk Performative Forschung, Berlin, and will debut at this year's #CamdenFringe at The Cockpit, London.
Flesh trip, 2017 | ink, pigments on Xuan paper mounted on canvas, light and stage design.
screen installation, 10 panels 200 x 100 cm each.
images © Julius studio