The name on the lips of our solo class over the last few weeks has been that of Matt Chewiwie. He is a self-proclaimed artist who creates work through digital means and uses the internet as a medium to express his art. While using him as a case study we debated what it means to be an artist and indeed what classifies as art, in the hopes that as individuals we kick start our opinions about what art should be. This allowed us to consider our approach to producing a solo performance using the unique criteria we drew from the debate.
For me, I concluded that art needs to be something material, something that can be experienced in the flesh, not by looking at recordings or photographs of original work. The example I offered in class is that to truly appreciate works such as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa one has to be stood in the Louvre looking at the original and not simply searching for a Google image. This is because it is not necessarily the artwork we admire but the artists themselves, and by standing a few feet from the very canvas Da Vinci painted on evokes a much stronger reaction to the art. What we seek from art is to establish some form of relationship to the artist themselves – a window into their worlds.
In theatre, establishing the relationship between the artist and their audience is a technique most practitioners seek to provide. ‘Breaking the forth wall’ is a vital component for expressing an artist’s intentions and can provoke greater reactions from the audience. With this in mind, I now feel confident that as I move forward in my devising process, this is fundamental to presenting my artistic beliefs.
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