Ambience and characters by Robert Wilson

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito based on William Shakespeare's drama Othello | robertwilson.com

Robert Wilson was born on October 6th 1941, in Waco, Texas, US. He is one of the greatest experimental stage directors of the 20th century and he has impressed his language onto his discipline. New York Times consider him the best “theatre artist” of America and perhaps also of the world. He has worked as a choreographer, painter, video artist, performer, sculptor and furniture designer, among other things. He studied business administration at the University of Texas and then received his degree in architecture from the Pratt Institute in 1965. In 1986 he founds the experimental theatre collective Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, with which he directs the first major works but he does not receive recognition until the early 70s, with the opera Einstein on the Beach, having at his side Philip Glass’ compositions and Lucinda Childs’ choreographies. In his 80 years of life, he has collaborated with William Burroughs, Tom Waits, Mikhail Barishnikov and Willem Dafoe among many, many others. In February he presented Othello at the national opera of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Athens, which, of course, took place in a packed theatre. 

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito based on William Shakespeare's drama Othello | robertwilson.com

Fairy Tales by Aleksandr Pushkin | robertwilson.com

Robert Wilson’s images are poetic before anything else, in the sense that the power of their composition and time has the ability to impress them on someone’s mind and imagination. His shows, with the slow movements, actors' intense make-up and the distinctive lightning, possess the ability to captivate your thoughts long after the end of the performance. His stage sets, with their austere means, resist being understood completely or with full clarity, just like any good work of art. They constitute active characters in the performances that he directs, as do his furniture. Their lines and geometry make them wonderful actors in the drama of daily life, for anyone lucky enough to have them in their space or for anyone that enjoys them in an exhibition.

Fairy Tales by Aleksandr Pushkin | robertwilson.com

Opera by Giacomo Puccini, with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni, based on the eponymous play by Carlo Gozzi | robertwilson.com

Opera by Robert Wilson and Anna Calvi, based on the eponymous story by E.T.A. Hoffmann | robertwilson.com

The stark style he artfully controls in his performances and the distinctive/singular use of language he commands in his work is also reflected in the furniture-sculpture-actors-characters-props-installations-structures-forces-subjects-objects that he designs. Such is The Meek girl of 1994, which, with its semi-cylindrical wooden back and three legs -one of which is a goat leg with a hoof and fur-, reaches the boundaries of anthropomorphism or “furniture-centrism” depending on the point of view that we adopt. Or Zeus Chair, with its copper framework and stone seat, the possibly uncomfortable and small surface of the throne/chair/allegory can prompt us to question both the origins of the first seat as well as power in general, as we enjoy its geometric lines.

Zeus Chair | robertwilson.com

The Meek Girl |robertwilson.com

I think that Chair for Marie Curie is my personal favourite. It’s a chair and a thought on Marie Curie, the famous scientist in the field of radioactivity and winner of two Nobel Prizes, but goes beyond these two categories. It’s a simple, right-angled chair, connected to a battery placed near the work. The light located on the back of the chair vibrates, radiates and exudes into its surrounding space. The glass, fragile seat is supported on the metallic grid of the construction.

Chair for Marie Curie I artforum.com

If this chair accompanied a typical dining table and someone attempted to sit on it, they would find themselves on a much higher level than the rest. This elevation could be referencing the level of intellect that Curie managed to reach or the activity of science in general. The furniture is so open to interpretation that it constantly moves the meaning from the title. The neon light surrounding it, flickering, as neon lights usually do, describes through light an everyday object and an everyday activity. In my eyes, it seems to awaken the fancy for every object that I encounter, and to a certain degree, it becomes a reference for the furniture surrounding me. Could it be that the kitchen table is in need of a neon lightbulb to illuminate the space and our minds? Perhaps, then, mornings would be better.