The Creators Project: Until recently my knowledge of puppetry began with Punch and Judy and ended with Being John Malkovich. But this all changed when master puppeteer and theatre producer Amit Drori invited me to his latest show Savanna: A Possible Landscape. The production is based on the lives of African animals portrayed by handcrafted wooden robots and, like a steampunk Attenborough, Amit invites the viewer to take a robot safari through this mechanical jungle.
8 comments:
I think the idea of robotic puppets is seriously awesome. I wish that a video had been included with this article, not even of the show, but just a demo run of the robots/puppets to show how they moved. I think it's absolutely fascinating how they control these from offstage, and lend live human "programming" of sorts into the machine onstage. Too often in theatre we use machines and robotics for set purposes and for large animatronic creatures. In fact, productions where there are small animals onstage (ex. Annie the Musical) dogs could be robotic puppets. In that case, you would want a more realistic looking and painted version of the puppets shown here. Though, part of the charm of this article/these puppets are the fact that they are "unfinished". As technology stands, we can't produce a robot that moves like a living creature, but something that moves stiffly and robotically, so to try and force the audience to believe that the puppet is real by painting it, will be a failure because the movement won't match the image of the creature. I did notice that they said in the article that it took two years, essentially everyday, of making these seven or so puppets, that it became an "obsession". Oftentimes, shows don't get to be built on a two year or longer time span. If this technique is used more often, it should eventually become a faster process, and something more reasonable to use in a theatrical setting.
I think this is such a neat idea, and i really live the combination of the old and the new in the wood on the robots. Which also gives them a much more friendly and less threatening feel. Its clearly some pretty advanced technology but I love the semiotics of having it covered in the very first thing we as people used to make art and toys. But at the same time I feel that generally in a theatre setting actors in wooden puppet costumes i.e. lion king or war horse, would have a much grander impact. But I think the unique way that these puppets have a show of their own with no actors or really any "real" things makes it a very powerful piece.
I wish I could see this show.The descriptions and photos just aren't enough to really explain this new and very cool sounding art form. I connected on a very deep level with the creator "I design, I build, I program, I direct, I act. I like to use whatever I need to express my vision." this is how I want to work. To me nature and robotics are two of the most powerful meteors ever and Drori's show seems to incorporate the two in a beautiful story. I really love the aesthetic of the robots as well as the set. The is definitely something semiotic about the wood creatures that makes us feel for them more than most robots. I don't know how to get in to this type of theatre, but I would love to find out more.
It is amazing to see how the artists tried to include an emotion into each creatures. Looking at what they said, "we wanted them to seem personal. I think the biggest challenge of the production wast to make warm machines. We are constantly surrounded by machines," I totally agree that wooden craft seems warmer and personal. It is cool how they tried to make a contrast between the wooden puppets and our surroundings where daily life is full of machines. Also, two years of making them! it might have been very challenging and tiresome if it was for me. I can not imagine myself doing that. However, for them, I am sure that those puppets became their obsession and part of them. It is so cool to see the delicate details of the puppets and I would be eager to see the production if I have chance to.
I recently remembered that I really do enjoy wood working, and was just thinking about what my next project should be - it is now obvious that I must make a wooden robotized puppet.
Ok but in all seriousness, I found the photos of the puppets very touching, with a grace and life to them that creates a very strong aesthetic. I like what Drori said about the puppets being metaphors rather than illusions; I think that is what makes the puppets so fitting to the world of theater. After all, we know we cannot fool our audience with the illusion that a show is really happening; but we can create metaphors to make them want to believe us.
The thing that stuck out with me the most in this article is the comment this show is a metaphor not an illusion. That is a very interesting concept to think about that the performance is just a metaphor. I am so used the to the idea that theatre is an illusion with a possible message.
Overall i was through impressed with the craftsmen ship of the puppets. Amazing, two years to build and create those puppets. To create everything and to have that kind of intimate knowledge of something would, at least for me, build some type of connection to the product.
Also feel the show must be pretty powerful since it seems like there would be very little, to no words.
The show sounds amazing I would like to see it.
"I think the biggest challenge of the production was to make warm machines. We are constantly surrounded by machines, they’re produced en masse in factories, and they’re cold and impersonal. Each of our machines are one of a kind, they’re made with care and emotion.........They seem as though they were designed centuries ago yet are only now being brought to life. Aesthetically, the robots are very Da Vinci-esque and Drori confirmed that the Vitruvian Man’s creator was a huge inspiration.”
This is an incredible aesthetic to achieve, and from the photos they were incredibly successful. It seems unnatural in a way but in truth the end product is more real than you could ever imagine, even despite seeing some of the inner mechanics. Like he said, the point was to create a metaphor for that world not a illusion, an approach that I wish we saw more often in theatre.
This is so cool. I want to see these. Scratch that, I want to play with them. I wonder if they are preprogrammed, or controlled during the show. Or maybe they are a little autonomous? This is very clever, and clearly has some pretty awesome uses in theater, except for the part where this took "2 years of daily work". I wonder who payed for it, and how much it costs? I hope that at some point in my life I have the opportunity to create or work with something similar.
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