"I never think, 'We can't do that.' I think, 'We can do that. We just have to figure out how,' " said Barrera, who is in his eighth season with OSF.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Scenic artists at Oregon Shakespeare Festival can create just about anything
"I never think, 'We can't do that.' I think, 'We can do that. We just have to figure out how,' " said Barrera, who is in his eighth season with OSF.
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This is very similar to my situation and how I ended up here at Carnegie Mellon. My entire artistic background is grounded in fine arts (photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, etc) and the chance of ending up in theatre was not even on my radar about a year ago. I was only involved in theatre as an extracurricular since my school did not offer any theater classes. I never thought it could have been a possible career option; I was roped theater because my visual/performing arts course was directed by a Theater Major who directed many of the plays at high school. Before applying to college, I had thought I was going to end up somewhere in graphic design but soon realized that I didn't want to be sitting in front of a computer screen for 8 hours a day. I looked to theater and realized that the creative community that I craved was under my nose the entire time. Anyway, I understand how fine arts can seriously lead to scenic painting at a festival like Oregon Shakespeare. I would love to do some scenic painting for a show one of these days, but it's sort of a difficult situation considering I'm planning on declaring as a Costumes Design major. The issue that poses a problem here is the idea that on my resume, I already have so many painting credits (which would probably give me a better chance of getting a scenic apprenticeship/internship), but nothing serious for costumes. This has been causing me some grief in applying for summer internships haha!
I've never considered the differences in fine art work and scenic design work-but I think that what the charge artist has brought up here is a very interesting point. Fine art does feel very closed off-it's almost entirely the fine artist's responsibility to just produce a piece that appeals to a select group of people or a piece can act entirely for the artist themselves. In some cases, it does a bit of both, and can even be made to or showcased in a way that appeals to the masses. However, in scenic art, you're not only collaborating throughout the entire artistic and design process, but you're also producing a piece for a very different purpose than a fine artist is. Your piece is likely to be enjoyed by the masses. Not to mention the fact that, for the typical audience member who isn't going to be looking at that piece alone outside of the context of the story and the rest of the set, your piece has to totally blend in with the world around it. It can stand out obviously, if thats the way that the scenic designer intended, but for the most part your piece has to be painted or textured in a way that suggests the same world that the rest of the scenery exists in. It's an interesting challenge.
OSF seems like such a great company to work for with really high quality work. GO SUSAN and Twelfth Night!
I think it is obvious that Fine Arts is more closed off than theatre, and could completely see the logical transition from Fine Arts to theatrical scenic painting. I wonder what it feels like to transition from making work for yourself, focused on your subject matter, to now dedicating your time to fulfill someone elses vision.
What I really enjoyed about this interview was that the OSF Scenic Artist is that he does not say no immediately. I like that he is interested in creating the best work for the designer, but also in challenging himself. Now, I can see where the challenge of an intricate or "different" piece of scenery could keep the transition from Fine Arts to Scenic painting more lively. It seems as though the basics of the two are the same, but you use your creativity in a different way. I also enjoy that he highlighted the collaborative nature of technical theatre! (Even though a certain group project is killing me)
As a scenic carpenter I look at a set and say I can make that…so long as there is a really great paint crew. I don’t want to play carpentry down because I believe it is a skill, but in my opinion building a hard cover flat with some openings and molding isn’t that crazy, but a scenic artist can take that blank canvas and turn it into a run down New York apartment or an $800,000,000 apartment. I have to give painters so much credit. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is lucky to have such an incredible artist and it is cool to see an article about someone who is often never really acknowledged. A think a scenic artist is even less acknowledged than a TD. It is also cool to read about the different challenges of painting different material. We learned about this topic in Beth’s mini but it is always cool to read an article reaffirming something you have learned before.
A year before I was supposed to be applying for college, all my parents and I were looking at were fine arts school. I had a couple friends who had gone to RISD and my grandfather had gone to Oxford so my dad really wanted me to apply to the Ruskin. But none of them were quite what I wanted, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. The Why however, was mentioned right here in this article. Fine art is a very isolating career whereas theater is one of the most deeply collaborative things you can find yourself a part of. That is part of the reason I love theater so much. If you help construct a set then you hand it off to the incredible scenic artists, they will transform it before your very eyes. Then during load in you get to watch the entire world come together as it is built from the ground up in a bare, silent theater. I know I made the right choice because there is nothing I love more than a load in that is going smoothly, with every department working side by side to make something amazing.
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