The New York Times: In a crisp white gallery space on Great Jones Street, in Manhattan’s East Village, a large wooden box contains a meticulous mise-en-scène: a midcentury roadside motel room constructed at puppet scale, which means it’s half of human scale. Standing on a step built into the outside of the box, spectators can gaze down into the installation, a time-capsule environment called “Motel,” by the master puppet artist Dan Hurlin.
2 comments:
I do not know much about puppetry, but I had no idea that such things as puppetry installations exist. The installation by Dan Hurlin feels quite odd because it is such an unfamiliar and foreign concept. However, I guess it does not differ much from any other art installation. I just thought that puppets were meant to be seen in a performance, not necessarily stationary in an installation. This does make an interesting commentary, though, about perhaps a stationary woman that is supposed to be moving and is not while a clock radio is making noise. The sound definitely adds a lot and I love that the puppetry designer collaborated with a sound designer to really bring the installation to life. I also just love all the little details they put into it with the room key, the money, and the crucifix on her neck. Even the shoes just feel so real, but odd on puppet feet.
This is super cool. I personally have never heard of the La MaMa Puppet Festival, but now I really wish I could go and see some of these exhibits and performances. I really do not know much (or truthfully, anything) about puppets and puppetry, but I am constantly fascinating by how there seems to be no boundaries on what is considered puppetry. It is an art form that can take so many different creative variations, and I think that’s really awesome. I was particularly interested by the “Motel” exhibit. I think it’s so cool for a puppetry exhibit to essentially be puppetry without the puppeteer. It’s a really creative idea and I love how it looks. The environment is just so rich with possible stories that could be being told by it, and I think that that is really neat from a creative perspective. All of the little details are so cool, and I love how precise and specific they are. It truly feels real.
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