PLAYStrong
Shadows of Documentation
Documentation of Shadows
Audio-visual Essay by Tanya Humeniuk
This audio-visual essay is the culmination of my experience as an intern for the "PLAYStrong – Performing wellbeing, creative resilience: Testing interactive performance spaces" workshop as well as the readings and discussions during a graduate independent study course (DRA4091H: Brecht, Transmedia, and Learning) with Prof. Antje Budde. The aim was to embody the result of my reflections on my role as the audio-visual documenter of the events of the workshop. As such, all photos, videos, and music used in this AV essay were taken/made by me.
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Here are some quotes of Bertolt Brecht on the use of apparatuses that served as inspiration:
"[Y]ou must move with the apparatuses closer to the real events and not simply limit yourself to reproducing or reporting."
– Bertolt Brecht, Texts on Radio Broadcasting (1926–1932)
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"If seeing is not involved, it does not mean that one sees nothing, but equally that one sees an infinity of things, 'whatever you like'."
– Bertolt Brecht, Texts on Radio Broadcasting (1926–1932)
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"Unchecked feelings aroused by music, special thoughts that may be conceived when listening to music, physical exhaustion that easily arises just from listening to music, these are all distractions from music. To avoid these distractions, the individual participates in the music, thus obeying the principle: doing is better than feeling"
– Bertolt Brecht, Texts on Radio Broadcasting (1926–1932)
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"The problem is that making reality recognizable in the theatre is just one of the tasks of true realism. You still need to be able to see through this reality, though. The laws that determine how the processes of life develop must be made visible. These laws aren’t visible in photographs. Nor are they visible if the spectators simply borrow the eyes or hearts of the characters involved in these processes."
– Bertolt Brecht, Brecht on Performance
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"Posed photographs mean that the object is killed for the purpose of the photograph. Only photographs taken during the production can convey true impressions."
– Bertolt Brecht, Brecht on Performance
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"Photographs can only reproduce the artistic atmosphere of a performance if they have a genuine effect as images. Art can only be reproduced in an artistic way. Consequently, the ‘graininess’ that is otherwise so feared can become an artistic method. The blurring caused by a great deal of movement should not cause too much concern either. What will remain decisive is how much of the sense and character of the production is captured."
– Bertolt Brecht, Brecht on Performance