NAKeD PUPPeTS

A Piece progresses "TV" - Sculpting a head

2009-03-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

We showed you earlier the first few steps of creating the understructure for a puppet in a piece on what happens when one watches TV.

We made a frame out of wood and metal joints, and then created the understructure over which we would sculpt the head with a modeling compound.

Here you can see the plasticene original model on the right , and the sculpted head on the left.

The head is articulated at the neck, and can be easily removed. This is made possible because during teh piece, a mini copy of the same guy comes out of the TV and rips his head off. He then replaces it with a wood block.

Below is a picture of the wooden block head, which inserts in he same spot as the other more "human" head.

IT SOMETIMES HAPPENS - from SUDDeN ORPHeUS - SET

2009-03-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo fresh from the studio where Ariel has been working on the set for the section of the show called "It Sometimes Happens". It this piece a couple thrashes and takes turns "fighting" even though they are attached through the nose.

Originally the base was a bed, in Ariel's idea, but it has slowly evolved to be a green weird thing made out of semi- transparent waxy substance on top of the sculptured base.

It is a bit less obvious and it lets the audience imagine other possible scenarios.

Building Puppets for a new "TV" piece for SUDDeN ORPHeUS

2009-01-25T14:20:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of the building of the man who watches TV for a new piece in which a small copy of the character comes out of the TV, and does cruel things to the man who is watching. The prototype is the plasticine sculpture, on which we are basing the puppets. The white figure in the center is the plasticine model.

We analyzed the shape and designed a hollow version of the figure using other materials. This time we are going to sculpt it with a light modeling material over a light wooden structure that has the neck and other mechanisms. We prefer lighter materials because puppets alwasy need ot be light, or they will exhaust the manipulators very fast! The figure on the left (in the picture above) is the actual puppet with the substructure for sculpting a head that looks like the one in the prototype.
In the picture above we installed the second head, basically a block of wood with a nose, which the little man character will place on the torso after removing the one we showed you above.

Below you can see a smaller figure of the "little man" who comes out of the TV. This one is a simple direct manipulation puppet that may get changed in to a short rod puppet if the manipulation requires, once we get it clearer during more intense rehearsals in the following months.This figure is a variation of the character's original prototype. All the images are inspired on a Giaccometti sculpture Ariel saw in Berlin. They are inspired, but not copied!

The soul puppets for SUDDeN ORPHeUS are DONE!!!

2009-01-25T14:07:00.001-08:00

Great! After a lot of painting and mechanical adjustments. the souls are ready!

They look great, and they are much larger than their first versions. Here they are!

The Cook, who is one of our favorites:

The Lady, who combs her hair so much it falls off:

The Poet, who is always typing and looking at other doing things:

The Man With No Will For Life
Here Ariel is working on some radio controls for the mask of Orpheus, who he may put on a radio controlled vehicle...and he is having fun!

Costumes

2008-11-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

This week Ariel is working on costumes for the ghosts/souls, using dyed cheesecloth, sheer fabrics, and whatever else is in the studio. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Because of the weird mechanisms on the back of the puppets, we have to use two kind of overlaying ideas: we have to make regular costume patterns for the tiny puppets, plus adaptations for the slots and holes that the mechanism require.

Photos will be posted soon.

HADeS - Construction Process

2008-10-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Once the puppet sketches we showed you below were done, the next step was to build the puppets to make them do what they need for the performance. I made technical sketches or mock-ups of the mechanisms before I built anything. Some things needed small versions to check out mechanisms before I built the larger more time-consuming ones.

Here are previous versions of the puppets. They turned real nice visually, yet too small. Even though the show is conceived as an intimate show, the puppets need to be seen by everyone.

I always keep in mind the economy of working with puppets: it is important never to make puppets do more than what you need them to do, so a good idea of what you want the scene to accomplish is necessary. These ones generally need to do one or two things well.

Here are the POeT and the LaDY. The bodies are made of wood, metal fixings, and paper clay. Lots of modeling, carving, and sanding is involved in all of this!

Here is the LaDY again, and the cook, on his side, waiting for the glue to dry. In the background you can see the tidy part of my studio!

I put some holes on the chair. Notice the sharp looking safety goggles! My studio is in the woods, and the views through the windows are gorgeous! The great thing is that the windows are large so the light pours in.

The POeT Puppet Mechanism- NAKeD PUPPeTS

2008-10-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

So the puppet turned to be a poet.

I dubbed him The POeT, as a humorous gesture that has something to do with the whole poet and puppeteer working together, and this is becoming one of my favorite puppets. He types, and his head follows the writing, or turns to look at the others. I love his expression, which will become more aparent when he gets painted.

The mechanism makes the arms move as in typing in an alternating fashion, using a modified lever.

His head is attached to another lever that has a vertical axle that ends in the head. Simple, and useful!

SUDDeN ORPHeUS - Sketches of puppets for the HADeS scene

2008-10-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

These sketches are the imagery that guides how I build the puppets for each scene. In this scene, these souls are going over a choreography of "habits". The actions are very specific and repetitive. The choreography is based on one I created last year with actual people, so we have a video of the work. Puppets will look better, because the dancers moved with too much life and the characters are supposedly dead souls.

I keep thinking of this one as an intimate performance, so the puppets were conceived rather small. My hunch is that I will end making them larger for a alrger audience. Usually we (my collaborators and I) start with images inspired by our visual research, a sketch, or a storyboard of the actions. This time I saturated my brain with "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and other paintings of Hell. While the puppets may not remind you of his work, they were inspired by the whole vision and by Greek ideas of Hades, the world of the souls of the Dead. It is not quite the same as the Christian idea of Hell. In Hades, souls have all the impulses and thoughts of a live person without the "thymos," or the physical live body with which to accomplish what the drives call for.

This one is a person who has spent her life focused on looks. The puppet will brush her hair and strands of hair will fall as she does it.

This one I imagined as a depressed person who has lived all his life without any passion about anything. I am not sure why I think of it as a habit! I sometimes get depressed (like anyone else!) and I don't lose my passion, just the energy to go for it. But there might be people who relish being despondent and without anything to strive for. Very few, I guess.

This one is someone that has withered to such an extent that he is only a head.

This one I think of as someone who only has an interest for life if it is related to work. He is very critical, and nasty. I know people like that.

In the studio, we I the sketches on the wall to keep them fresh in our minds while we build things.