Wit's End: Philippe Genty's Lands End
Dear Philippe... can I call you Phil?
The world has moved on. The soft-core misogyny and nightmarish fantasies at the heart of your art is exposed... all the castration fear and rape revenge stuff. Dump it on your therapist, not our stages.
Funny you should use that song by Jet. Are you gonna be my girl. I doubt the St Bede's boys would use imagery as obvious as yours in one of their videos.
Head in the clouds... or a really big bag of flatulence?
I'm probably over-reading, but it comes from years of watching your noncommittal art. The first image. An upright bar of violet blue light next to a large circle of white light. A one and a zero. Of course the upright is the powerful thing. The other is just a diffuse little absence. A prick and a hole. A penetrating presence and an absence. A void. A sperm and an ovum. The IVF needle and the single penetrated cell. Boys and girls. Deep, Phil. Deep.
Do I see more pop-cult references here? The bum-faced girl, that's South Park series five, no? When the photo of Kenny's anorak-clad butt gets plastered on the milk carton. And the pig faced man, is that Dr Who or something a bit more arthouse, like one of Matt Barney's Cremaster cycle?
And do I detect some American Beauty in all those plastic bags and updrafts? Some Addams Family with the speed-dialing disembodied hand? "Why, thank-you Thing!" Maybe a bit of King Kong in the massive gorilla foot-paw?
You know what, Phil? I really don't care. Your chick-swapping bored me. The disappearances were no more than magic tricks. A series of set pieces.
Stage craft without ideas is like... is like religion without god.
Lands End. Directed by Philippe Genty and Mary Underwood. Assisted by Clélia Jeanne Colonna. Compagnie Philippe Genty. State Theatre, the Arts Centre, Melbourne, unti August 16. Then the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, August 20-23. Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay, August 27 to September 6. Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, September 10-13.
The world has moved on. The soft-core misogyny and nightmarish fantasies at the heart of your art is exposed... all the castration fear and rape revenge stuff. Dump it on your therapist, not our stages.
Funny you should use that song by Jet. Are you gonna be my girl. I doubt the St Bede's boys would use imagery as obvious as yours in one of their videos.
Head in the clouds... or a really big bag of flatulence?
I'm probably over-reading, but it comes from years of watching your noncommittal art. The first image. An upright bar of violet blue light next to a large circle of white light. A one and a zero. Of course the upright is the powerful thing. The other is just a diffuse little absence. A prick and a hole. A penetrating presence and an absence. A void. A sperm and an ovum. The IVF needle and the single penetrated cell. Boys and girls. Deep, Phil. Deep.
Do I see more pop-cult references here? The bum-faced girl, that's South Park series five, no? When the photo of Kenny's anorak-clad butt gets plastered on the milk carton. And the pig faced man, is that Dr Who or something a bit more arthouse, like one of Matt Barney's Cremaster cycle?
And do I detect some American Beauty in all those plastic bags and updrafts? Some Addams Family with the speed-dialing disembodied hand? "Why, thank-you Thing!" Maybe a bit of King Kong in the massive gorilla foot-paw?
You know what, Phil? I really don't care. Your chick-swapping bored me. The disappearances were no more than magic tricks. A series of set pieces.
Stage craft without ideas is like... is like religion without god.
Lands End. Directed by Philippe Genty and Mary Underwood. Assisted by Clélia Jeanne Colonna. Compagnie Philippe Genty. State Theatre, the Arts Centre, Melbourne, unti August 16. Then the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, August 20-23. Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay, August 27 to September 6. Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, September 10-13.
Labels: Compagnie Philippe Genty, Philippe Genty
posted by Chris Boyd at 5:58 AM
5 Comments:
I'm glad I wasn't the only one both offended and bored with this production. That scissor-leg scene was ridiculous and I was appalled that the audience was laughing.
It is really relieving to know I wasn't the only one not appreciating this pricey art.
I'm reluctant to call his misogyny 'soft core', though. It was pretty blatant to me.
Thanks Sara. Glad it wasn't just me, as well.
Thankyou! We saw the Melbourne show on Friday {15th}. It was complete self indulgent crap! minimal puppetry, illusionist? what the opening hand scene? The use of the trap doors was clumsy and at high school play level. the crowd was restless and bored. Posturing and repetitive movements? The audience seemed stunned at the end. We are so polite, all that applauding... did i miss out on the free acid before the show?
I saw it last night. The second time I have seen a Philippe Genty piece, this one seemed more bizarre than the last, but in many ways also more fantastic. I enjoyed it, maybe because I can immerse myself in it and go along for the ride. I confess I didn't understand it but I was mesmerised by it nonetheless.
Want to know what it meant? Check here.
My god you people are ridiculous.
You take it far too literally- its playful poetic imagery, not everything needs over analysing. I think in Australia less art such as this is exposed and therefore we must pick at the small things, why not sit back and just be absorbed by the visual imagery? It cant be all bad. I for one, thought it was incredibly beautiful.
Such a lovely change from raw Australian drama.
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