Venice is a strange place. Walking through it I had the same sense I had when I walked through pre-Katrina New Orleans: This city is devoted almost entirely to separating tourists from their money. The feeling isn't as sinister in Venice, but it's certainly there.
The other thing Venice does really well is decorate. Every possible surface is gilt, or embroidered, or inlaid, or all three. My friend Jesse notes that the Bedazzler hit Italy in 1987 and never left, and it's true; it takes some work to find a sweatshirt that doesn't bear some sort of rhinestone-sequin legend such as "Rock Princess." But even by Italian standards, Venice is ornate. I started to wonder if there were some sort of island aesthetic at work--the same way island populations develop pronounced genetic quirks, perhaps they can develop a weakness for masks decoupaged with staff paper and gold paint. I think it's possible. After only a couple of days, even if you previously thought that masks were the height of kitsch, it starts to seem perfectly normal to fork over 60 euros to buy one.
Of course, these aren't theater masks. They're tourist masks, meant to evoke the Carnival of Venice. There are all sorts of old links between carnival rites and theatrical rites, but the bottom line is, theatrical masks reveal character, and these masks conceal; theatrical masks are living masks, and these are dead.
Some of the elaborations, though, were fantastic, and I wished people had turned this creativity to theatrical design rather than tourism.
But I'm certain they make more money from tourism.
As a postscript, just because I'm kind of proud of it, here's a photo from today's studio time.
The book is our philosophy textbook--all the theater students take a seminar in the aesthetics of art and performance--but mostly I'm excited about being able to hold a headstand well enough to pose for a silly photo. Even if my legs are a bit crooked. Certain muscles are stronger than they've ever been.
2 comments:
ass muscles? is it ass muscles? it's ass muscles isn't it? ass muscles?
I was just joshing about the ass muscles. I'm amazed by this blog on a daily basis- the level of description is so satisfying that it takes some of the edge off of my jealousy. So get to work on today's installment of vicarious living for those of us who are in sunless shared office spaces.
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