PROFESSOR OF THEATRE/ACTOR/DIRECTOR

Personal Aesthetic

Art is communication. Of  course, an interoffice memo is  also communication, so what

makes some forms of communication  art? I believe the  answer lies in the intention of the  creator. If the creator is attempting to communicate a vision, feeling, or comment on the human experience,  he or she is creating art. If the intention is simply to communicate information,  he or she is not creating art. Infrequently the artist may simply  be trying to communicate with his or her inner self in order to work through  an issue, but more often than not artistic expression is meant to  be observed by  others.

 

If the determination of what is  and is not art lies in the intention of the creator, what  is the

role of the spectator? The  spectator adds his or her own perceptions to the work making it more than what it is alone. The spectator's  engagement of the artwork is in itself a creative act. Rollo May  said it better than I in The  Courage to  Create:

 

When we  engage a painting... we  are experiencing  some new moment of sensibility.

Some new vision  is triggered in us by our contact with the painting; something unique is

born in us. This is why appreciation of music or painting or other works of the creative

person is  also a creative act on our part.

 

If we in the theatre are to consider  ourselves artists, it is  our job to  create, not merely produce a three dimensional representation of the words the playwright placed on the page. The text is a crucial starting point. By  shaping the production of the text we explore  and communicate a vision that is related to but separate from the initial vision of the playwright. Theatre artists  are in a unique position in that we  are spectators and artists. We engage an artwork (the text) then  use it as tool to communicate our own artistic vision.