Friday, 24 April 2015

Samuel Beckett's Influences Across Art & Music



[1973] "Not I" (Samuel Beckett)
Billie Whitelaw talking about her work with Samuel Beckett at the Royal Court Theatre, Chelsea, London. BBC television adaptation of the theatrical original. 


Beckett's seminal theatrical work 'Not I', where he reduced the theatrical elements to the singular image of the mouth the sound of a voice and its expressive range (within what could be interpreted as tending towards the hysterical rather than the depressive) has been referenced across the arts since its first presentation at the Royal Court Theatre in London 1971.  

This work still resonates and has significance for current generations of artists as a source of inspiration. Below  is a direct reference to Beckett's work as a central motif in the work. 


'Clipping' (Official Video)
Published on Apr 8, 2015
"intro" from the 6/10/14 clipping. album, CLPPNG

In my own work I created a directly referential work using the motif of the mouth as the central motif.  It was however mixed between a male & female mouth & included an erotic reference to the consumption of fruit. Autumn Cherries 1993, London.




JN Blank, Autumn Cherries 1993 &  (Bosnian Aid remix) 1994, London. (SVHS video mix) 

 Autumn Cherries Blogpost

The digital interference and deliberate inclusion of the destructive nature of the materials (video tape) were part of the deconstructionist aesthetic of the time.  This is also evident in the work of Pipilotti Rist, who I was unaware of at the time of creating the works above. They were more poetic and anti-media in their focus than they were celebrations of popular culture. 






  



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