PROJECTS > IN THE GARDEN OF DREAMS

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Sven Ortel

This show intertwines intimate solo piano and vocal works of Johannes Brahms and Arnold Schoenberg with light and projections on a set designed as both sculpture and surface. The script, sound collage and imagery draw on Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams , Strindberg's A Dream Play , Max Klinger's Brahms-Phantasie and the erotic paintings of Gustav Klimt.

Original imagery inspired by paintings, drawings and sketches by Klimt and Klinger are projected from the front and back to interweave with and support the flow and narrative of the show.

The challenges lie with finding the right balance between the music, the musicians and artists lights and imagery. Each element is supposed to support each other without taking away focus. However it's always a directorial decision as to what is important to the narrative in any given moment, which takes time and many tries to work out. As far as imagery is concerned, creating artwork based on famous art is always tricky because the paintings are so well known. However they would never move or integrate into a three dimensional space as anything but a flat image if you would not freely interpret them for the stage.

On a technical note, I programmed the show myself using the D3 media server software, particularly the designer edition. I chose it out of curiosity and because the time frame demanded a solution that allowed the director to work with me on the show outside the theater and independent of technical schedules. D3 has some great visualization capabilities that allow for just that. It's the first show I programmed on d3 myself and I enjoyed it, partly because I felt more connected to making projections work in a hands on fashion and because I challenged myself to learn something new.