We’re inspired with our study and exploration of the role of the actor’s Creative Individuality this session. M. Chekhov indicates a practical training approach: “Suppose a group of painters sat before the same landscape with their paints, and each promised himself faithfully to record the view before him. What would be the result? Several entirely different pictures would emerge. Why is this so? Because the artists did not paint the landscape, but their own individual conception of it, one made possible by each painter’s Creative Individuality. They painted exactly the same subject, but they did not render the landscape that they saw outwardly; they painted the landscape within themselves. The voice of each artist’s Creative Individuality inspired his particular interpretation. Their pictures will tell us that one of them was more charmed by the atmosphere of the landscape, another by the beauty of the form and line, the third by the language of contrasts, and so on….” – Van Gogh and Gauguin spent 9 weeks together at Arles, often painting side by side, just as MC asks us to suppose. Elsewhere in his book, Chekhov recommends the actor study the lives of notable individuals. Two good reasons to check out the video. (If you haven’t the time or patience to watch the whole video, forward to 51:30, for the section on the Arles period.)
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 18:35:41 +0000