Robert Wilson's chance encounters
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Saturday, November 23, 2024


Robert Wilson's chance encounters
Robert Wilson, founder of the Watermill Center, in Water Mill, N.Y., Aug. 10, 2024. The 82-year-old theater director says that his storied career has been guided by fate and an ironclad work ethic instilled by his mother. (Lindsay Morris/The New York Times)

by Guy Trebay



NEW YORK, NY.- Stage director and production designer Robert Wilson explains, in his own words, what continues to motivate him. (This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.)

When I first came to New York, I worked in an Italian restaurant as a waiter and was fired. Then I worked in another Italian restaurant, this time as a dishwasher, and that was a job I liked. I was very good at organization, and I organized the entire restaurant, the supplies and the dinnerware, and left everything in perfect order. The owner wanted to keep me. I think of something my mother used to say: If they ask you to jump 2 feet, jump 5.

I had grown up in central Texas, in Waco, and I didn’t know anything about anything. I came to New York to study architecture and, basically, to see the work of George Balanchine. I tried going to Broadway theater, and I didn’t really like it; went to the opera and liked that even less. But Balanchine, I would try to go every night. He was the first big influence: the staging, the classical compositions. I still feel that if anything of our culture exists 200 years from now, it will be Balanchine.

In order to support myself, I began teaching children with learning difficulties in and around New York City. By chance, I met this deaf boy who knew no words; he thought only in terms of visual signs and signals. I had always wanted to be a painter, though I was not a very good one, and I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to work in theater. But I began to see that I could do onstage what I could not do on canvas, and out of this experience of meeting and working with a deaf boy, I developed a theatrical piece titled “Deafman Glance.”

The entirety of it is seven hours long, and it is silent. It was not that well received. I thought that would be the end of it. By chance, Jack Lang, the director of the avant-garde Festival of Nancy, saw it and invited me to show it in France.

Much to my surprise, we had a tremendous success. The poet Louis Aragon saw it and wrote a letter to André Breton saying, “It is the most beautiful thing of my life.” Pierre Cardin also saw it and said, “I want to take it to Paris and show it 10 times.” We opened in a 2,000-seat theater, which rather quickly sold out. For the next 5 1/2 months, this play that was silent played to sold-out houses.

From then on, people asked me to make theater, and I began to find a theatrical language. I had never studied theater. If I had, if I had gone to Yale and studied drama, I would never have made the kind of theater I do.

Luck has always played a big role in my life. I was lucky when I first came here to be able to attend a Martha Graham rehearsal. She asked me, “Mr. Wilson, what do you want to do in life?” At the time I said: “I have no idea. I don’t really do anything well.” She told me, “Well, if you work long enough and hard enough, you’ll find something, even though nine times out of 10 it doesn’t work.”

That stuck with me. Gertrude Stein said that “artists need three things: first, encouragement; second, encouragement; third, encouragement.’’

To me, my work has never been work. It is a way of living, like breathing or walking. No one can teach you to walk, really. You learn by falling down and getting up. I’m 82, but I tend to forget my age unless I stop and think, “Wow, am I that old?”

As long as I have my curiosity and the desire to learn, I can’t imagine stopping. Often in the back of my head is the question “What, logically, should I do next?” Then I ask myself, “What should I not do?”

And I do that.

Recent and upcoming projects: Directed a theatrical version of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” in Manchester, England, and directed a premiere of “Mary Said What She Said,” about Mary, Queen of Scots, in London, Paris and Stockholm. He will direct a revival of his version of “Madama Butterfly” at the Opéra Bastille in Paris in September, as well as a world premiere of the theater piece “Moby Dick” at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in Düsseldorf, Germany. In addition, he serves as artistic director of the Watermill Center in Water Mill, New York.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

August 16, 2024

Black art week in San Francisco Bay Area is in the works for the fall

Major exhibition of French modern art coming this fall to the Columbia Museum of Art

Apollo Art Auctions' popular e-sale series returns Aug. 24-25 with precious coins, ancient art & antiquities

From a flour mill to a magnet for music and art in Upstate New York

Marian Goodman Gallery Paris announces Andrea Fraser's first solo exhibition in France

Photo Elysée announces "Daido Moriyama. A Retrospective"

Christie's negotiates the sale of a masterpiece by Alma-Tadema to the National Gallery

Nelson-Atkins presents major Hokusai exhibition

Bergen Kunsthall presents a new large-scale commission by artist and choreographer Florentina Holzinger

MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology presents an exhibition by Ernesto Neto

CCA Tel Aviv-Yafo opens a solo exhibition of works by Tal Engelstein

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa to open a solo exhibition of works by Tuấn Andrew Nguy&

Ingrid Castelein to open exhibition at valerie_traan

Urgent appeal from Brighton & Hove Museums to save damaged Royal Pavilion dome on roof

Little Simz to curate Tate Modern Late in August

University Museums honors 50th anniversary with companion exhibitions at Brunnier Art Museum

Gena Rowlands, actress who brought raw drama to her roles, dies at 94

Betty A. Prashker, book publishing pioneer, is dead at 99

PICA announces three major artistic commissions valued at $210,000

Robert Wilson's chance encounters

'Life and Trust' review: Choose your own Faustian adventure

Cailee Spaeny is still learning how to be a star

How Yoga Teacher Training Can Help You Find Your True Calling

Infusing Personality and Charm into Your Houston Home Through Creative Art Pieces

Unveiling Authenticity: How to Leverage ZeroGPT for Detecting AI-Generated Content

5 Myths About Artificial Grass Busted

Navigating Legal Waters: Disability Lawyers Enhancing Hamilton's Business Landscape

Avery Dennison Medical: Innovative Healthcare Solutions with a Twist

Choosing the Right 3D Printing Service: What to Look For and Why It Matters

The Fusion of Art and Storytelling in Online Games: How Artistic Expression Shapes Narrative




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful