Sex, Love, Murder, Suicide, Prostitution, What Does Opera Not Have?

Wow, yesteday's class… I'm still speechless (we saw a piece of Madame Butterfly whoo! I was so excited; I’ve made my decision, I’m so writing my paper on that opera, I mean it was an obvious one yes?)

Seeing the pieces of all those operas and the Aria film seemed to take hold of all emotional capacity within my soul. I mean Mozart’s works was as powerful, but somehow the operas just sent a huge strike into my heart; especially the part of the Aria film with the couple. In the beginning, you’re trying to tie in the composition into the film and you’re watching, waiting… I was expecting it to have been a memory or something tragic would happen to the couple, or a car accident Possibly. Your trying to get your mind around it, then it was that moment in the bath… I thought for a few seconds he had killed her, then to my surprise, wrists + blood, and even now that was still a shocking moment that was hard to endure.

Although cutting is such a common thing seen in art forms and in various media, it still makes me squemish. It puts me in a situation that as someone who knew someone who used to do that, it hit home completely and I felt the pain for those first seconds. Not just the emotional pain of seeing someone you love hurt themselves, but the piece of glass cutting into my skin and I felt so nauseated and wanted to just cry. I Have that say that small film used the music completely appropriately, especially if you know the tune and are sitting, listening to it thinking ‘ok, that’s going to happen next’ then you see that particular moment and your whole world just falls apart because it’s such an intimate moment that turned into something so dark, but beautiful in a sense. Yes I am a freak and I like blood its pretty, but on a serious note, it reminds us of the sublime complexity of life and death. Death, although sad, is so beautiful. It is, you see these natures of people that come out is like an art form especially when it involves death. The one opera (Salome?) was having an intimate moment with John the Baptist’s head, yes it was gross and disturbing, but its that nature that is something we all consume in a way. I firmly believe everyone has a sadistic, sexually craved, murderous intent in them somewhere and a fond love of death. It’s a cruel outlook I know, but I believe some of us hide it better then others. I can say for myself I have so many personalities when it comes to my art, my personal life, my family life, my friend life.. it’s like when we watch opera, we connect by finding ourselves somehow and creating this connection we find a way to express that inner turmoil we try desperately to hide from the world, especially the person next to me. Especially Madame Butterfly, as I said before in my other post that one composition stuck in my head, and it was there again after just listening to it one more time. It’s so sublime (yes I love that word, it makes me feel intelligent), but it’s like an inner cord struck and your brought back to a place, or a memory. You become the character, and their words become yours, it was more than beautiful, I can’t even describe the words for it.

I wish I could type more to it, but I guess the pieces became more of an, emotional therapy for me. It has been a long time since I really appreciate art by just observing and watching, so I think i'll go find a copy of Madame Butterfly, and a bunch of the other operas and just have a night to watch them all… Well the show must go on, now unto Broadway!

Oh yes one last thing incase any of you would like to see, I got bored while looking up things on Youtube, and I found this niffty animation of 'Madame Buttefly'. Its from a film Called "Aria" by Pjotr Sapegin (not the same one we saw in class just so you know). In the beginning I thought it was a parody since it was done with figures (obviously been watching too much robot chicken), but you continue on to realize it was an adaptation of the opera in a really interesting way.

Just click here to watch the short film.

Opera Anyone?

I can first off say, I used to never be a fan of Opera. Broadway sure, I mean who hasn’t tried to reenact that scene from Chorus Line when they see a top hat and start blurting out ‘one, singular sensation!’? I have, and trust me I have gotten a lot of mixed reviews from the audience at the stores I have been at while shopping. I mean yes my mother laughs and gets a kick out of it, but otherwise, yes I am that weird, but I’m very proud of it. I grew up knowing of course about Rocky Horror Picture show, and a few others, but I just never really was into Opera for a while. My first experience wasn’t really a ‘go to the theatre, dress up, and go see the opera’ type of experience, it was in a movie I had grown fond of at an early age. That wonderful movie is Fatal Attraction. I know that’s such an 80’s movie (but I’m a 80’s freak, I still think Don Johnson was hot as Sonny James Crockett and Phillip Michael Thomas was hot as Ricardo Tubbs from Miami Vice so, yeah now you understand why I’m totally weird). My point is, while watching the film, I remember Gwen Close’s character talking to Michael Douglas’s character about ‘Madame Butterfly’. I remember that particular composition playing and how that played a huge deal in the movie. Since then, I’ve started to grow fond of it and I have always wanted to see it, but have missed it on PBS and when it played in the theatre so hopefully sometime I can finally experience it. Hey that’s what being in Tampa is for, in Key West, although it was big community for the arts, only certain kinds of shows would come. I mean yes they had Rocky Horror, Little shop of Horrors, ballet, and a few other things, but that was really it.

So in class, seeing Amadeus, I couldn’t help but to crack a laugh. My mother introduced the movie to me during the fall (and yes I liked it, a lot) since she hadn’t seen it in a long time, along that with Jesus Christ Super Star (she’s the reason I’m even into plays, thanks to her I have a love for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, HAIR (the original 1968 Broadway cast is just to me gives off the feeling of the revolution of the 60’s), Chorus Line (same in liking the original cast, it just has more feeling, well I think so), RENT, Hairspray, and a few others… But, I think re-watching the film in class made me really appreciate Mozart. I mean yes I have listened to classical music, but like most people I only know the compositions, but not the composers of the work. So to hear Bach and Mozart’s operas became a touching experience when you’re in that particular mood of wanting to analyze and enjoy the moment. It was easier to do it then since when I had seen it with my mother it was more so of a laid-back feeling and just watching a film and not really appreciating the compositions, so it was good I finally got un-lazy I did that for class.

So hopefully sometime, I’ll get to see Madame Butterfly, even though I’ve made a small leap in seeing shows at a theatre and for my birthday I’m going to see Spamalot (I know, but c’mon Monty Python is awesome) and would be into the ‘popular’ section of our discussion about the arts in opera and theatre, but I’m like a lot of people I need entertainment in that particular way sometimes, but at the same time a bit of culture works so I like to live on both ends of the spectrum.

Why Squid 4 U, You Ask?

My name's Kristin even though my friends call me Ichi, it's easy, simple, it sounds cool and it's mysterious...(ok not really). The first thing i can about me is I suck at jokes, but let's pretend I'm good for 5 seconds just to get passed the introduction. A little about who I am is mostly I'm an artist with a primary focus in photography along with my other loves which is writing, drawing, reading, all the lovely activities lazy people do 24/7. Mostly though, I have an obsession with squids and often I like to represent them in my work or use patterns since i relate a lot to Japanese wood block prints. From growing up in Key West and having Peter Benchley as my favorite writer... these things create the strangest fascinations.

On a serious note, I enjoyed the first class. Not just for our professor using bad language (whoo!), but the conversation we had about the definition of multimedia. Now I may sound completely stupid for saying this, but I originally grew up thinking multimedia was completely electronic based. Instead, it’s beyond that and really about a sense of evolution. As an artist, sometimes you forget that complex theories and technology gave way to movements in the art world (as a photographer, that’s kind of shameful on my part), and especially it shows into looking into theatre as related to the clips we saw on Tuesday. I really enjoyed the lecture. I got a better understanding of the Baroque movement and the ideals of creating a ‘controlled nature’; it dumbfounds me that technology had a HUGE part to the movements. Someone definitely hit me with a stupid stick before coming to UT.

What I expect from the class is more so of a personal growth. After I go and get a masters degree not too far off after I get my bachelors, I really would like to enter the art world and I feel so before I do I need to have a better understanding of the contemporary world before I step into it. In taking this class, just from the first day, I firmly believe I’ll understand the world I want to enter into someday. I only have a somewhat brief knowledge of the classical masters and that of some of the modern artists that have shaped the world now like Pollack and Warhol vs. that of contemporary artists in this day and age. So from this class I really do expect to learn a lot about the world now and how technology makes the contemporary art world go round through it’s evolution and I’m really excited about this semester. I hope to get outside of my creative box and find new ways to express myself and importantly, I can’t wait for the interesting discussions and commentary we’ll have in class.