Hello! My name is Johan Bark, and I’m a European Theatre Arts student who’s just about to enter my third year. I’m originally from Sweden, but have lived in London for two years now, and I hope to work as a theatre director in the future. I’m going to write a few words about my experiences this past summer. For the second year in a row, I participated in the International Summer Program at the Watermill Center, which is located on Long Island, outside of New York City, USA. A portrait of me, taken at the Watermill Center by Lovis Ostenrik. The Center, and the Summer Program, is run by the American theatre director Robert Wilson. Wilson, who is considered one of the most influential directors of the 20th Century, is perhaps most well-known for his 5 hour long opera Einstein on the Beach, or for his work with artists such as Heiner Müller, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marina Abramovic, Lou Reed and Tom Waits. For a more contemporary audience, he is perhaps more known for his collaboration with Lady GaGa, or for his VOOM (Video) Portraits, featuring portraits of actors and artists such as Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp. Wilson’s primary profession is as a theatre director, directing avant-garde and visual theatre all over the world, but he also have worked as an architect, performer, playwright, lighting- and sound designer, sculptor and curator. As a curator, he has, for example, guest curated a collection at the Louvre in Paris. Robert ”Bob” Wilson. Photo by Lovis Ostenrik. The Watermill Center. Photo by Lovis Ostenrik. Each summer, Robert (or ”Bob” as he insists on being called) invites around 100 artists from over 30 countries to participate in this Summer Program. These artists are everything from dancers, actors and directors to architects, designers and photographers. For five weeks these artists live together, and work on different projects under leadership and guidance of Bob.
Transcript
Hello!
My name is Johan Bark, and I’m a European Theatre Arts student who’s just about to enter my third year. I’m originally from Sweden, but have lived in London for two years now, and I hope to work as a theatre director in the future.
I’m going to write a few words about my experiences this past summer. For the second year in a row, I participated in the International Summer Program at the Watermill Center, which is located on Long Island, outside of New York City, USA.
A portrait of me, taken at the Watermill Center by Lovis Ostenrik.
The Center, and the Summer Program, is run by the American theatre director Robert Wilson. Wilson, who is considered one of the most influential directors of the 20th Century, is perhaps most well-known for his 5 hour long opera Einstein on the Beach, or for his work with artists such as Heiner Müller, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marina Abramovic, Lou Reed and Tom Waits.For a more contemporary audience, he is perhaps more known for his collaboration with Lady GaGa, or for his VOOM (Video) Portraits, featuring portraits of actors and artists such as Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp.Wilson’s primary profession is as a theatre director, directing avant-garde and visual theatre all over the world, but he also have worked as an architect, performer, playwright, lighting- and sound designer, sculptor and curator. As a curator, he has, for example, guest curated a collection at the Louvre in Paris.
Robert ”Bob” Wilson. Photo by Lovis Ostenrik. The Watermill Center. Photo by Lovis Ostenrik.
Each summer, Robert (or ”Bob” as he insists on being called) invites around 100 artists from over 30 countries to participate in this Summer Program. These artists are everything from dancers, actors and directors to architects, designers and photographers. For five weeks these artists live together, and work on different projects under leadership and guidance of Bob.
As previously mentioned, this was my second year, and I returned with bigger responsibilities this year. I was part of the preparation team that prepared the Center before the program started, and I stayed behind to finish up the program after everyone left. This meant that I spent almost 7.5 weeks at the Watermill Center this summer. I had also the role of an assistant this year, working with more responsibility than I had last year.
The first two weeks of the program is spent working on preparing the Center for the Annual Benefit Gala. During these two weeks, the participants assist Bob on different landscaping and construction projects, to completely transform the grounds for the big night.The participants also take part in rehearsals for different installations of live art, that will decorate the grounds during the gala. These installations can be everything from choreographed movement pieces, or music, to performance or text-based work.Some installations are created by participants, and some by external artists that gets invited. This year, the Center had installations from - for example - Pussy Riot, Bruce High Quality Foundation and ANOHNI (formerly frontman of Antony and the Johnsons). I was personally involved in one vocal installation by Bruce High Quality Foundation, based around poetry inspired by the Brussels Terrorist Attacks.
Above: The installation I was involved in. I’m wearing grey, to the left of the door under the bridge. Photo: Lovis Ostenrik.
To the right: Rehearsals for the installation. Photo: Martyna Szczesna.
On the evening of the gala, the Center completely explodes in color and art, with the people of New York and the Hamptons arriving in beautiful dresses and suits, to take part in the mingling, the dinner, and the fundraising auction.
The gala was a success this year, drawing a bigger attendance than ever before, and raising more than 2 million dollars to fund the Center.
The Gala:
Photos by Julian Mommert.
Photos by Maria Baranova.
Above: Photo by Julian Mommert.
To the Left: Photo by Martyna Szczesna.
Following this surreal and amazing evening, the program starts it’s second phase: The Workshop Season. During the last three weeks of the program, Bob invites his collaborators from different future projects that he is involved in, and invites the participants to be involved in the workshops for these projects. During my first year in 2015, I was involved in the workshops for the upcoming theatre productions EDDA (To be staged by Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, Norway) and Sandman (To be staged by the Schauspielhaus in Dusseldorf, Germany). This year I was involved in the workshops for the Stockholm Theatre Museum (To stage an installation based on Bob’s version of Strindberg’s A Dream Play in 2017) and Oedipus Rex (to be staged at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy). These workshops are a great opportunity to learn from theatre professionals already working in the industry, as well as making contacts for the future. These contacts are invaluable and have already been helpful: In September I’m going to go to Paris and be part of the rehearsal process of the Berliner Ensemble, in the beginning of October I will go to Berlin and work an an event, and in February I will go to Oslo, and partake in the final stages of the EDDA rehearsals.
Some of these workshops are ”staging workshops” where Bob uses the actors and dancers to try on choreographies and staging ideas, and some are ”table workshops”, where Bob works on productions in earlier stages - conceiving concept ideas and structures. Staging workshops are more beneficial for performers, whilst the table workshops would be more beneficial for directors. Additionally to this, there were workshops in forthcoming architecture and design projects.Parallell to the Workshop Season, there are lectures organized in the evenings, twice a week.During this Scaler Lecture Series influential artists and scientists are invited to the Center. Last year featured lectures by, for example, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riots and American Composer Philip Glass. This year featured lectures by Dr. Cornel West and Syrian composer Kinan Azmeh.
The participants of the program are also encouraged to organize showings of their work, which they share with the rest of the group. These showings featured performances, lectures and videos of the different artists work.
Me (second from the left) in a workshop with Bob. Photo: Jaqcues-Henri Heim.
A showing of a collaboration between me, Flamenco dancer Casilda Madrazo (Mexico) and Tap Dancer Rodrigo Boecker (Brazil).Photo: Lovis Ostenrik.
At the end of the program there is one final event to be organized. This event is the Discover Watermill Day, an open day event where the community and neighborhoods around the Center are invited to be presented to the work and installations that the participants have been working on. During this day, some of the installations from the Gala are being shown, as well as a few new ones. Additionally to this, some work-in-progress showings from the Staging Workshops are being shown to the public.
Following this event (which is on the second-to-last Sunday of the program) there are a few workshops that are being wrapped up during the last week, before all the artists go their separate ways at the end of the program.It’s always very sad and emotional to say goodbye to these amazing and inspirational people, that you have spent the summer with, but the great memories we shared will always be there to lighten up the departures.
Since I was an assistant this year, I stayed behind for a few days after everyone left, to make sure that the place was clean and cleared after the hectic summer. During the rest of the year the Center offers residencies to companies and artists, that anyone is free to apply for.
Discover Watermill Day:
Francis Wintour in the Water Tank, and me in an Angel-installation by Jacques Reynaud.
A showing of a Staging Workshop.
Krystian Lyson in a dance piece by Marianna Kavallieratos.All Discover Watermill Day Photos are taken by Lovis Ostenrik.
To put the work at the Watermill Center into the context of my studies on the European Theatre Arts program, there are several ways that this program has had positive impact on my personal development. Firstly, Wilson is a practitioner that has been influenced by many practitioners that we study in our first year. He has himself stated that he is influenced by Brecht and Expressionism, and he has himself contributed to the Postmodern movement. Additionally to this he has, as previously mentioned, personally worked with Heiner Müller, and he has also staged several productions of Ancient Greek Theatre, as well as plays by Chekhov.
To see these different styles being staged, and also how they can be used to influence contemporary theatre making in the 21st century, is very similar to what we on the European Theatre Arts programme do when we devise our own pieces.
What Wilson does is that he always puts his own style into these influences that he works with.For a practitioner such as myself, who studies on the European Theatre Arts programme, where we are encouraged to create new, original theatre pieces, this is beneficial as it teaches not just how to work with a source material, but also how to interpret it to create your own, personal response to it.Seeing the influence from all these different artists that we have studied, and how their work and styles can be put into a professional context by a professional theatre artist, is good, as it shows how it can be staged practically - something that is harder to communicate through a book.
Since we were encouraged to propose suggestions of performances for events and showings, it has also enabled me to become more independent as a theatre maker.When making these proposals we have to consider the budget, lights, sound, as well as how to practically realize it through the rehearsals, and actual performance. We also have to be mindful of set and costume (and make these ourselves), as well as the location and space of the installation.This independent way of creating work will be helpful to when I have to do my practical dissertation, later in my third year, as well as when I will enter the actual industry.
Working for the different events, I also have learnt more about lights and sound, as well as the practicalities around a big event, such as safety, security and insurance.These things will be valuable when, for example, I am to stage a show, and need to take these aspects into consideration. Having more knowledge of lights and sound obviously makes it easier for me to communicate with a technical team for a show, as well, as I understand their individual process more.
Wilson’s attention to detail has also taught me patience, when it comes to a process. One day we might have been working on a landscaping project, and you find yourself picking flowers for 12 hours. Initially, you might ask yourself why this is important, and what you can learn from this. But after doing this several times for two years, I realized that this patience and attentive state of mind, can be directly translated into theatre making. Just like a garden needs time to be perfected, so does a theatre piece through endless repetition of rehearsal time, and considerate attention.
The exchange between the participants is also invaluable. Especially for the European Theatre Arts course, where we do exchange programs, and are encouraged to make connections with European theatre companies, the meetings with these different participants are important. Through conversations with these people, you can get an insight into how life as an artist in their country might be, and what the similarities and the differences are. When you collaborate with these people, you learn more about performing arts from a global and international perspective.Since the participants come from so many different disciplines, the work here becomes interdisciplinary, and a tap dancer might influence how a theatre director approaches his work, and vice versa. Being openminded, or receptive, is potentially the most vital thing I have learnt at the Center: Openminded towards other people and their cultures and backgrounds, openminded towards other disciplines and art forms, openminded towards challenges and possibilities, and openminded towards myself, and what I am capable to do. I know that I am now more capable as a theatre director, and these experiences will help me create work with more attention and care, but also with more quality and a sense of professionalism.
I consider myself incredibly fortunate and lucky to have been given the honor and pleasure to be part of the International Summer Program at the Watermill Center. The Program gives it’s participant an unparalleled opportunity to grow both as artists, and as human beings. You learn to take responsibility for your actions, be more disciplined and attentive in your work, and more considerate towards yourself and the people around you.
The participants learns much from Wilson and his collaborators, but I would say that the most invaluable is the exchange between the almost 100 participating artists, who all comes from different parts of the world, different cultures and different art disciplines. In some ways, these people are all my teachers, and they have all taught me to be more open, receptive and humble towards my fellow human beings.Most of these people I would consider friends for life, and nowhere else have I been in a place that is thriving so much with life, ambition, art and culture.I am forever thankful for the memories and experiences that I have shared with the participants of the International Summer Program, and to Robert Wilson for his generosity and mentorship.
The work is intense, some days I started working before 08.00 am and continued till past midnight.But the work is very rewarding, and it has taught me much, and allowed me to grow as an artist. Potentially I might get to go back to the Center for a third year. If this were to be the case, I would say ”Yes” in a heartbeat. The International Summer Program at the Watermill Center is truly a highlight of my year.
Photo: Lovis Ostenrik (above) and Jacques-Henri Heim (Below).
Work in the Watermill Center Gardens. Photo: Kristian Kruuser.
Above: Lecture with Dr. Cornel West (Photo: Lovis Ostenrik) and Bob with collaborators before the Gala (Photo: Jacques-Henri Heim).Below: Choreographer Lucinda Childs in a workshop, and a Movement Workshop during the Morning Meeting (Photos: Lovis Ostenrik).
More information about the Summer Program and the Watermill Center can be found here:
