THEORY OF THE CLOWN


THE CIRCLE

The clown draws a circle. It establishes a new microcosm within the macrocosm, a world we are invited to witness. The invitation follows this first act of encirclement. We are invited to the circus, but not into the circle proper: we are held at a distance. This distance is the pre-requisite for entertainment. Boundaries are maintained even as they are broken.

THE MOUTH

The clown is defined by its mouth. Wide and bloody, its entire body is a mouth. Its being devours the social, the civilized, the codes of the every day. The clown must feed itself, yet is incapable of work; lazy, but not weak. The clown surprises us with its strength and agility, its sense of balance within imbalance. Its play with gravity and time is more skillful than ours, unusual. It seemingly comes from another dimension. This new dimension is at an angle to ours: the crazy line.

CRAZY LINES

Lightning and shock, angles, dimensions, backwards time, spirals and vortices. Geometry of the human form re-arranged. The clown jumps between heaven and earth. It moves in spirals. Behind its mask is the spider: primal weaver of chaos. The crazy lines lead nowhere. As we unravel, the dead lines of our bodies are strung up into new, contorted patterns.

MIMESIS

It mimics us to capture us. We feel ourselves disappear into its devouring mouth. Its self-expression is the expression of our selves. Many voices babble on. The silenced ones appear as deformed creatures, dragging on a groaning dance. It is not its place to tell the truth.


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