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85-500: The Watermill Center is "a laboratory for performance" founded by Robert Wilson in 1992 on the site of a former Western Union research facility. The Watermill Center is located in Water Mill, New York , and was officially opened to the public in 2006. Its programming currently consists of year-round artist residencies and exhibitions, a public summer lecture series, and a collaborative summer program for young and emerging artists from

170-605: A Picture aka Explosion of a memory ) and Quartett . In 1994, he was awarded the IV Europe Theatre Prize . Müller died of throat cancer at the age of 66 in a hospital in Berlin on December 30, 1995. He is buried at Berlin's Dorotheenstadt Cemetery . Müller's grave was designed by his last stage designer Mark Lammert . Over a decade after his death, Müller continues to have an enormous influence on European playwriting, dramaturgy, and performance. In 1998,

255-456: A fifteen-minute wordless prolog. Holmberg describes these works stating, Language does many things and does them well. But we tend to shut our eyes to what language does not do well. Despite the arrogance of words – they rule traditional theatre with an iron fist – not all experience can be translated into a linguistic code. Celebrated twentieth century playwright Eugène Ionesco said that Wilson "surpassed Beckett " because "[Wilson's] silence

340-460: A full-scale model of each prop be constructed before the final one is made, in order "to check proportion, balance, and visual relationships" on stage. Once he has approved the model, the crew builds the prop, and Wilson is "renowned for sending them back again and again and again until they satisfy him". He is so strict in his attention to detail that when Jeff Muscovin, his technical director for Quartett , suggested they use an aluminum chair with

425-401: A goddess who had been standing in the same spot for a thousand years". Allowing an actor to have such stage presence without ever saying a word is very provocative, which is precisely what Wilson means to accomplish with any sense of movement he puts on the stage. Wilson believes that "the most important part of theatre" is light. He is concerned with how images are defined onstage, and this

510-561: A monlogue , Lady from the Sea , and Adam's Passion, with music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt . When Wilson acquired The Watermill Center facilities in 1992, he began a total renovation of the original structure of the Western Union laboratory on which it was founded. The Watermill Center has received numerous accolades and recognitions for its designed minimalism and theatricality. Following certain precepts of Bauhaus design (Wilson

595-496: A renowned autistic poet, has allowed Wilson to attack language from many views. Wilson embraces this by often "juxtaposing levels of diction – Miltonic opulence and contemporary ling, crib poetry and pre-verbal screams" in an attempt to show his audience how elusive language really is and how ever-changing it can be. Visually showing words is another method Wilson uses to show the beauty of language. Often his set designs, program covers, and posters are graffiti'd with words. This allows

680-676: A residency at the television channel LAB HD . Since then Wilson, with producer Esther Gordon and later with Matthew Shattuck, has produced dozens of high-definition videos known as the Voom Portraits . Collaborators on this well-received project included the composer Michael Galasso , the late artist and designer Eugene Tsai, fashion designer Kevin Santos, and lighting designer Urs Schönebaum. In addition to celebrity subjects, sitters have included royalty, animals, Nobel Prize winners and hobos. In 2011, Wilson designed an art park dedicated to

765-506: A series of performances, conversations, film screenings, and discussions. The centerpiece of the residency is a room filled with objects from the artist's personal collection in New York, including African masks, a Shaker chair, ancient Chinese ceramics, shoes worn by Marlene Dietrich and a photo of Wilson and Glass taken in the early 1980s by Robert Mapplethorpe . Wilson lives in New York. As of 2000, he estimated that he "spends 10 days

850-697: A significant contribution to postmodern drama and postdramatic theatre . Müller was born in Eppendorf, Saxony . He joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1946 which was in the course of the forced merger of the KPD and SPD subsumed into the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED). He was soon expelled for lacking enthusiasm and failing to pay dues. In 1954 he became member of

935-474: A span of only ninety minutes. He is a perfectionist, persisting to achieve every aspect of his vision. A fifteen-minute monolog in Quartett took two days for him to light while a single hand gesture took nearly three hours. This attention to detail expresses his conviction that, "light is the most important actor on stage." In a conversation with theater expert Octavian Saiu , Wilson was asked whether he

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1020-749: A telecommunications laboratory for Western Union , and began to stage experimental performances on site. Early collaborators in these works included Trisha Brown and Susan Sontag , and Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs , who had previously collaborated with Wilson on Einstein on the Beach , and others. Author Brad Gooch worked at Watermill on a production of Persephone , staged by Wilson in 1995, and Isabelle Huppert rehearsed her role in Virginia Woolf's Orlando in 1993, returning in 2006 to act in Heiner Müller's Quartet . In 2000 Watermill

1105-550: A variety of disciplines. As a unique center for all the arts working in collaboration, The Watermill Center has been called "the academy of the 21st-Century" by anthropologist Edmund Carpenter , and described by the New York Times as a contemporary " Bayreuth minus the nationalism and the exclusive dedication to the founder's work," In the manner of The Pina Bausch Foundation in Wuppertal , Germany, The Watermill Center

1190-812: A variety of educational programs in service to the public schools in Southampton , East Hampton , Sag Harbor , and The Ross School . In 2008 German artist Jonathan Meese was given carte blanche to create "Marlene Dietrich in Dr. No's Ludovico-Clinic (Dr. Baby's Erzland)", an immersive installation within The Watermill Center. In 2012, The Watermill Center held the first posthumous exhibition for Detroit-born artist Mike Kelley , curated by Harald Falckenberg . The exhibition featured early experimental soundtracks and videos as well as works from Kelley's "Kandor" series. The Exhibition, "Mike Kelley: 1954-2012,"

1275-443: A wood skin rather than a completely wooden chair, Wilson replied: No, Jeff, I want wood chairs. If we make them out of aluminum, they won't sound right when they fall over and hit the floor. They'll sound like metal, not wood. It will sound false. Just make sure you get strong wood. And no knots. Such attention to detail and perfectionism usually resulted in an expensive collection of props. "Curators regard them as sculptures" and

1360-445: A year at his apartment in New York". For many years he was romantically involved with Andy de Groat , a dancer and choreographer with whom he collaborated in the 1970s. Wilson is known for pushing the boundaries of theater. His works are noted for their austere style, very slow movement, and often extreme scale in space or in time. The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin was a 12-hour performance, while KA MOUNTain and GUARDenia Terrace

1445-480: Is "a dialogue with the dead". Heiner Müller's texts have been set by composers on various occasions. One composer with a particularly strong relationship to his output is Heiner Goebbels , who has collaborated with him directly. Goebbels' Müller settings include the radio plays Despoiled Shore ( Verkommenes Ufer , 1984), The Liberation of Prometheus ( Die Befreiung des Prometheus , 1985), Volokolamsk Highway ( Wolokolamsker Chausse , 1989/90) and The Man in

1530-455: Is "the only major director to get billing as a lighting designer" and is recognized by some as "the greatest light artist of our time". He designs with light to be flowing rather than an off-and-on pattern, thus making his lighting "like a musical score." Wilson's lighting designs feature "dense, palpable textures" and allow "people and objects to leap out from the background. In his design for Quartett , Wilson used four hundred light cues in

1615-419: Is a silence that speaks". This silence onstage may be unnerving to audience members but serves a purpose of showing how important language is by its absence. It is Wilson's means of answering his own question: "Why is it no one looks? Why is it no one knows how to look? Why does no one see anything on stage?" Another technique Wilson uses is that of what words can mean to a particular character. His piece, I

1700-687: Is best known for his collaboration with Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs on Einstein on the Beach , and his frequent collaborations with Tom Waits . In 1991, Wilson established The Watermill Center , "a laboratory for performance" on the East End of Long Island , New York, regularly working with opera and theater companies, as well as cultural festivals. Wilson "has developed as an avant-garde artist specifically in Europe amongst its modern quests, in its most significant cultural centers, galleries, museums, opera houses and theaters, and festivals". Wilson

1785-428: Is both a study center for research on Wilson's theater and a workspace for creative development. Wilson himself has described Watermill as "a think tank, a contemplative arcade where all kinds of different things can happen." The Watermill Center is home to The Robert Wilson Archive, The Watermill Study Library, and The Watermill Collection, with notable works of art from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, indigenous peoples of

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1870-490: Is dedicated to a permanent exhibition for the work of American artist Paul Thek . Robert Wilson (director) Robert Wilson (born October 4, 1941) is an American experimental theater stage director and playwright who has been described by The New York Times as "[America]'s – or even the world's – foremost vanguard 'theater artist. ' " He has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video artist , and sound and lighting designer . Wilson

1955-435: Is disturbed by the fact that his style is often imitated. His response was that "the world is a library", and therefore every artist is free to borrow from other artists. Wilson's interest in design extends to the props in his productions, which he designs and sometimes participates in constructing. Whether it is furniture, a light bulb, or a giant crocodile, Wilson treats each as a work of art in its own right. He demands that

2040-445: Is interpreting a text. They worry about how to speak words and know nothing about their bodies. You see that by the way they walk. They don't understand the weight of a gesture in space. A good actor can command an audience by moving one finger. This emphasis on silence is fully explored in some of his works. Deafman Glance is a play without words, and his adaptation of Heiner Müller 's play Quartet  [ de ] contained

2125-476: Is related to the light of an object or tableau. He feels that the lighting design can really bring the production to life. The set designer for Wilson's the CIVIL warS , Tom Kamm, describes his philosophy: "a set for Wilson is a canvas for the light to hit like paint." He explains, "If you know how to light, you can make shit look like gold. I paint, I build, I compose with light. Light is a magic wand." Wilson

2210-400: Is situated within a ten-acre (4.0 ha) campus of gardens and designed landscape, and contains numerous works of art collected by Wilson. Heiner M%C3%BCller Heiner Müller ( German: [haɪnɐ mʏlɐ] ; 9 January 1929 – 30 December 1995) was a German (formerly East German ) dramatist , poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. His "enigmatic, fragmentary pieces" are

2295-1144: The Bruce High Quality Foundation in 2016, Kembra Pfahler in 2012, Genesis P-Orridge in 2010, Brazilian street artists OSGEMEOS in 2005, Chinese artist Cao Fei in 2004, American sculptor Carol Ross in 2013, Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera , Russian performance artist Andrey Bartenev . Artists who have worked and exhibited at Watermill include: Nari Ward , Cory Arcangel , Liz Glynn , Misaki Kawai , Peter Coffin , CocoRosie , Ragnar Kjartansson , Christopher Knowles , Ryan McNamara, John Bock , Sue de Beer , Matt Mullican , Shirin Neshat , William Pope.L , Alvin Baltrop , Tilda Swinton , Jorinde Voigt , Alvin Lucier , Tony Matelli , Lucinda Childs , Jim Jarmusch , Oliver Beer , Stephen Laub , Kirk Knight , Cleon Peterson , Jack Ferver , Tori Wraanes , Noel McKenna , Enric Ruiz Geli , and Wang Qingsong . One gallery of The Watermill Center

2380-951: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao . His tribute to Isamu Noguchi was exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum and his Voom Portraits exhibition traveled to Hamburg, Milan, Miami, and Philadelphia. In 2012, Times Square Arts invited Wilson to show selections from his three-minute video portraits on more than twenty digital screens that lined Times Square. In 2013 he participated at the White House Biennial / Thessaloniki Biennale 4. He collaborated with artist Bettina WitteVeen on an exhibition space based on her photography book "Sacred Sister." The book consisted of photos of women that WitteVeen captured in Indonesia and Southeast Asia in 1995. The exhibition space

2465-544: The Paula Cooper Gallery , Wilson's storyboards were described by one critic as "serial art, equivalent to the slow-motion tempo of [Wilson's] theatrical style. In drawing after drawing after drawing, a detail is proposed, analyzed, refined, redefined, moved through various positions." He won the Golden Lion at the 1993 Venice Biennale for a sculptural installation. In 2004, Ali Hossaini offered Wilson

2550-724: The Shinnecock Indian Nation , British sound artist Oliver Beer , artist Geoffrey Farmer (Canadian Pavilion commission for the 2017 Venice Biennale ), American author Ishmael Reed and German artist Jorinde Voigt . Artist residencies culminate with "In Process" events, which are open to the public. With over 100 participating artists annually, the International Summer Program is an alternative approach to arts education, defying method-learning and academicism in favor of collaboration and experimentation. The Watermill Center's Fellowship program

2635-697: The Stasi would keep it secret. Due to his growing worldwide fame, Müller was able to regain acceptance in East Germany. He was admitted to the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin in 1984 – only two years before he became a member of parallel West Berlin academy. Despite earlier honors, Müller was not readmitted to the East German Writers' Association until 1988, shortly before the end of the GDR. After

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2720-551: The 1990s: Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights (1992), Four Saints in Three Acts (1996), and Saints and Singing (1998). Wilson considers language and, down to its very ingredients, words, as a sort of "a social artifact". Not only does language change with time but it changes with person, with culture. Using his experience of working with mentally handicapped children and enlisting the collaboration of Christopher Knowles ,

2805-541: The Arctic, pre-modern China, and Shaker furniture , as well as works of modern and contemporary artists and designers like Paul Thek , Robert Mapplethorpe , Christopher Knowles , Donald Judd , Gio Ponti , Josef Hoffmann , and Wilson. In 2013, The Louvre Museum in Paris staged "Living Rooms," a major exhibition incorporating works from The Watermill Collection throughout the museum's galleries. The Watermill Center has been

2890-623: The Byrds and started to use professional actors. In 1983/84, Wilson planned a performance for the 1984 Summer Olympics , the CIVIL warS : A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down ; the complete work was to have been 12 hours long, in 6 parts. The production was only partially completed; the full event was canceled by the Olympic Arts Festival, due to insufficient funds. In 1986, the Pulitzer Prize jury unanimously selected

2975-683: The CIVIL warS for the drama prize, but the supervisory board rejected the choice and gave no drama award that year. In 1990 alone, Wilson created four new productions in four different West German cities: Shakespeare's King Lear in Frankfurt, Chekhov's Swan Song in Munich, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando in West Berlin, and The Black Rider a collaboration by Wilson, Tom Waits and William S. Burroughs , in Hamburg. In 1997, he

3060-653: The Center officially opened as a year-round facility.The Watermill Center provides artists with time, space, and freedom to work in a communal environment that encourages experimentation. Artist residents share their creative process with the community through open rehearsals, workshops, and artist talks. The Watermill Center hosts over 200 artists every year as part of its interdisciplinary Artist in Residence program. Combining international outreach with support for local practitioners, previous residencies have featured artists from

3145-509: The Elevator ( Der Mann im Fahrstuhl , 1988). In terms of plays turned into operas , Wolfgang Rihm created his version of Die Hamletmaschine in 1987, Pascal Dusapin composed a Medeamaterial ( fr ) in 1992, and Luca Francesconi 's adaptation of Quartett ( de ) was premiered in 2011. The Slovenian industrial music group Laibach also collaborated with Müller in his lifetime, and released an album based on in his texts under

3230-520: The English speaking world in the mid- and late 1970s; Müller's controversial play Mauser was first performed in 1975 in Austin, Texas . On 17 November 1976, Müller signed together with eleven other writers and artists the petition against the expatriation of Wolf Biermann . Like several others of the signatories, Müller withdrew his signature on 25 November, according to Biermann on the condition that

3315-564: The Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala (1915–1985), situated in the Arabianranta district of Helsinki. His plans for the rectangular park feature a central square divided into nine equally sized fields separated by bushes. Each field will be installed with objects related to the home. For example, one unit will consist of a small fireplace surrounded by stones that serve as seating. The park will be lit by large, lightbox-style lamps build into

3400-782: The German Writers' Association ( Deutscher Schriftstellerverband ). Müller became one of the most important dramatists of the German Democratic Republic and won the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1959 and the Kleist Prize in 1990. His relationship with the East German state began to deteriorate, however, with his drama Die Umsiedlerin  [ de ] ( The Resettler Woman ) which was censored in 1961 after only one performance. Müller

3485-658: The Nancy Festival in France and to the Brooklyn Academy of Music . It later opened in Paris, championed by the designer Pierre Cardin . The Surrealist poet Louis Aragon loved it and published a letter to the Surrealist poet André Breton (who had died in 1966), in which he praised Wilson as: "What we, from whom Surrealism was born, dreamed would come after us and go beyond us". In 1975, Wilson dissolved

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3570-697: The United States was 21 years ago. As of 2010, he continued to direct revivals of his most celebrated productions, including The Black Rider in London, San Francisco, Sydney, Australia, and Los Angeles; The Temptation of St. Anthony in New York and Barcelona; Erwartung in Berlin; Madama Butterfly at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow; and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Wilson also directs all Monteverdi operas for

3655-633: The West: this includes Germania Death in Berlin , which was first performed in 1978 at the Munich Kammerspiele . Heiner Müller himself directed a production of The Mission ( Der Auftrag ) in Bochum in 1982. In Paris, Jean Jourdheuil  [ fr ] directed the world premiere of Die Hamletmaschine ( The Hamletmachine ) in 1979. English translations, first by Helen Fehervary and Marc Silberman, then by Carl Weber , introduced Müller to

3740-421: The audience to look at the "language itself" rather than "the objects and meanings it refers to.". The lack of language is essential to Wilson's work as well. In the same way an artist uses positive and negative space, Wilson uses noise and silence. In working on a production of King Lear , Wilson inadvertently describes his necessity of silence: The way actors are trained here is wrong. All they think about

3825-480: The benefit has featured performances by the likes of Rufus Wainwright , and CocoRosie , with installations of artwork by Dieter Meier , Lady Gaga , Jonathan Meese , Daniel Arsham , Pussy Riot , and others. A public forum featuring prominent figures in the arts, design, and science, including: Philip Glass , Pussy Riot , Fern Mallis , Jeffrey A. Hoffman , Marina Abramović , Cornel West , Hilton Als , Daniel Libeskind , and others. The Watermill Center hosts

3910-404: The body that have nothing to do with what we say. It's more interesting if the mind and the body are in two different places, occupying different zones of reality. These rhythms keep the mind on its toes, consciously and subconsciously taking in the meanings behind the movement and how it is matching up with the language. Similar to Wilson's use of the lack of language in his works, he also sees

3995-502: The early 1970s, creating Einstein on the Beach with composer Philip Glass and choreographer Lucinda Childs . This work brought the artists worldwide renown. Following Einstein , Wilson worked increasingly with major European theaters and opera houses. For the New York debut of his first opera, the Metropolitan Opera allowed Wilson to rent the house on a Sunday, when they did not have a production, but would not produce

4080-953: The fall of the Wall, Müller became final president of the DDR Academy of the Arts from 1990 until its 1993 merger with the western academy. In 1993 it was alleged that Müller worked from 1979 to 1990 as unofficial collaborator (an informant ) under the code name "Heiner" for the East-German Stasi . Müller, who at the time was not a member of the East German Communist Party or the East German Deutscher Schriftstellerverband , admitted that he had contact with Stasi officials, but never provided any material. In 1992, he

4165-481: The ground and by smaller ones modeled on ordinary floor lamps. In 2013 American pop singer Lady Gaga announced that she would collaborate with Wilson as part of her ARTPOP project. He subsequently designed the set for her 2013 MTV Video Music Awards performance. Wilson also suggested that Gaga pose for his Voom Portraits. Knowing he had an upcoming residency as guest curator at the Louvre , Wilson chose themes from

4250-478: The importance of movement in Wilson's works, Seth Goldstein , another actor in the CIVIL warS , stated "every movement from the moment I walked onto the platform until I left was choreographed to the second. During the scene at table all I did was count movements. All I thought about was timing." When it comes time to add the text in with movement, there is still much work to be done. Wilson pays close attention to

4335-409: The importance that a lack of movement can have. In his production of Medea , Wilson arranged a scene in which the lead singer stood still during her entire aria while many others moved around her. Wilson recalls that "she complained that if I didn't give her any movements, no one would notice her. I told her if she knew how to stand, everyone would watch her. I told her to stand like a marble statue of

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4420-601: The janitor danced dressed as Miss America". During this period, he also attended lectures by Sibyl Moholy-Nagy (widow of László Moholy-Nagy ), and studied painting with artist George McNeil . In 1968, he founded an experimental performance company, the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds (named for a teacher who helped him manage a stutter while a teenager). With this company, he directed his first major works, beginning with 1969's The King of Spain and The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud . He began to work in opera in

4505-500: The journal New German Critique devoted a special issue to his work. He is the only playwright to have ever received such an honor. In 2009, one of Europe’s leading intellectual publishing houses, Suhrkamp , issued the final three volumes in a twelve-volume edition of Müller's collected works. Müller has also paved the way for a new generation of directors, playwrights, and dramaturgs who regard themselves as "samplers". Müller adopted Brecht's notion of Kopien (German for "copying"),

4590-521: The kitchen floor in the dark of night and you're barefoot. So Bob clears a path he can walk through words without getting hurt. Bob changes the values and shapes of words. In some sense they take on more meaning; in some cases, less. Wilson shows the importance of language through all of his works and in many varying fashions. He credits his reading of the work of Gertrude Stein and listening to recordings of her speaking with "changing [his] way of thinking forever." Wilson directed three of Stein's works in

4675-480: The last half-decade of his life, Müller also worked towards transforming the interview into a literary genre. Among his better known works, other than those already mentioned, are Der Lohndrücker ( The Scab ), Wolokolamsker Chaussee ( Volokolamsk Highway ) Parts I–V, Verkommenes Ufer Medeamaterial Landschaft mit Argonauten ( Despoiled Shore Medea Material Landscape with Argonauts ), Philoktet ( Philoctetes ), Zement ( Cement ), Bildbeschreibung ( Description of

4760-473: The late 1960s. In 1962, Wilson founded the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, a performance company which collaborated on all of his early works, including Deafman Glance, The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud, The King of Spain, The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin , and KA MOUNTAIN and GUARDenia Terrace . Notable collaborators of the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds included Gordon Matta Clark , Jack Smith , Sheryl Sutton , and Jerome Robbins . During this period, Robbins

4845-587: The logic of association, rather than linear "dramatic" narrative. Jonathan Kalb , theater critic for The New York Times , describes Müller's legacy on theatre as replacing the "closed" didactical form of the Brechtian parable with "open" dramatic forms offering multiple meanings based, in Hans-Thies Lehmann's words, on a surreal "montage dramaturg ... in which the reality-level of characters and events vacillates hazily between life and dream and

4930-503: The museum's collection, all dealing with death. They shot the videos in a London studio over three days, Gaga standing for 14 or 15 hours at a time. Called "Living Rooms," the resulting exhibition included two video works: one inspired by Jacques-Louis David 's The Death of Marat , hung in the painting galleries, and another in which Lady Gaga brings to life a painting by Ingres . In the Louvre's auditorium, Wilson hosted and took part in

5015-425: The necessity of it. In his auditions, "Wilson often does an elaborate movement sequence" and "asks the actor to repeat it." Thomas Derrah , an actor in the CIVIL warS , found the audition process to be baffling: "When I went in, [Wilson] asked me to walk across the room on a count of 31, sit down on a count of 7, put my hand to my forehead on a count of 59. I was mystified by the whole process". To further cement

5100-795: The opera houses of La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris. In 2021 Wilson directed a revival of Shakespeare's The Tempest at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre in Sofia , Bulgaria . In 2022 he directed UBU , a theatrical performance, premiered at Es Baluard Museu in Palma . In addition to his work for the stage, Wilson has created sculpture, drawings, and furniture designs. Exhibited in December 1976 at

5185-436: The practice of regarding texts by others as material to be used, imitated, and rewritten. In regards to Brecht's own oeuvre, Müller stated "To use Brecht without criticizing him is treason." For Müller, the work of other writers and artists was not seen as private property; it was to be used as raw material for his own work. Thus, Müller's work in the theater marks the beginning of a tradition of densely poetic dramaturgy based in

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5270-529: The prayer box." He was stuttering and taken to a local dance instructor called Bird "Baby" Hoffman, who helped him overcome his stutter. After attending local schools, he studied business administration at the University of Texas from 1959 to 1962. He moved to Brooklyn , New York in 1963 to change fields, study art and architecture. At some point he went to Arizona to study architecture with Paolo Soleri at his desert complex. Wilson found himself drawn to

5355-719: The props have been sold for prices ranging from "$ 4,500 to $ 80,000." Extensive retrospectives have been presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1991) and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1991). He has presented installations at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam , Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (1993), London's Clink Street Vaults (1995), Neue Nationalgalerie (2003), and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and

5440-518: The same monologue twice." Rather than tell his audience what words are supposed to mean, he opens them up for interpretation, presenting the idea that "meanings are not tethered to words like horses to hitching posts." Movement is a key element in Wilson's work. As a dancer, he sees the importance of the way an actor moves onstage and knows the weight that movement bears. When speaking of his "play without words" rendition of Ibsen 's When We Dead Awaken , Wilson says: I do movement before we work on

5525-775: The site of exhibitions of artists such as Mike Kelley , Jonathan Meese , and Dieter Meier . In 2015, the Inga Maren Otto Fellowship was established to support international artists-in-residence at the Watermill Center. The Watermill Center is operated by the Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation , a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization chartered in 1969 in the State of New York. Robert Wilson first created performance works specific to sites on Eastern Long Island in

5610-410: The stage becomes a hotbed of spirits and quotes outside any homogeneous notion of space and time." In reference to Müller, Tony Kushner declared, "Write into the void, learn to embrace isolation, in which we may commence undistractedly our dreadful but all-important dialogue with the dead. Forget about love and turn your face to history." With Müller's work, theater is a forum for examining history; it

5695-439: The text and still makes sure there is enough "space around a text" for the audience to soak it up. At this point, the actors know their movements and the time in which they are executed, allowing Wilson to tack the actions onto specific pieces of text. His overall goal is to have the rhythm of the text differ from that of the movement so his audience can see them as two completely different pieces, seeing each as what it is. When in

5780-477: The text. Later we'll put text and movement together. I do movement first to make sure it's strong enough to stand on its own two feet without words. The movement must have a rhythm and structure of its own. It must not follow the text. It can reinforce a text without illustrating it. What you hear and what you see are two different layers. When you put them together, you create another texture. With such an emphasis on movement, Wilson even tailors his auditions around

5865-424: The text/movement stage, Wilson often interrupts the rehearsal, saying things like "Something is wrong. We have to check your scripts to see if you put the numbers in the right place." He goes on to explain the importance of this: I know it's hell to separate text and movement and maintain two different rhythms. It takes time to train yourself to keep tongue and body working against each other. But things happen with

5950-426: The work by the Russian author Daniil Kharms . The play premiered at MIF13, Manchester International Festival. Wilson wrote that he and Baryshnikov had discussed creating a play together for years, perhaps based on a Russian text. The final production included dance, light, singing and bilingual monolog. Since 1999, Wilson has premiered nine theatrical works in Berlin. By contrast, as of 2013, his last commission in

6035-401: The work of pioneering choreographers George Balanchine , Merce Cunningham , and Martha Graham , among others. He engaged in therapeutic theater work with brain-injured and disabled children in New York. He received a BFA in architecture from the Pratt Institute in 1965. He directed a "ballet for iron-lung patients where the participants moved a fluorescent streamer with their mouths while

6120-468: The work. In 1970, Wilson and a group of collaborators, including choreographer Andy deGroat and the dancer and actor Sheryl Sutton, devised the "silent opera" Deafman Glance in Iowa City , where it premiered at the Center for New Performing Arts on December 15. The large cast of the premiere production of Deafman Glance included Raymond Andrews and Ana Mendieta . The show subsequently traveled to

6205-535: Was a student of Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, architectural scholar and spouse to Bauhaus artist László Moholy-Nagy ), Watermill's design influences also include the traditional architecture of Indonesia, as well as certain structural ideas Wilson incorporates in his theater productions. The Watermill Center is situated on a 10-acre campus consisting of gardens, natural environments, and permanent installations of wooden sculptures and megalithic stones from Indonesia. The Watermill Center’s Artist Residency Program began in 2006 when

6290-703: Was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize . In 1998, Wilson staged August Strindberg's A Dream Play , at Stockholms Stadsteater, Sweden. It later headlined festivals in Recklinghausen, Nice, Perth, Bonn, Moscow, New York and London. In 2010 Wilson was working on a new stage musical with composer (and long-time collaborator) Tom Waits and the Irish playwright, Martin McDonagh . His theatrical production of John Cage 's Lecture on Nothing , which

6375-485: Was born in Waco, Texas , the son of Loree Velma (née Hamilton) and D.M. Wilson, a lawyer. He had a difficult youth as the gay son of a conservative family. "When I was growing up, it was a sin to go to the theater. It was a sin if a woman wore pants. There was a prayer box in school, and if you saw someone sinning you could put their name in the prayer box, and on Fridays everyone would pray for those people whose names were in

6460-673: Was commissioned for a celebration of the Cage centenary at the 2012 Ruhrtriennale , had its U.S. premiere in Royce Hall , UCLA, by the Center for the Art of Performance. Wilson performed Lectures on Nothing in its Australian premiere at the 2019 Supersense festival at the Arts Centre Melbourne . In 2013 Wilson, in collaboration with Mikhail Baryshnikov and co-starring Willem Dafoe , developed The Old Woman , an adaptation of

6545-469: Was creating Watermill , a ballet with music by Teiji Ito , with early rehearsals and workshops taking place outdoors in Water Mill , New York. Wilson was Robbins's assistant at the time. Previously, Wilson had apprenticed under architect Paolo Soleri at the experimental community of Arcosanti in Arizona. In 1992, Wilson acquired The Watermill Center's current facilities, which had previously housed

6630-473: Was established with a gift by philanthropist Inga Maren Otto. 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 Every summer since 1993, the Watermill Center has hosted an outdoor performance festival showcasing the work of hundreds of young artists and drawing an audience of notable guests from New York and elsewhere. Called "without a doubt, the most creative art event for the Hamptons summer colony," by the New York Times,

6715-573: Was expelled from the Writers' Association in the same year. The East German government remained wary of Müller in subsequent years, preventing the premiere of Der Bau ( Construction Site ) in 1965 and censoring his Mauser  [ de ] in the early 1970s. Yet despite these hardships, Müller's work began to gain popularity both in West Germany and internationally at this time. Many of his best-known plays from this period were premiered in

6800-783: Was invited to join the directorate of the Berliner Ensemble , Brecht 's former company at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm , as one of its five members along with Peter Zadek , Peter Palitzsch , Fritz Marquardt  [ de ] and Matthias Langhoff  [ de ] . In 1995, shortly before his death, Müller was appointed as the theatre's sole artistic director. During the last five years of his life, Müller continued to live in Berlin and work all over Germany and Europe, mostly directing productions of his own works. He wrote few new dramatic texts in this time, though, like Brecht, he did produce much poetry in his final years. In

6885-652: Was set up in 2003 at Art Basel Miami Beach, and was also composed of layers of autumn leaves on the floor of a studio. Wilson is represented exclusively and worldwide by RW Work, Ltd. (New York), and his gallerist in New York City is Paula Cooper Gallery . In 1991 Wilson established The Watermill Center on the site of a former Western Union laboratory on the East End of Long Island , New York. Originally styled as "a laboratory for performance", The Watermill Center operates year-round artist residencies, public education programs, exhibitions, and performances. The center

6970-457: Was sitting on my patio this guy appeared I thought I was hallucinating , features only two characters, both of whom deliver the same stream-of-consciousness monolog. In the play's first production one character was "aloof, cold, [and] precise" while the other "brought screwball comedy … warmth and color … playful[ness]". The different emphases and deliveries brought to the monolog two different meanings; "audiences found it hard to believe they heard

7055-759: Was staged on a mountaintop in Iran and lasted seven days. Language is one of the most important elements of theater and Robert Wilson feels at home with commanding it in many different ways. Wilson's impact on this part of theater alone is immense. Arthur Holmberg, professor of theater at Brandeis University , says that "In theatre, no one has dramatized the crisis of language with as much ferocious genius as Robert Wilson." Wilson makes it evident in his work that whats and whys of language are terribly important and cannot be overlooked. Tom Waits , acclaimed songwriter and collaborator with Wilson, said this about Wilson's unique relationship with words: Words for Bob are like tacks on

7140-479: Was the origin point for a production of Lady from the Sea and in 2003–04, Wilson's epic theater work I La Galigo with a cast of 53 Indonesian actors was developed there. Other notable productions initiated by Wilson with students at The Watermill Center include Time Rocker with music by Lou Reed , Jean Genet's Les Negres , Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros , Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata , Claudio Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea , HAMLET:

7225-564: Was voted "Best show in a non-profit gallery or alternative space" in 2012 by the International Association of Art Critics . In 2014 The Watermill Center held the first American exhibition of Robert Wilson's Video Portraits of Lady Gaga . The exhibition had debuted in 2013 at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Other notable exhibitions and installations include "As We Lay Dying", a large scale theatrical installation by

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