Allegory for a Rock Opera
Nuit Blanche 2010 (Curated by Sarah Robayo Sheridan)
October 2nd, 2010
In the early 19th century, Italian opera was exported to North American audiences in an attempt to educate the 'working class' through 'high art'. During this period, opera scores were translated and edited to include Irish and English Hymns; the birth of sampling in popular music. Starting at 7:00 PM, on the half hour legendary ballads of working class hero Bruce Springsteen unraveled at Nuit Blanche 2010 Historical and popular ephemera fused in a satirical hodge-podge of visual and aural samples. Eighties' comedies were positioned beside contemporary examples of 20th century art and 19th century fashion, all of which posed contradictions to our popular understanding of the working class. The resulting performances featured two Springsteen-esque Dandies locked in an operatic loop; one side romantic comedy, one side epic tragedy. Audience members watched and listened as a working-class sub-history unfolded before their very eyes through an Italian-Operatic interpretation of Bruce Springsteen's epic ballads Born to Run and Born in the USA. Complete with Astro Turf and white picket fence the stage transformed into a sculptural caricature of the suburban archetype.
October 2nd, 2010
In the early 19th century, Italian opera was exported to North American audiences in an attempt to educate the 'working class' through 'high art'. During this period, opera scores were translated and edited to include Irish and English Hymns; the birth of sampling in popular music. Starting at 7:00 PM, on the half hour legendary ballads of working class hero Bruce Springsteen unraveled at Nuit Blanche 2010 Historical and popular ephemera fused in a satirical hodge-podge of visual and aural samples. Eighties' comedies were positioned beside contemporary examples of 20th century art and 19th century fashion, all of which posed contradictions to our popular understanding of the working class. The resulting performances featured two Springsteen-esque Dandies locked in an operatic loop; one side romantic comedy, one side epic tragedy. Audience members watched and listened as a working-class sub-history unfolded before their very eyes through an Italian-Operatic interpretation of Bruce Springsteen's epic ballads Born to Run and Born in the USA. Complete with Astro Turf and white picket fence the stage transformed into a sculptural caricature of the suburban archetype.
