Do you ever get one of those weeks, where you hate literally everything you are writing, you can’t summon any motivation to write even one word and you have forgotten for the fiftieth time to pay the other half of your credit card bill and now you have just been given an extra charge. This happened to me about two weeks. So instead of paying my credit card bill, I decided to go do a photo shoot.
About two weeks ago I did a photoshoot with Alejandro Amsel. I have wanted to do another photoshoot with him for a while. He is a great photographer with a beautiful work ethic to creating art. I know what you are thinking, ‘but I thought you were a dramaturg?’ This is true, but I am also a theatremaker, which means I like to delve into all elements of theatre. It really helps me keep my dramaturg eye sharp and objective. Any way as I was saying, a while ago I could feel my mood drop, I was feeling actually really down. When ever I feel my mood drop, I have learnt from many past experiences, that is when I need to go into a different direction artistically. This could mean, if I am writing and I feel my mood dropping, then I go to a gallery or museum. So this time I decided I needed to go into a different direction with a fellow artist.
There is nothing better than working with a fellow artist, one with a similar creative process. Alejandro and myself met each other on a dark windy evening in Dublin. Okey time for another quick tangent…
We met up with each other for a date, of course I was really late for the date and was trying to run frantically from one end of the city to the other. And when I met him, I found him so striking. He seemed very serious and composed, basically the complete opposite to me. When he told me he was a photographer on our date, my eyes glazed over with boredom. Now in my defence it is because every second person in Dublin claims to be a photographer, or should I say photographer/model/DJ/barber/music producer/gymnast. But when he showed me his pictures I was blown away, all I thought was ‘oh he really is a photographer, a real one that uses lenses instead of filters’. His work was so unique and captivating. The combination of colour and subject was beautifully visceral, I was able to understand or at least piece together a story immediately. As the conversation went late into the night, I realised we were very different, but creatively would be a very interesting team if we worked together. He was just as curious about the Arts world as I was, and eager to explore news ways of creating his Art.
Right back to writers block Katie, so we decided to do a photoshoot with this collar I created. The collar is made out of paper and lace trimming I found in a fabric shop in Mexico. In this fabric shop, I also found this amazing tulle in black and gold. We decided we might as well get the tulle, maybe we will use it in the future for something. Then it was time for the photoshoot.
The photoshoot was so much fun, half way through shooting Alejandro said ‘I have an idea’. I took the collar off my neck and we started going mad with the tulle. He would throw it in the air and let it fall gently onto my face and neck. Thanks to his amazing words of comfort he reminded me to unleash my inner diva/ tank girl, and I did. It was so much fun! We played around with my initial concept along with lighting and composition. It was exactly what my artistic soul needed.
The following day I went back down to my work, I was so full of energy from the night before that I gleefully did my work with no writers block or artists block. It is so important to step away from your work and do something you enjoy. It gives you such a fresh perspective when you return back to old work that was once frustrating, now looks far different and with more possibilities. The best way to induce new creative juices is definitely by working with other artists, whether its playing around with something new or professionally working with each other. Alejandro and myself come from very different art spaces and we both have very different approaches to our art. The thread that brings our work and minds together is that we both like to experiment and are open minded to experimentation. And coming from such different worlds, then becomes a massive asset to the creative process, we get to explore more of the arts world.
That is one thing I adore about the Arts world and working in Theatre is meeting with new Artists, it can open up a labyrinth of ideas that you wouldn’t previously explore or even think about. Who knew one dark and windy night in Dublin would lead to such exciting projects, adventures and a brilliant boyfriend. The world works in mysterious ways…
The Madwoman in the Theatre. 