Fantasies from Perle, the City of Dreams
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Copyright: Nick Mangafas
Alfred Kubin’s only novel, “The Other Side,” appeared in 1909, and the artist died in 1959. Thus, two round-number anniversaries provide a fitting occasion to focus on Kubin’s literary talents, a facet of his work few are familiar with. This encounter will be a theatrical one.
Graphic artist, painter, illustrator and writer—Alfred Kubin was all of these. The Czech native died in Upper Austria. “Dream Protocols” is what he called his drawings and lithographs. As a painter and member of the legendary artists’ group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), Kubin was one of the foremost practitioners of Expressionism. His literary legacy includes but a single novel, “The Other Side.” Kubin’s first-person narrator travels by invitation of a friend to Perle. The bizarre inhabitants of this city of dreams are all under the spell of a mysterious ruler. Eternally enshrouded by fog, Perle has been condemned to a slow, eerie process of decay.Linz09 is staging Kubin’s material in a fantastic mise-en-scène in which the novel provides the graphic imagery for Martina Winkel’s multimedia theatrical production that blends elements of acting and shadow theater, video installation, puppetry and animation. The dramatics are accompanied by the music of Upper Austrian composer Max Nagl.
THE OTHER SIDE
November 6-8 and 10-15, 2009, all performances at 7:30 PM
Landesgalerie Linz, Museumsstraße 14, 4020 Linz
Information and tickets at www.linz09.at/andereseite
