Graduation project
The Prescription: A Consolation For Melancholic Souls
Alissa Guillouët
A performance evokes consolation and understanding by re-enacting melancholic poses from Western artworks.
This project is a study of melancholia, a cultural phenomenon of a feeling of weariness, in the form of a stripped-down performance of this state. The representation consists of a sequence of physical re-enactments of ten melancholic poses drawn from Western artworks, ranging from Dürer’s woodcut Melancholia I (1514) to Kentridge’s Melancholia (2007-8). These are carried out by a performer under the instructions of a voice over. The setting is a room with a seated audience, a bare stage, a lighting system and a speaker. In reaction to an overall ‘world pain’, this performance seeks to bring consolation and understanding to melancholic souls about a shared sense of vulnerability.