How beauteous mankind is
The Tempest IRL
TL; DR: How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t!"
PROSPERO: the magician
THE TEMPEST (Shakespeare play): A storm shipwrecks a crew of men on an island (midway between Europe and Africa), where they encounter a man —himself stranded there years ealier— with magical powers. The magician’s daughter, and the son of a crewmember, fall in love…
THE PLAYERS:
CALIBAN: the slave of Prospero, and son of Sycorax the witch. He is “not honoured with a human shape” -Prospero. “Call me X. That would be best. Like a man without a name.” -Caliban
FERDINAND: prince of Naples, son of Alonso. “I would not wish / Any companion in the world but you, / Nor can imagination form a shape /Besides yourself to like of.” -Miranda, speaking to Ferdinand
MIRANDA: daughter of Prospero. “Admired Miranda! / Indeed the top of admiration, worth / What's dearest to the world!” - Ferdinand, speaking to Miranda.
ARIEL: a magical spirit on the island, bound to Prospero. “Nothing of him that doth fade /But doth suffer a sea-change /Into something rich and strange.” -Ariel, singing to Ferdinand
SYCORAX: Caliban’s mother, the witch; unseen and unspeaking in the play. Originally from Algiers and banished to the island; now deceased.
ALONSO: King Of Naples, and Ferdinand’s father. Responsible for Prospero and Miranda’s exile to the island.
THE MASQUE: Prospero instructs Ariel to have the spirits under his control perform for Ferdinand and Miranda.
PROSPERO:
Act IV, Scene 1:
“Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air … …
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”
EPILOGUE:
“As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free.”
He exits
NOTES:
-The full “beauteous” quote, Miranda’s last lines: "O wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, / That has such people in’t!" This could be the tagline for The Window project in its entirety. (Many of The Tempest’s themes resonate with the project.)
-The masque was captured by chance (as all events in the project), and it happened on Mabon, the autumnal equinox, which is celebrated by wiccans and honors the light and dark in our lives (also a theme of The Window).
-Seen on protest signs outside the 1610 debut of the play: “Free Caliban, Forsooth!”, “Sprite’s Rights Are Human Rights”, “Sycorax silenced = violenced”, “Colonize not other realms, in words or deeds”, ”Prospero No, Matriarchy Aye”, and the two-person sign “Hark! In four centuries there shall be /A danger to scribes from the magick’d chatgpt /Bards, not to want for not to waste /More shillings then, post-haste!” (Also, one person attending the protest wore a tunic with the slogan “Foutre the Watchmen”)
-This is actually “The Widow - Part II, The Brick Boogaloo”. New location, but still 24/7/365 from a single view —no traveling for the shots, ‘cuz mankind is beauteous right there
Bonus image - The Tempest:
The storm above had snowflakes the size of leaves — some were falling, others ascending, some going right, others left… beauteous weather. (Ding!)*
*metaphor bell being rung
PREVIOUS POSTS for THE WINDOW by K.I.A.:
K.I.A. website (recombinant sculptures, distributed paintings, ephemeral installations, etc): www.nu4ya.com