The Fool
The
Fool
The artistic alter ego
The artistic alter ego
“Man is least himself
when he talks in his own person.
Give him a mask, and
he will tell the truth. “
Oscar Wilde





What does
the archetype The Fool, the Joker, the mimeartist, masks from Greek tragicomedy
and Butoh dancers have in common? Teigen sees these silent, miming and
whitepainted characters as mirrors to and of the society and the individual.
Neutral and without inflicting any attitudes on us, the simply show us our own
situation bac to us. The topics they convey are complex emotions and situations
which are difficult for the single individual to either understand or accept.
So difficult that words are not enough? “A fool” is no threat to our intellect.
And this puts us in a position where we are more open to endure what we are
confronted with. We can point and laugh, if thats what we need, or perhaps dare to see ourselves in them.
Why did we
have a need for these characters through history? Are they created as symbols
representing different aspects of the psychological and emotional function
which exist in us? Are they role models? Can they teach us something about
complex emotions?
I created
an artistic alter ego, a role character I could step in and out from and play
trough. As the archetype, my role character has no gender, name or age. It is not
a human of flesh and blood, it is a role character without its own background,
and which needs to be stepped into, to live. Therefor it cannot exist without
an actor or a spectator. And it needs a form of stage, which can be many
things.
A camera, a tent, a book.
The Fool
The artistbook







