Commedia dell'Arte in Crimea 2012

Arsen Savadov offers a stage filled with performers dressed in theatrical costumes and surrounded by painted props. I can imagine the artist building the scene, adjusting each element until it balances somewhere between reality and fantasy. Savadov probably had a lot of fun dreaming up this piece. What would it be like to invite a troupe of players and sea creatures into this tableau? The players wear harlequin costumes, each diamond a slightly different hue and texture, echoing the scales of the painted fish that surround them. A sailor stands tall above the action, his gaze fixed on a distant horizon. He is looking out at the tradition of Commedia dell'Arte, and at the long tradition of painting. The artist makes it all seem possible, like a story unfolding on the stage, inviting us to join in the game.