Dan Hurlin

Dan Hurlin

Jesse Howard Jr. Rome Prize
September 9, 2013–August 1, 2014
Profession
Artist, New York
Professor of Theatre and Dance and Director, Graduate Program in Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College
Project title
Untitled Futurist Project
Project description

I am developing a puppet project using Futurist performance texts (Sintesi), manifestos, and visual art as a starting point. The Sintesi were incredibly brief, “synthesizing facts and ideas into the least number of words,” in line with the Futurists’ preoccupation with speed. The result is a cannon of tiny plays that share the same miniature scale as the puppet. The work at this point involves a dozen or so toy theaters, constructed to look like Futurist buildings. Each toy theater will present actual Sintesi, or original pieces created in the style of the Sintesi, excerpts from Manifestos, wordless scenarios or noise music recitals. They will be performed simultaneously, in one large room, in homage to the Futurists’ love of the variety theatre and their obsessions with simultaneity and chaos. My aim is not to slavishly recreate Futurist images or events, but to evoke them using Futurist strategies and styles to find new relevance in the twenty-first century.