15 Nov Sun and Moon – Comedia dell’Arte meets Tarot
One of my not ending inspirations and things that fuel my art is Italian Art. From Old Masters of Painting to Theatre and literature I find myself lost in the mastership and genius of the artist from the long gone times.
The idea to connect my love to Italian art and the mystical arts. Would there be a better way than taking a character/mask from Comedia dell’arte and re-interpret it to be one of my cards? I took a characters of Brighella and Arlecchino as my inspirations, and the cards of Sun and Moon.
After the shoot on Sunday I will try animating some parts of the cards.
Commedia dell’arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italy, that was popular in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. Commedia dell’arte was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as commedia alla maschera, commedia improvviso, and commedia dell’arte all’improvviso. Commedia is a form of theatre characterized by masked characters which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of actresses (for example Isabella Andreini) and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. A special characteristic of commedia dell’arte are the lazzi. A lazzo is a joke or “something foolish or witty”, usually well known to the performers and to some extent a scripted routine. Another characteristic of commedia dell’arte is pantomime, which is mostly used by the character Arlecchino (Harlequin).
XVIII THE MOON
According to A.E. Waite’s 1910 book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, “The card represents life of the imagination apart from life of the spirit… The dog and wolf are the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it… The intellectual light is a reflection and beyond it is the unknown mystery which it cannot reveal.” Additionally, “It illuminates our animal nature” and according to Waite, “the message is ‘Peace, be still; and it may be that there shall come a calm upon the animal nature, while the abyss beneath shall cease from giving up a form.'”[2]
Waite writes that the Moon card carries several divinatory associations:
THE MOON–Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.
XIX The SUN
This card is generally considered positive. It is said to reflect happiness and contentment, vitality, self-confidence and success. Sometimes referred to as the best card in Tarot, it represents good things and positive outcomes to current struggles.
My interpretation of the card is more graphic and illustration like. Playing with the monochromatic white, beige or grey colours, with the card symbols just being suggested.
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