Found Art

In our production of The Tempest, Din, Cedric, Rande, and Lola create a story using the flotsam and jetsam around them (including the audience!). When an artist incorporates everyday items into their creations it is called objet trouvé or “found art.” In the early 20th century artists explored the idea that “an ordinary object could be elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of the artist.” (Reed Enger, "Readymade," in Obelisk Art History, 2017.)  When artistic creations are made from found objects in nature, it is called Ephemeral art. Leaves, sticks, pebbles, petals, sand or shells can be assembled and arranged to create extraordinary works of art. No glue, paper, paint, clay or extra tools are needed. It is simply made on the spot wherever you are in nature with whatever natural resources lie before you in the environment.

Ephemeral art is unique because it is inherently temporary.  A beautiful pattern of shells on the beach won’t last very long–the next tide or storm will destroy it.  But the creative experience is what matters… it’s not about lasting forever.

A theatre production is similarly temporary; we are gathered together for this moment in time.  The director, actors, and designers will share a brief story, the audience will respond, and the actors’ performance will shift due to the time- and place-specific reactions and energy. What happens today, as we are together in this place, at this time, will never happen again. However, as with a beautiful pattern of rocks and shells on a beach, the remembered experience of the play and the ways it can teach and delight us, will endure.  

Shakespeare could be considered an artist of found ideas! He did not write most of the plots of his plays. He was instead a master adapter who gathered myths, Classical stories, English history, and plot points from his contemporaries and tied them all together with his magnificent language.