μίμησις

I should thank Zilan for sending me a crazy quest for archaelogical remnants or replicas of ancient tragedy and comedy masks particularly from Asia Minor, only to arrive at this vertiginous cycle of representation: A bronze applique, copied out of a statue of Attis–the castrated hermaphrodite daemon of Phrigian cult of Kybele–which demonstrates them in a pose where they are about to wear a tragic mask. I couldn’t find further information, but I guess it is likely that this is an Imperial age Roman remake of a Classical antiquity or Hellenistic original, coming down to us through German art historian Wilhelm von Bode’s acquisition in 1891. This endless movement of supplement, this turning down the spiral aspect of mimesis hooked me up to theatre and dance until I die. Not to mention the politics of sexuality and of truth inherent in this repetition after repetition after repetition. Hey Konstantina, would that count as lateral dramaturgy?

And somehow, Susanne Kennedy and Markus Selg’s Angela (a strange loop) is powered by the same force, only turned awry and nauseaus in the age of post-simulacra. Fransien van der Putt has a similar take in her extended review.