Big Pictures

Premiere: May 1982
Composer: Michael J. Baker
Choreography: Bill James
Visual Design: Dan Solomon
Musicians: ARRAYMUSIC Ensemble

About

"When a dot begins to move and becomes a line, this requires time." - Paul Klee

"Big Pictures dwells in the realm of the possible - the understanding of possibilities. It could be about the process of becoming an artist or about making a work of art. It is therefore about the process of transforming images or patterns from the familiar to the poetic. I imagine it is about the moment when a person realizes where they might fit into the world - when they perceive their calling. It is presented in a dream-like manner, as a series of loosely connected tableaux. A central figure seems to emerge in the person of the singer, although it could as easily be the artist working onstage, or a dancer, or the violinist."

"The materials for Big Pictures come from a variety of sources: the writings of Paul Klee; visual elements borrowed from the paintings of Dan Solomon; a nineteenth-century newspaper account of a train wreck in western Canada; and lists of resonant images or memories written by the collaborators and their friends, many of whom are artists. These materials filter through the piece, intended to be recognized or not, perhaps acting as memory or imagination triggers for the audience." - Michael J. Baker

Quotes

"The production's success lies in its blurring of boundaries between actors, dancers and musicians." - The Globe and Mail