Artists interpret Orwell's '1984'
New Haven Journal Courier, Nov 4, 1983by Kathleen Mary Katella
It is a cold day in April 1984. At least that's what Winston Smith thinks. The last time he remembers having a firm grasp of time was in the 50's.
Now the world is different. He walks up the stairs to his cold London flat (heat, like chocolate, is rationed). A telescreen dominates one wall. It watches him as he watches it, and it cannot be turned off. Outside, the thought police hover in their helicopters; those who defy them disappear without a trace.
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, altering recorded history to better suit "the party." "Big Brother is watching," read posters everywhere. And the party slogan; "War is peace, Freedom is slavery; Ignorance is strength."
It's almost 1984.
In a huge old space once used to store World War II Air Force equipment, a group of artists is throwing and early party of sorts.
Beverly Richey is making a huge military wedding cake and re wrapped Hershey Bars. Andrea Rossi is making soft, bound maggot-like sculptures. Beverly Eliasoph is putting together a series of photographs symbolizing a man getting swallowed into what's happening in his television set. The screen is filled with war images, an oil company's logo, Alexander Haig.
The artists, members of the Papier Mache Video Institute, an improvisational group dedicated to "art activities of a transient nature," are preparing "the First Show of 1984," a project they started last year in honor of the fact that George Orwell's famous science fiction novel, published in 1949, is finally coming of age.
The show, a one-night affair scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at 133 Hamilton St. is open to the public for $1.
Orwell's book tells the story of Winston Smith, and his life in 1984, a time of eternal warfare, in which "the Party" keeps itself in power by complete control over man's thoughts and actions. Smith and a lover named Julia, tried to evade the thought police and joined the underground opposition.
The group decided to do the story a year ago, and everyone reread the book several times, Richey said. A year later, many have decided that Orwell's glance into the future was not all that improbable.
"We're seeing signs and similarities," said Tim Feresten, who is working on a small room with a chair and a television set in it. Everything will be gray. The television set will be switched onto scenes of protest demonstrations. The sound track will include Buddist [sic] monks at a "die-in" in Groton.
"I'm a news addict," said Feresten, who notices a parallel to Orwell's '1984' in the crimes he hears about from New York City. "We're on the way," said Ms Eliasoph, " a politically minded person" who has found herself surrounded by parallels. She mentioned the MX missile being touted as a peacemaker (an idea reminiscint [sic] of Orwell's "doublethink") suppression of knowledge by the government and IRS records on people.
"If you watch a lot of TV - as I do you get a feeling of brainwashing," she said.
"This 1984 business is very much with us in a lot of ways. I hardly feel that any art can show it stronger than what it is in reality," said Ann Bresnick, who is making a series of skeletons of houses-all exactly the same and made from the cheapest type of wood.
"The whole condo thing..." Ms Eliasoph said.
"The whole idea of redevelopment..." Ms Rossi said, adding that such projects are pushing out the people who can't afford it.
"The whole idea of planning for our society ... profit is the bottom line," Ms Bresnick said
Other artists were less literal.
"To me the most important thing in the book was that everything was dusty. Nothing was clean anymore," said Ms Rossi, who plans to use that idea in her piece.
Ben Westbrock is making two big paper mache pieces simulating a metal cage (the Ministry of Love trapping Winston). Janet Lehmann, has a ten foot painting of the capitol building in Washington D.C.; her husband Bob made a sculpture called "the seventh deadly sin: rage"- a seven-foot high charging boar.
Rebecca ------ a sixteen-year old student from Wilbur Cross High School dressed a mannequin in a white "safety jacket" made of band-aid boxes with religious symbols and other such items sticking out. She said she wasn't as into "1984" as she was into "On The Beach," a book by Nevil Chute Norway, about the survivors of World War III.
"I have trouble thinking about the future. I have trouble thinking about my future," Ms Doughty said.
Ms Richey said the artists were more worried about the future when they started the project. "Now the general feeling is it isn't that bad," she said, adding that the artists have gained optimism from their ability to at least express themselves.
The exhibit will also include an "artificial store," featuring T-shirts and post cards by Roberta Chambers.
"If enough people of different origins come to it I think it could be a consciousness raising show," Ms Eliasoph said. "An entertaining way of giving people a jolt."
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