Archives for posts with tag: friends
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The Berlin Connection

August 15, 2013 //
6

Theresa

Lil’ Devil has left for Berlin… and I will now reveal who he wanted to impress with his tiger print dress. (He would certainly blush if he knew I was telling you). He was a present for my lovely tutorial assistant, Theresa, and he really wanted to wow her.

Theresa is a gifted illustrator who won a scholarship to do her Masters in New Zealand. The programme she was enrolled in is a Masters by project. This means the students produce a new body of work and write an exergesis rather than an entirely theoretical thesis. In her project Theresa investigated living in a different culture and her final work was a graphic novel. Much to my suprise, one of the chapters was dedicated to the Dedes. In this chapter she processed the conversations we had and let the puppets do the talking. I have to say, she did a wonderful job capturing the Dedes (and the conversations). I only have a copy of the Dede chapter but you should have seen her other drawings: beautiful and elaborate cityscapes, with heaps to see and read and chuckle about. She is certainly one to watch out for. I have no doubt she will be very, very successful.

I hope Lil’ Devil is a good luck charm and he will watch out for her in difficult times. He promised me – in true Dede fashion – that he is ready to have a conversation whenever she feels like it :). Maybe she will even get him a new dress.

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Categories Absurd, Art, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

King is happy

August 8, 2013 //
2

king and underlings

The King finally has some underlings he can command. So he is happy! Unfortunately, they don’t stay around for long. The cool Lil’Mouse with her sunglasses has already moved on and Lil’Devil will leave us this afternoon as well. I had to promise the King there will be more little mice and more little devils.  Ah well, I’ll put it on my list!

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Categories Absurd, Art, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets

Little competition

August 5, 2013 //
6

lilMouse

When I went to Waiheke last week to look at the space for the upcoming exhibition, I had a new idea. It is more a display than an exhibition. The space is very limited. Don’t get me wrong, the Dedes don’t care. They want to be seen, but I have to select which ones I will show and how many. I don’t think I can have more than eight or ten. However, while I was there, I thought, small space, smaller Dedes! And immediately I envisaged finger puppets with a simple cloth body where the fingertip of the thumb and the middelfinger can be the hands of the puppet. Of course I wanted to see if it works and spent the weekend making these Lil’Dedes. They are not as elaborate as the real Dedes, but they are still cute.

I won’t give them names and they won’t appear on the blog much, though of course they would lend themselves to a film called “Paleface and the Seven Lil’dedes”, a rendition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Now I am getting carried away…

Anyway, this is Lil’Mouse, the first of the finger puppets and she is a very special one. I will give her to my friend who made the black robes for the Dedes. Lil’Mouse is basically a bribe, so my friend will make the dresses for the Lil’Dedes as well. Hope it works :)

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Categories Absurd, Art, craft, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets

There is always someone!

July 27, 2013 //
4

new space

I was so curious to watch the Dedes exploring their new space. I wanted to see their enjoyment, which of course would give me the confirmation that it was all worth it. Unfortunately there is always someone who spoils the party! I overheard Chamber Maid saying to Mouse: “Nice space, but who is going to keep it clean. It looks good now, but in a weeks time it will look like a dump!”

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Categories Absurd, Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Social Network

Dedes recite Dada

July 24, 2013 //
8

cal mel garry

I forgot to tell you yesterday that Calamaty actually did make a friend in Melbourne. Of course he was drawn to Gary, the puppeteer. It is hard to believe that these two guys had never met before. The similarity of their profiles is remarkable, isn’t it?

Watching Gary perform with his paper puppets was absolutely amazing. The most interesting aspect of the show is that Gary doesn’t use language with his puppets! This doesn’t mean the puppets aren’t communicating with each other. They do! They chat away using made up words, laughes, shrieks, cries. They are able to express the entire array of emotions without a single recognisable word and of course they use body language extensively.

I always thought words are pivotal in puppet shows. My Dedes definitely need their written story – at least on the blog! Text explains the still images and brings the puppets to life.

However, performing is a completely different ball game. As you might know, I have held a few workshops where people played with the Dedes. One of my observations is that the puppets are a brilliant ice breaker to get the conversation going. Once people are on a roll, they forget about their puppet and it might sit limp on their knee and watch while the oral story takes over. I am now convinced, when we remove language from the play, the focus will stay on the puppet.

I thought I will give it a go and take the Dedes back to their roots. After all, they are dada inspired. Dada was an anti-artform that encompassed every aspect of art: Visual, Performance and Poetry as well. I never really warmed to the Dada poems, but seeing Gary’s performance it finally occured to me that of course dada poems have to be seen, not just heard or read. So I invited four people to my new studio to give it a go. Funnily enough, I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.

Maybe they were put off because I said they should make up their own Dada poem. It is not really that difficult. Here are instructions by Tristan Tzara, one of the Dada poets:

To Make A Dadist Poem

Take a newspaper.
Take some scissors.
Choose from this paper an article the length you want to make your poem.
Cut out the article.
Next carefully cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them all in a bag.
Shake gently.
Next take out each cutting one after the other.
Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
And there you are–an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.

Tristan Tzara

Of course these are still recognisable words (and this poem even makes sense. Very unusal for a Dada poem :). I really should go one step further and take a foreign languge newspaper….

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Categories Absurd, Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Social Network

Travel companion

July 17, 2013 //
4

scardy and lap

Oh the agony of choice! Who am I going to take? It is certainly not easy to find a perfect travel companion.

I am going to attend a puppeteering workshop in Melbourne, so I will be busy during the day and the Dede I take will have to look after himself while I am out playing with other puppets. I assume this fact isn’t easy to swallow for some of them.

Arindam and Tony made very good suggestions. Mouse of course is the best organiser. If I took her I wouldn’t need to worry about anything. She would take care of any problems. Her downside of course is that she tries to pack too much into a single day. No doubt she would hustle me from each must see sight to the next without a break. She knows my current financial situation too and wouldn’t even allow me a coffee. She can be very harsh. My batteries are pretty flat at moment and to be honest, I couldn’t face a weekend with her! Another time, yes… but not this time.

Other suggestions were Scardy Pants and Lap Dog and I thought Chamber Maid would be a good contender too. On closer scrutiny though, I realised none of them could cope with being on their own during the day, but for different reasons: Scardy Pants doesn’t have any self-esteem. You have to coerce him out of the house at the best of times. He is so easily scared that even his own shadow gives him a fright. Lap Dog on the other hand is clingy. She doesn’t want to be on her own because she gets bored. She follows you around like a shadow. And the third puppet, Chamber Maid, is proud to be the shadow. Her strength is to be neither seen nor heard. If I took her she would rather stay in the hotel room and mend my socks than go out and explore. She can mend my socks at home and I know she would happily step aside to let another puppet go.

For now I have short listed Granddad Max, Cool Cat and Milky Bar Devil. What I need is a Dede that can explore during the day, but will listen to me at dinner time. I know myself. I will be full of new ideas after a day at the workshop. And when I have new ideas I can’t stop talking. Granddad Max is hard of hearing, so he would be perfect. However, he easily gets lost and letting him loose in a place where he has never been before…. I don’t know. Help! It is all too hard!

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Categories Absurd, Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Evan’s story

July 14, 2013 //
4

evan

Evan G List is one of the new puppets and it didn’t take him long to get upset with me. He is a very mild looking character with smiley eyes and glasses. Honestly, he looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly and is very forgiving to boot. How could I upset him so easily?

It happened in the gallery. One day I had a conversation with a lady and I asked her which puppet she liked the most. The lady pointed straight to Evan and told me she really loves his eyes. “He looks so benevolent” she said, “but what is the significance of his name?” I read it out aloud: Evangelist, and I explained that his initial name was TV Evangelist, but on second thought I considered it too blunt. She looked at him again and admitted quietly: “I don’t know if I still like him. I really fell for his eyes!” All I could say was “that is how it works!” And we both burst out laughing.

Of course Evan was not amused. He had tried so hard to catch a soul and find someone to take him home. While he still smiled he muttered something about lost souls and redemption and he hopes we get caught by the devil. He hasn’t spoken to me since.

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Categories Absurd, Art, Creative Writing, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

Email from a friend

July 10, 2013 //
6
punch too

Picture supplied by Punch’s new owner

I know I wanted to tell you a snippet from the exhibition today, but then I received this lovely email telling me about what Punch too is up to. I do understand now why he was so keen on leaving and finding a new home. When I read the message I remembered instantly that he had recited Shakespeare before, but the other Dedes weren’t a particularly good audience. He was very serious and gave it his best, but some of the others made fun of him. This really put him off and he never tried again, or at least not publicly. He might have honed his skills in front of the bathroom mirror though. I am so pleased that he found someone who appreciates his gift. Do I spot a victorian lace collar in this image?

Here is the complete email:

Hello Dietlind and Dedes one and all.

Well, Punch has been sharing with me over the past few days since his arrival and has helped with the household budgeting to boot!

Often when I am tempted to buy something in a shop I hear him encouraging me to exercise a modicum of self restraint. Now who’d have thought a Dede could have such magical powers. haha. Anyway, it’s worked so far although I think he may have ulterior motives.

During one of our frequent tete-a-tetes he divulged his unrequited love for Freeloader saying they had a shared history of mistaken identity! It’s a long story so more of this later.

As evening fell and I was preparing the traditional Friday night curry I could hear him in the sunroom muttering to himself and on paying a bit more attention I could not believe my ears. “oh Horatio ( quoth he )…An unlifted shadow lies across my memory ….Things standing thus unknown shall live behind me….If thou didst ever hold me in your heart…absent thee from felicity awhile….and in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain…..To tell my story.” I could only applaud and throw roses where he stood. I think he has the makings of a fine Shakespearian actor.

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Categories Absurd, Creative Writing, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Social Network

The one that left us

July 9, 2013 //
2

gone

I am very surprised. I thought the Dedes would be very chirpy and keen to tell me what happened at the gallery. We all know travelling broadens your horizons and there is always so much to talk about when travellers return home. But no, they are quiet. They seem pretty exhausted and maybe sad they lost one of their mates. The one that left us for good is Freeloader, the cute little Dormouse. I don’t have many pictures of her. She was one of the puppets I made especially for the exhibition and to sell. I did not want to listen to her story because I was worried I would get too attached to her.

During the exhibition I had a competition going where people could tell me which puppet they liked the most.  The most votes any one puppet got was four, and there were only a few puppets who didn’t get any votes. The favorites were The Magician and Foxy Lady. I find it very interesting that not one Dede stood head and shoulders above the rest. I, of course, think some of them are more beautiful than others, so the voting proved to me once again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I have so many stories to tell about the exhibition, but most of them need to be told verbally. They need the animation given by the story-teller. But I will recount one tomorrow.

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Categories Art, Exhibition, Fun, Hand Puppets, Promotion

Sold, not sold, sold

July 5, 2013 //
6

good buy

Yesterday the puppets had to say Good Bye to the gallery. It was a very emotional farewell. The staff at the gallery had well and truly fallen in love with the little critters, who brought a smile to visitor’s faces. I have to say, for me personally, the show was a success. I am totally overwhelmed by the great response I’ve got from everyone. The staff at the gallery were wonderful. I have nothing but praise for everyone.

From a selling point of view though, it wasn’t particularly successful. But then, I wasn’t so keen on letting them go in the first place. The Dedes were sitting on the fence as well and weren’t sure if they really should step away from their friends. In true Dede fashion there was a bit of a kerfuffle before everything was sorted. Actually, I am still not sure how many puppets I have sold.

It was obviously very difficult for people to choose which puppet to take. I had a little competition going where people could tell me which puppet they liked most. A lot of people said they couldn’t make up their minds, they loved them all. This of course is not very conducive to selling, is it? Someone was going to buy two puppets for his grandchildren. The first puppet he chose was Punch too, but when he came back he changed his mind.

Thankfully Punch too has a lot of me in him. He is a smiley one and looks a tad naive, but he  certainly doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet. He told me quietly that he had come to terms about having to leave the Dede home and was ready for new experiences. He’d rather like to live on a comfortable shelf overlooking a living room and get lovely clothes. Maybe something with a victorian lace collar or so.

I thought to myself: “dream on, not this time buddy!” But do you know what happened then? The genial Mrs A+ fell in love with him and took him home. I will have to tell you about the wonderful Mrs A+ in another post. Yes, she had a hard time making up her mind as she loves all the Dedes, but in the end Punch too‘s smile won her over.

I can tell you Punch too is over the moon. He got all he wanted, except for the lace collared robe, but who knows, there is always Christmas. And he promised the other Dedes to stay in touch. Isn’t that a happy ending?

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Categories Art, Exhibition, Hand Puppets, Life, Social Network
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