Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 00:36:10 -0700
Subject: PUPT: symbolism


I was clearing my drafts folder and found this paragraph that I'd
started in response to something, but I don't know what.  So I thought-
hey, why not toss it out there and see what people say.

I often hear people say that "Puppetry is about movement" which seems to
me to be fundamentally wrong.  It is significantly harder to move a
puppet than a dancer, or an acrobat, or even a meat actor.  I am
thinking now that puppetry is about symbols.  Both the use of the figure
and the manipulation of the figure are forms of symbolism.  Case in
point- lip sync.  Really clean lipsync is not a representation of how
the human mouth actually moves, but an agreed upon set of conventions. 
The physical symbolism is not nearly as interesting to me as the
metaphoric symbolism, which is why Toyotaka statement about discovering
the symbolic meaning of the puppet resonated with me.

-- 
Mary Robinette Kowal
Other Hand Productions
http://www.otherhandproductions.com


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