Clown Rio
The body is only a vessel: the soul grows within it, or decays.
A theatre concept I wrote and designed, exploring how body and soul separate and intertwine. The light and shadow sides of an amusement park stand for the two sides of human nature: when the kind side is broken by the world, the soul falls into madness.
Concept
For any of us, the body is only a vessel; the soul is what matters. What we perceive shapes that vessel, and what the body returns to the soul can help it grow or make it decay. A beautiful soul longs to escape reality's bonds, yet the wounds of the world leave deep marks upon it. Body and soul are bound together: sometimes the body makes the soul better, sometimes it slowly corrupts it.
Inspiration
One weekend I went to an amusement park with friends. By day it was full of laughter and children's joy; when night fell, a quiet heaviness came over me, as if this were the park's dark side and something was watching. That led me to the clown as an image of the park's two faces: a figure who brings people joy, yet where no one looks closely, is sad and lonely and longs to be understood. As the clown grew more vivid in my mind, I wrote a story to carry the work.
Characters
Rio: His life is a tragedy. His appearance repels people, and even with the ringmaster and the little girl beside him, he cannot escape loneliness. His heart was once pure and beautiful; after all he goes through, it breaks, and his mind falls into madness.
Alice: A naive little girl with a gangster brother she never chose. She offers Rio true friendship.
Ringmaster Bonnie: She takes Rio in like a mother and a father at once. Born with a masculine appearance, she never gave up on herself and founded her own circus: strong, kind and responsible.
Brother Jim: Thoroughly bad. His actions drive Rio mad. Reckless and fearless.
The Mask
In my story, Rio witnesses the little girl's death and sets out for revenge behind a mask, a terrifying avenger. The mask lets him hide his true face and release his real desires. I designed and made a horror mask based on the clown's face: its uneven surface, towering cheek and brow bones, grotesque eyebrows and blush all show his twisted inner world.
The Model
To show the park by day and by night, I contrasted colour: bright for day, grey and black for night. Once the model was built, a flat layout didn't give enough contrast, so I set the two sides at an angle on one plane. With contrasting warm and cool light, the model came alive.
