the theatre of Memory

Camillo was one of the most prominent visionary of the art of memory, the art established by ancient rhetoricians and perfected by Cicero. the basis of the classical art of memory was a link between word and image, between discourse and loci. that makes possibility for a speaker to reconstruct all the speeches just by reminding some of the places to which the parts of his discourses were linked. the art of memory disappeared with the invention of printing. there was no need to keep all the knowledge memorized; knowledge became stored in books. Camillo's theatre was an installation, an architecture based on Hermetic-Cabalist tradition. His intention was creation of the space which would contain the knowledge on the Universe and the knowledge of the Universe. the theatre rises in seven grades or steps, which are divided by seven gangways representing the seven planets. the normal function of the theatre is reversed. there is no audience sitting in the seats watching a play on the stage. the solitary spectator of the theatre stands where the stage would be and looks towards the auditorium, gazing at the images on the seven times seven gates on the seven rising gates.

Camillo's come back in late 20th century - after being forgotten - happens not only due to his historical curiosity. Nowadays, he is not important only as a person in a history of thoughts, but his idea for the theatre of memory is more interesting for contemporary art and theatre, as well as for modes of contemporary perception. What in fact is his theatre It is a net of 49 fields which contain plenty of informations. A spectator stands in front of virtual vocabulary which has no beginning, no end. Today those informations seem to us useless, mystical and a fruit of the period fascinated by understanding totality of the Universe. the time we live is fast, fragmented, happens on a surface and it is a time of quick consumption, a quick consumption of ideas and emotions as well. In that respect Camillo is interesting for contemporary art, first, as somebody who produced a net of informations which have to be selected and deciphered by a spectator. It is a project of mediated knowledge, of knowledge mediated by media (TV, internet). On the other side, his need to construct a space, an architecture, brings him close to contemporary rethinking of classical art, shift from painting and sculpture towards installation. the installation understood as a total space which speaks for itself. Last but not least, Camillo named his construction the theatre. the reason to name it 'theatre' and not just 'architecture' or 'installation' he finds in spectator's corporeal perception in the theatre, the perception which is not only visual or mental (like it is in fine arts, according to him).

back