What Are the Clouds? — Irene Bakola

Che cosa sono le nuvole

Totò and Ninetto, reduced to surreal fumetti in a meta-historical comicita. Life for a marionette stands as an infinite spiral from the moment of creation onwards into the endless loop of (re)enactement. Born a character, Othello has no choice but to ‘speak the speech,’ as it were, without being aware of his manipulator. He asks Iago why he should accept these rules of representation but Pasolini—in the guise of an off-stage Iago—responds with a de la Barca quotation: ‘Siamo in un sogno dentro un sogno’ (We are in a dream within a dream). We are faced here with the development of the Pirandellian thesis, through Artaud’s suspicion, into its surreal conclusion. ‘Quella e la verita ma ssshhhh non bisogna nominarla perche appena la nomini non c'e piu’ (This is is the truth, but ssshhh don't give it a name, because as soon as you name it disappears). Τhe tyranny of watching the truth perish once it has been named. Othello, the tragedy of manipulation, makes a noose of its words and strangles its protagonist on the altar of their failure.

Pasolini’s Velázquez Effect is here observed through the mise en abyme of creation. Subject/spectator/shot and object/author/reverse-shot reflect their roles to infinity, conjuring up pure reciprocity. Language is found inadequate once more, on the stand of the real. Interrogating each reflection, we reach a distilled form of representation; the essential void of truth. Ripped finally from the strings of authorship, Iago and Othello are dumped on a rubbish heap.

Lying there, moments before his dazzling death, Ninetto catches his first glimpse of the sky; ‘Che sono le nuvole?’ (What are the clouds?). But Totò, cut from his strings, can no longer answer him. Only the image responds: a luminous blue expanse overflowing with passing clouds. ‘Straziante meravigliosa bellezza del creato!’ (Oh, the torturing and marvellous beauty of creation).

Las Meninas, Diego Velázquez

Last Update: September 2024