Home

HOME

Theatre in Miniature

Arline Smith is an artist who works in one-tenth scale; she uses multi-disciplinary skills to develop her interest in creating artworks and theatrical productions which engage the viewer on an intimate level.

Her primary work, Theatre #1, first shown at the Museum of Miniatures in Los Angeles, concerned the creation of a diminutive theatrical production involving the use of simple electro-mechanical components to orchestrate the movement of characters and curtains during a performance. This sparked an interest in the use of computer technology to push her work to another level; merging the popular C19th paper theatre concept with C21st technology.

With the aid of computer programming , Arline was able to undertake the difficult task of creating her next project: Theatre #2 , a performance of the second act of the ballet "Giselle" . In order to faithfully present the ballet, it was necessary to study the choreography and musical score in minute detail. The resulting production, which took nine months to complete, is believed to be the smallest performance of the ballet in the world and was showcased on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news programme, "The National".

Theatre #3 showcases a scene from the silent movie "Son of the Sheik", and represents a departure from her other theatrical productions. Arline was interested in presenting the viewer with a three-dimentional representation of a photograph, with the resultant lack of object definition and distortion of the depth of field. To appreciate the concept, this theatre has to be seen in reality. Photographs do not illustrate the subtlty of the finished piece.

Theatre #4 presents her most recent production, the "Pyramus and Thisbe" play from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which has been added to the Canadian Shakespeare Archives at the University of Guelph.

Utilizing the knowledge gained on the theatrical productions, Arline intends to develop her ideas by creating pieces that will challenge viewers to re-examine their perceptions and predudices when viewing 'reality' on a small-scale.