Mummenschanz

I know I said in my last post that I was going to speak on excellence in art, but I am still formulating my thoughts on that topic. Look for it soon, though. In the meantime, I will continue to introduce you to more art forms that I have found compelling in my journey. Does anyone remember Mummenschanz? This was a Swiss pantomime/creative movement group popular in the early 1970's. Utilizing props, masks, and movement, Mummenschanz would perform small vignettes of simple stories. Their clay mask vignette became one of their signature performances.

I remember seeing Mummenschanz "in concert" at the Ordway Theatre in the mid-1980's. I remember taking a friend of mine who wouldn't consider himself as artistic, but as more of a technical, sound-guy sort of person. Imagine taking an audio engineer to a mime performance. He was quite impressed with Mummenschanz's performance and amazed how they could create stories without words and with the use of common, yet unusual props.

Performances such as those of Mummenschanz intrigue me as I think about creating art. What compels artists or creators to look at rolls of toilet paper and say to themselves, "Look, a face!"...and then unroll the toilet paper afixed to face mask to represent tears, etc. The possibilities for art are limitless, and it is creations like that of Mummenschanz that continue to amaze and move me.