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VALENTINO - Le Méta Théâtre Des Intimités - FW25

Mar 11, 2025

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“SOMETIMES THE WORD INTIMACY SEEMS TO CONTAIN A HALO OF MEANING THAT BRINGS IT CLOSER TO A PROMISE OF AUTHENTICITY, A PROTECTED SPACE WHERE IT’S FINALLY POSSIBLE TO TOUCH THE HIDDEN TRUTH OF PERSONS, BEYOND THE UNI-FORMS OF APPEARANCE”.

(R. MÀDERA)

BUT CAN WE ACTUALLY BE IN CONTACT WITH OUR TRUE SELF, MOVING AWAY FROM THE SURFACE OF THINGS? iS IT POSSIBLE TO THINK OF INTIMACY AS AN ACCESS TO A PROFOUND CORE OF TRUTH AS OPPOSED TO THE MASKS THAT MASS SOCIETY IMPOSES ON US?

I THINK THAT THIS EXALTATION OF INTIMACY AS A SHELTER IS A SLIPPERY ILLUSION: AN ATTEMPT TO TRACE SOLIDITY AND IDENTITY PERMANENCE WITHIN THE EVER CHANGING FLOW OF OUR EXISTENCE; THE UNSPEAKABLE DESIRE TO UNIFY THE IRREDUCIBLE KALEIDOSCOPE OF OUR SELF, WHICH IS CONSTITUTIVELY MANIFOLD.

WE SHOULD KNOW: NO INTIMACY CAN ULTIMATELY UNDRESS US, NO VEIL CAN BE TORN TO PUT US BEFORE OUR TRUE SELF. BECAUSE THE IDEA THAT THERE’S AN AUTHENTIC SELF, UNTOUCHED BY LIFE AND ITS DETERMINATIONS, IS MISLEADING.

WE MIGHT AS WELL UNDERSTAND THAT, IN THE END, ALSO THE DEEPEST INTIMACY OF ALL IS A THEATRE. OR RATHER A METATHEATRE IN THE THEATRE OF EXISTENCE: A BACKSTAGE SPACE-TIME THAT EXHIBITS THE FEATURES OF A NEVERENDING PERFORMANCE. A MYSTERIOUS AND MULTIFACETED REPRESENTATION IN WHICH WE CHOOSE TO ADDRESS THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION: WHO ARE WE?

CONSIDERING INTIMACY AS A META-THEATRICAL SPACE DOESN’T MEAN TO DENY ITS IMPORTANCE. IT RATHER MEANS TO, “UNWRAP MANY LAYERS WITHOUT PRETENDING TO FINALLY FIND THE CORE, THE HIDDEN ESSENCE THAT, FOR THIS REASON, SHOULD BE TRUER THAN THE STAGING OF EXTERIORITY, OF ROLE PLAY, OF DISSIMULATION”.

(R. MÀDERA)

LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN HAD ALREADY DECONSTRUCTED THE OPPOSITION BETWEEN DEPTH AND SURFACE, EMPHASIZING HOW EXTERIORITY INCORPORATES EVERYTHING THAT IS DEEP. PAUL VALÈRY WAS ABLE TO SAY IT POETICALLY: “THE MOST PROFOUND THING ABOUT MAN IS HIS SKIN”. WE CAN ALSO PUSH THIS CONCEPT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. NOT ONLY DOES THE SURFACE CONTAIN DEPTH, BUT DEPTH ITSELF MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS A STRATIFICATIONOF SURFACES.

(M. PERNIOLA)

STARTING FROM THESE PREMISES, I IMAGINED A PUBLIC TOILET: A COUNTER-PLACE THAT NEUTRALIZES AND SUSPENDS THE DUALISM BETWEEN INSIDE AND OUTSIDE, BETWEEN WHAT IS INTIMATE AND WHAT IS EXPOSED, BETWEEN THE PERSONAL AND THE COLLECTIVE, BETWEEN WHAT REMAINS PRIVATE AND WHAT IS MEANT TO BE SHARED, BETWEEN DEPTH AND SURFACE. A SPATIAL HETEROTOPIA (M. FOUCAULT) WHERE THE RITUAL OF CARING FOR INTIMACIES CLEARLY REVEALS ITS META-THEATRICAL DIMENSION.

THE RESULT IS A DYSTOPIAN, DISTURBING, LYNCHIAN SPACE: A TEMPORARILY AUTONOMOUS SPACE, FREE FROM THE CODIFICATION OF NORMS, PROUDLY POLITICAL BECAUSE IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SUBVERT ANY RIGID BINARY CLASSIFICATION. A SPACE OF APPEARANCE (H. ARENDT) WHERE INTIMACY RECLAIMS ITS ROLE OF IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION, THROUGH DRESSING AND UNDRESSING. FAR FROM ANY ESSENTIALIST STANCE.

ALESSANDRO