Tag: residency

Residency: Cagliostro’s Apologia

September 3, 2024 gmc-art

MAURIZIO MOLINO AS COUNT CAGLIOSTRO AND JAGODA N. WINTER AS SERAFINA

My first outcome of the Artist and Researcher in Residence at Swedenborg House was the play Apologia. This is the life of the infamous ‘Count’ Alessandro Cagliostro, possibly AKA Giuseppe Balsamo, a magician, scryer, necromancer and alchemist in 18thC Europe.

Cagliostro was a friend of the artist Philip James de Loutherbourg. At one point, the two alchemists were planning to go into business together, but they fell out.

In Apologia, I offered Cagliostro the opportunity to do what he never had the chance to do in life: offer his side of the story. As the Inquisition destroyed all his papers, all that was left to learn about him was written by his enemies. In the play, the Count tries to explain his magickal life and answer the accusations against him. How well he succeeds is up to the audience.

APOLOGIA was performed at the Camden Fringe Festival in August 2024 and is in development.

Written and produced by Gillian McIver

Art

alchemist, cagliostro, magick, play, residency, swedenborg, theater, theatre

Profane and Sacred City

November 23, 2023 gmc-art

an event at Swedenborg House

I organized an event at Swedenborg House in London to kick off my Artist in Residence program. At the event, I showcased a play I am currently writing called “Count Cagliostro’s Apologia,” which was directed by Jagoda Kamov and featured actor Maurizio Molino. Additionally, I delivered a talk about my residency and the project I plan to work on. During the event, I also spoke about my upcoming illustrated book titled “The Mystagogue.” Furthermore, I introduced Robert Poulter and his New Model Theatre performance. To conclude the event, Femi Oriogun-Williams performed music based on the 18th-century scores of composer Jean-Hipplyte Barthelemon, accompanied by a video created by Marwan Elgamal.I organized an event at Swedenborg House in London to kick off my Artist in Residence program. At the event, I showcased a play I am currently writing called “Count Cagliostro’s Apologia,” which was directed by Jagoda Kamov and featured actor Maurizio Molino. Additionally, I delivered a talk about my residency and the project I plan to work on. During the event, I also spoke about my upcoming illustrated book titled “The Mystagogue.” Furthermore, I introduced Robert Poulter and his New Model Theatre performance. To conclude the event, Femi Oriogun-Williams performed music based on the 18th-century scores of composer Jean-Hipplyte Barthelemon, accompanied by a video created by Marwan Elgamal.

profane and sacred city — Gillian’s talk

Art

art, artist, curator, Gillian McIver, performance, residency, swedenborg, theatre

Residency

July 18, 2023 gmc-art

I am happy to announce that from autumn 2023 I am Artist and Researcher in Residence at the Swedenborg Centre, the locus of the Swedenborg Society in London.

I am researching the 18thC painter, stage designer and VFX artist Phlip James de Loutherbourg. Loutherbourg is the ‘missing link’ between art and cinema. A stage designer who developed the first ‘mechanical’ theatre show aimed at delivering a sublime ‘proto-cinematic’ experience, Loutherbourg was also a serious alchemist and occultist.

The Swedenborg Residency will involve my researching this little-known but tremendously influential artist, his occult practice, his friendships and his life in 18thC London.

I am working on the following projects:

Creating a version of his remarkable ‘Eidophusikon’ mechanical theatre.
Writing a graphic novel ‘Reanimating the Mystagogue’ on the life and work of Loutherbourg,
Writing and producing a play, Apologia, on the life of Loutherbourg’s friend Alessandro Cagliostro

The research will be the foundation of an eventual biography of Loutherbourg.