Dead Bob Wilson, filmmaker and total artist
Bob Wilson was the most radical protagonist of the contemporary scene. Free, independent, with an unrelated and instantly recognisable style
by Carla Moreni
3' min read
3' min read
He did not go unnoticed, with those pointed boots and casual plaid shirts, as he sat in the stalls at La Scala, when the first dazzling directorial collaborations with the Milanese theatre began in the 1980s: they immediately called him 'the Texan', because his roots were in Waco, Texas: Bob Wilson left us today, 31 July. He was 83 years old.
He died in Water Mill, Suffolk County, New York State. Bound forever to that new world, which had allowed him to read the great masterpieces of old Europe with new eyes. He was the most radical protagonist of the contemporary scene. Free, independent, with a style without kinship and immediately recognisable.
A cool approach, radically measured gestures, a predilection for profile postures, total adoration for oriental culture: these were the constant ingredients of his work, whether he was signing the seventeenth-century one of Claudio Monteverdi's trilogy titles or a contemporary work such as Philip Glass's 'Einstein on the Beach'.
His was always a total vision, enveloping the entire performance, from the dramaturgy to the sets, from the costumes to the lighting, unfailingly protagonists, fundamental, studied to arrive at an exact, objective definition of each character. Apparently the whole thing might have seemed immaculate perfection, almost aseptic, far removed from any emotional or sentimental involvement. In reality, it was precisely this framework that eschewed expressiveness that ended up digging deeper into the play, uncovering its absolute reasons, its timeless dimension, its permanent truth.
The life and cultural background of Robert, soon to be known as Bob, Wilson had also been special. He loved to recount them. Because after finishing his studies at the University of Texas, in his early twenties, in 1962, and already on his way to a career in economics and business, he had an encounter with theatre and disabled children, and from there he decided that his life would go in the art world. So he moved to Brooklyn and within three years graduated in architecture.
