The allegory of Plato's cave is likely one of the philosophical myths that linger in our memory, whether or not we encountered it in school or have a strong affinity for philosophy.
In the allegory (Plato writes about it in "The Republic", 375 BC), Socrates illustrates the dichotomy between belief and knowledge: chained prisoners are confined in a cave, behind the prisoners is a fire, and between the fire and the prisoners there are people carrying objects. The prisoners are therefore only exposed to shadows cast by objects behind them. The prisoners watch these shadows, believing this to be their reality as they've known nothing else.
The prisoner who is freed and discovers the outside world symbolizes the journey from ignorance and darkness to knowledge and enlightenment. Returning to free the others, the prisoner is blinded because he is not used to the sunlight, so the others think they will be harmed if they try to leave the cave. The blinded prisoner signifies the challenges faced when trying to enlighten others. So, the allegory highlights the transformative power of knowledge and the challenges individuals face in accepting higher truths.
Artist JR recently used Plato's allegory for a project, "Retour à la Caverne" (Back to the Cave), in collaboration with the Opera national de Paris and 𝘭𝘦19M, Chanel's complex designed to bring together its 11 Maisons d'art, the Maison ERES and la Galerie du 19M under one roof.
The artist is known for his installations that have taken over major locations, including the Louvre Museum and the banks of the Seine, the Farnese Palace in Rome and the Strozzi Palace in Florence, the favelas of Rio and the bunkers of the Second World War Atlantic Wall.
At the moment, Palais Garnier is being restored and it is therefore covered in scaffoldings, so the project employed the building as it is, for two installations that took place in September and November.
In September, Act I, entitled "L'entrée de la caverne", acted as an introduction and invited visitors outside the cave and into the light.
The monumental façade of the building was covered with a canvas representing an immense cavern opening onto a perspective of rock and light.
The scene called to mind the descriptions of nature in Edmund Burke's "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful".
The cave was indeed inspired by the romantic codes of the 19th century and in particular by the painter Hubert Robert, while also referencing great stage sets of operas by Berlioz or Wagner.
Over four evenings, projections of ballet dancers and lyrical performers allowed people to discover the origins of these two forms of art through a variety of performances, including, among the others, "Boléro" by Maurice Béjart, an excerpt from "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" by Jacques Offenbach, directed by Robert Carsen, "Brise-lames" by Damien Jalet, an excerpt from "Le Par" by Angelin Preljocaj, "Die Grosse Fuge" by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, and an excerpt from "La Traviata" by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Simon Stone.
The projections invited people to consider how in ancient times song and dance celebrated the divinities of archaic Greece in caves set aside for the occasion. It wasn't until the 6th century BC that these celebrations were brought closer to the cities, where real tribunes and bleachers were dug to bring together all the citizens.
For Act II – "Dans la caverne" – that took place in November, people were invited back into the cave to explore the entire grotto.
The walls of the cave were covered with handprints collected thanks to the participation of hundreds of visitors to the "Mano Habilis" workshop offered by le19M and run for two months by Atelier Montex, le19M's resident embroidery house. During the workshop participants learned how to embroider their own handprints, which were then placed on the cavern walls alongside hundreds of others.
Choreographer Damien Jalet presented on an abstract, ancestral, evocative, and at times ominously dark yet mesmerizing soundscape by Thomas Bangalter, "Chiroptera", a performance featuring 153 dancers from all over Europe.
Amandine Albisson, étoile of the Paris Opera, opened the performance with a solo, then the curtains rose to reveal the 153 performers on the scaffolds.
Thanks to their costumes, comprising a white light refractive suit with black knee pads and a black and white cape, the dancers created from a distance a visually striking effect, similar to that of split-flap displays or of human pixels on an immense digital board. The choreography was very clever with dancers repeating the same movements in a mirrored and alternating arrangement, that gave you the illusion they were all performing different movements.
There was a fashion twist in the event: Albisson's costume comprising a black dolcevita jumper decorated with crystals under a long black tweed coat that incorporated sparkling shiny yarns with a velvet collar (both the garments symbolised the light vs darkness dichotomy) was designed by Chanel, that also supported the design and fabrication of costumes for the 153 dancers, a rather minimalist yet clever design that allowed the dancers to have maximum impact.
Chanel is a patron of the Paris Opera Ballet, and it is particularly involved in the 2023/2024 dancing season at the Palais Garnier as next year marks the 100th anniversary of Gabrielle Chanel's legacy in costume design for "Le Train Bleu" (1924).
There was a strong architectural component in this installation that went from prehistorical times, with the cave, then passed onto the classical architecture of the building and introduced viewers to industrial architecture with the scaffolding.
Yet, aside from architecture, it was inspiring to see a philosophical concept transformed into a performance (always remember, fashion students, that inspiration can emerge from diverse sources, also unlikely ones like an intangible philosophical allegory, and can be approached from various perspectives…).
There were two messages in this project: beyond today's pervading darkness, beyond all the brutality out there, there is still beauty and light. While beauty by itself may not be able to shelter us from the violence of our world, it can help us restoring hope in our hearts.
The cave in this installation didn't therefore symbolize darkness, but hinted at a protective haven, shielding its inhabitants from the world's violence. Darkness serves to reveal light, the dancers spelled indeed the sentence "Darkness Holds the Grace" at a certain point of the choreography.
As stated also by JR when he opened the show in November: "In recent weeks, we have seen so much darkness around us. All of us, the artists and dancers wondered: what good is dancing, what good is creating, what good is putting on a show with all this darkness around us? But we said no, our role as artists is always to search for the light. And we know this much: you don't chase away the darkness with more darkness, but you chase away the darkness with light, even the tiniest one."
The second message served as an invitation, reminding us that the Paris Opera is accessible to everyone (the two performances on the Place de l'Opéra were free). Let's hope that this invitation extends to other opera theaters worldwide, including Milan's La Scala. Gone are the days when the upper echelons of society turned up in lavish furs and grand gowns on the opening night of la Scala's new season, 7th December, but many people still find opera and ballet as entertainments for an elite audience. Within these theaters lie instead great inspirations and potential careers for costume and fashion designers. The key is dispelling the misconception that these worlds are stagnant an revealing them as vibrant and thriving universes.
All images in this post courtesy of Opéra de Paris.