Steps, Ladders, Stairs in Art. Volume 1 - страница 7

Escher’s use of stairs as a dynamic symbol of forward movement, spiritual ascent and transformation, transition to a different, higher state, gave rise to a whole direction in the visual arts. Stairs as an Escherian symbol became an integral part of modern mass culture, appearing in the theater, cinema and animation. Martina Casey designed a set for a nonexistent spectacle based on “Relativity” (V2, p. 51), in which ladders as a metaphor for elevation, change and movement connect different points of view: artist, actors and spectators. Escher’s “Relativity” has inspired the set designs of numerous theatrical productions. Gary McCann built a multidimensional maze of walkways and staircases for the opera “Macbeth” at Vienna State Opera in 2015. The bewildering series of stairways mirrors the characters’ confusion and moral decline and embody the seductive nature of evil. In Julia Noulin-Mérat’s 2018 set for “The Barber of Seville” at Boston Lyric Opera, “impossible staircases” are placed all over the stage, emphasizing the paradox of what is happening. Shizuka Hariu’s set for Nitin Sahwney’s “Dystopian Dream” is one example of Escher’s influence on contemporary choreography. The set embodies the space “between a dream and twisted reality”[8], in which Escher’s image symbolizes the internal contradictions and reflections inherent to man.

Escher’s “Relativity” has been recreated in mass-market movies as well, for example, the room where the final confrontation scene in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” (1986) takes place, and the moving stairs scene in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” directed by Chris Columbus in 2001. In Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film “Inception” two episodes evoke and attempt to explain the Penroses’ “continuous staircase”, and characters climbing the stairs recall Escher’s“ Ascending and Descending”. Escher’s stairs also appear in the cartoon series “The Simpsons” and “Futurama” among others.

Staircases play key roles in the plots of many Alfred Hitchcock movies, notably in “The Lodger: a Story of the London Fog” (1927), “The 39 Steps” (1935), “Vertigo” (1958) (V1, p. 176) and “Psycho” (1960). The director used stairs to manipulate the viewer’s reaction and create a rollercoaster effect. As Hitchcock’s heroes go down and up stairs, their movement reflects the waxing and waning of suspense.

Barber of Seville, 2018, Boston Lyric Opera, set design by J. Noulin-Mérat

Probably the best-known staircase scene in the history of cinema is the Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin”. Cameraman Eduard Tisse recounted that he used sharp light and shadow to create drama in the frame. The film crew found more and more expressive opportunities as filming progressed on each of the 120 steps. The abstract idea of oppression is embodied in the drama of steps turned symbol of national pain. The scene is a tragic plea for revolutionary action, a metaphor for the confrontation between good and evil.

Penrose Steps in the movie Beginning, 2010, directed by Christopher Nolan

The stairs in Rene Magritte’s 1936 painting “Forbidden Literature”, which addresses the duality of the world and the transition to another space, play a completely different role. Here among multiple absurd elements, only the stairway, based on that of the artist’s Brussels apartment, represents “this side” of reality, symbolizing a familiar part of our surroundings. This juxtaposition of prosaic biographical detail with mythology and text is what gives Magritte’s works their strange surreal character.