The Marionette Parade
"Who pulls the strings in the theater of war? Soldiers march, perform, and sacrifice, but are they the heroes—or merely marionettes in a grand, unyielding spectacle? This project invites you to step into that stage, where control, memory, and perception intertwine in a haunting dance of light, shadow, and space."
The project currently underway addresses these ideas of a marked context. The students would likely refer to the project as “ruins,” though the idea of ruins reaches well beyond the fragments of a previous time. The site location is Lens, France during WW1, the aftermath.
My project creates a symbolic space that reflects the cycles of war, memory, and societal perception. It tells the story of marionette-like soldiers whose lives are controlled, consumed, and rebuilt by the forces of conflict. This is a theater of honor and sacrifice, but also of dehumanization and mechanization. The spaces reveal the many realities of war—open yet obstructed, cyclical yet linear, intimate yet monumental.
The performance space is a linear procession where colossal marionettes, 30–50 feet tall, tower over the audience and their human-scale puppeteers. It begins with a hidden reveal, echoing the secrecy of soldiers before deployment. As the marionettes “drop” into the space, the moment captures their abrupt immersion into action. The airy framework of cranes and scaffolding conveys transparency, while beams of light serve as “strings,” reinforcing the puppeteer–soldier relationship.
The holding space functions both as a repository of memory and a site of transformation. Here, uniforms, name tags, and personal belongings are stored before being reassembled for the next performance—symbolizing the relentless replacement of war.
The viewing space reflects how society perceives conflict, with vantage points ranging from fully open to partially obscured. Fragmented views mirror the divided perspectives of war: hero to some, villain to others, pawn to many. Interplay between slats, panels, and light underscores the tension between what is revealed and what remains hidden.
