Reflections (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bachelor Machine)
an original work written and directed by Wade Haynes
Concept:
The conceptual frame of this project draws upon two primary notions: narcissism and the “bachelor machine.” Sigmund Freud defines the first of these as “the libidinal complement to the egoism of the instinct of self-preservation.”[1] In this sense, narcissism as self-love parallels the survival instinct (the latter refers not only to the fight or flight impulse at the level of the individual organism, but also to the necessity of the sex drive for the survival of the species).
The second concept is derived by Michel Carrouges from a common figure he notices in the works of Marcel Duchamp, Alfred Jarry, Franz Kafka, Raymond Roussel, and others. He defines the bachelor machine as “a fantastic image that transforms love into a technique of death.”[2] The bachelor machine disrupts the “normal” order of sexuality by deflecting libidinal energies back onto the self: in this sense, bachelor machines are masturbatory mechanisms that threaten to disrupt the survival of the species. Simultaneously, the bachelor machine endlessly defers the arrival of orgasm until the moment of death: in this sense, bachelor machines are tantalizing torture devices that alternately disarm and exaggerate the fight or flight impulse by both promising and withholding pleasure.
For my work, the bachelor machine functions as an exaggerated figuration of the contradictory forces at play in the construction and performance of masculinity in Western culture. The masculine subject is as much an agent as he is subjected to these forces, but the more self-aware he becomes of his place within them and tries to utilize them to his own ends, the more instrumental he becomes in their operation.
Plot and Narrative:
The play presents a caricature of the narcissistic bachelor—a remarkable specimen of masculinity, enamored with his own appearance, grotesquely well-endowed, and absolutely insatiable in the bedroom—in a series of absurd quotidian situations, each of which gradually reveals the operations of a mysterious and invisible “bachelor machine” governing his movements and interactions. In attempt to unlock secrets of pleasure and finally achieve the orgasm that no woman can give him, this bachelor assembles a blueprint from his experiences and constructs his own bachelor machine so that he might exercise absolute control over his pleasurable pursuits. His sexual union with the machine has three results: he finally achieves climax, the machine falls in love with him, and he effectively dies by melding into its circuitry.
The play will be presented in the style and structure of a self-reflexive farce, with a plot whose action accelerates towards a climax, only to be frequently interrupted by quasi-vaudvillian interludes which designate the bachelor character’s fantastic epiphanies. These epiphanies occur at moments in the narrative when the bachelor character devises blueprints and constructs and assembles parts for his bachelor machine. The dramatic action of the plot, with its fast pace punctuated by interludes, thus perverts the operation of the invisible bachelor machine referred to in the narrative. Whereas the invisible bachelor machine indefinitely impedes the bachelor’s progress toward (the) climax, each interlude paradoxically stops the action of the play only to propel it forward, which is to say that each epiphany brings (the) climax closer to its realization. The deus ex machina prevalent in many manifestations of the farce form is thus both literalized and complicated here as the bachelor machine that the main character assembles for himself. These finer points of the play’s construction are to be rendered explicit through didactic use of a combination of projections, sight gags, and dialogue.
Overall Aesthetic:
Costumes, props, and scenery are to match the farcical tone of the play and its grotesquely exaggerated characters. Costumes are to be vibrantly colorful and reminiscent of Futurist, Dada, and Bauhaus design. They will be relatively inexpensive to produce: largely composed from cardboard coated with mylar, aluminum foil and other light, reflective materials. Hand-held props are to be exaggerated in size and shape. From the prop shop, I will need a full-size bed, a few standing mirrors, and other minimal interior furnishings and accoutrements for one side of the stage, and a minimal assemblage of props that signify an urban exterior for the other. Minimal scenery is to be cartoon-like, with dark outlines, vibrant color, and exaggerated shapes.
The duration of the performance will be somewhere between 50 and 60 minutes. It will contain simulated sex acts and violence, nudity, and strong language.
Sources and Inspiration:
The ideas embodied and enacted in this performance are largely derived from Freud’s essay on narcissism (cited above), as well as from Carrouges’ insights on the bachelor machine figure (also cited above) and from several of the latter’s source texts. Jarry’s novel The Supermale functions as the narrative backbone of the play, and supplies its climax and ending as well as a basic sketch of the main character. Ideas for action and dialogue in the interludes are lifted directly from Duchamp’s papers (collected as “The Green Box”) written during the construction of his masterwork “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even.” General inspiration for shaping the aesthetic and feel of the performance comes from a variety of other sources, including: the fiction of J.G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs, Franz Kafka, and Bruno Schulz; the plays of Heiner Müller, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, Maurice Maeterlinck, Oskar Kokoschka, and Ernst Toller; the films of Stanley Kubrick, Kenneth Anger, David Cronenberg, the Quay Brothers, and Terry Gilliam; the dramatic theories of Antonin Artaud, Edward Gordon Craig, and Heinrich von Kleist; and the music of Kraftwerk and Gary Numan.
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