Blue Silk

Overview

Blue Silk is a puppet fairy tale that centers around the relationship between two characters: Mr. Trenchfoot and The Puppet. Through their relationship, Blue Silk explores the parallels between substance abuse and widespread consumerist addiction. It tells a story of consumption, addiction, and dependence on resources that are ultimately limited. Nearing its death, The Puppet in Blue Silk stands as a martyr on the brink of life and object-being. Its story serves as a warning: just as our bodies have finite resources, so does the Earth. The Puppet reminds us that consumption is necessary for survival, while it prompts us to consider how we can consume in a manner that is both healthy and sustainable. It acknowledges how our actions contribute to a larger issue and asks us to take measures to avoid making those mistakes in the future.

About the Artist

Salvador Castillo Placensia V (he/him), also known as Cinco, is a Mexican-American artist based in Philadelphia specializing in immersive performance, new technologies, and puppetry. Cincos practice utilizes comic books, and more specifically Splash Pages, as a way to inform his creative process. Envision a single moment that the rest of the piece revolves around this moment should feel frozen in time, boundlessly insightful. This is the Splash Page of the piece. Currently, Cinco serves as the assistant production manager at Pig Iron Theater Company in Philadelphia, PA. He was recently the Artist-in-Residence at the Heller Center for Arts and Humanities at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where he continued developing his puppet project, Blue Silk. Cinco, together with New Paradise Laboratories and Janani Balasubramanian, helped produce How to Get to The River, which was funded by the Pew Foundation through the Academy of Natural Sciences. Cinco is a regular collaborator and assistant producer with Janani and has held several residency positions with The Public Theater on their project, The Gift, which premiered at the Lincoln Center and is continuing to tour. Additionally, Cinco and astrophysicist Afra Ashraf have presented their findings on the similarities between Splash Pages and black holes to performance art collectives such as Gob Squad and Laia Studio. Previous highlights include Manual Cinemas Frankenstein, Sister Sylvesters Brecht Forensics: Drinking Brecht, Janani Balasubramanian's Rogue Objects, New Paradise Laboratories 707 Hazardous Moves, and Pig Iron Theater Companys The Path of Pins or the Path of Needles.