The Panevėžys Municipal Culture and Art Council honored photographer and set designer Arvydas Gudas. The laureate of the Culture and Art Prize does not emphasize his achievements, he says that he simply does what he likes in life. The positivity-radiating creator shared his life story and outlook on life.
Visual arts
According to A. Gudas, “visual arts” is the most accurate description of his activities. It is scenography, photography and art. The artist graduated with a bachelor’s degree in design pedagogy and a master’s degree in scenography. These disciplines came into the creator’s life in childhood.
“It all started in my childhood, I used to draw a lot, carve something out of bricks. I graduated from art school, then I had to enroll somewhere – I chose design pedagogy studies in Šiauliai”, A. Gudas began to tell.
The path of the artist quickly led him to the theater, from which he has not left for many years.
“When I was studying, I had no thoughts about the theater, but in my second year there was an opportunity in my hometown – Pasvaly, to get a job as an artist in a cultural center. There were three amateur theaters that had to create scenography. I had no experience in this field, but I looked at it simply – filling space like a drawing. I gained a lot of positive experience. Friendly directors, amateur actors brought me into that world,” the creator taught.
Theater world
Arvydas had to spend a lot of time watching the rehearsals, the artist naturally had the idea to try himself in another field.
“I mentioned it to someone living abroad
to my brother that I would really like to take pictures and he brought a Canon camera to me once. It lay in the drawer for a while longer. Once I picked it up, I started spending time backstage, among the actors. That beautiful picture that you watch from the front gets a little boring – when you see it many times, you know everything, how the light will fall, who will stand where, and here, behind the scenes, a different plane is emerging. That’s how photography came into life,” Arvydas revealed, adding that the art disciplines that prevail in his life are closely related.
“I approach photography with the same principle as painting: composition, color, shapes, line points, spots, then techniques and materiality appear. It’s just that drawing is an internal monologue, and photography is instantaneous, suddenly, you don’t know when something will jump out from around the corner.”
To the professional stage
Soon, Arvydas made his debut on the stage of a professional theater, in the Panevėžys Theater “Menas” he created scenography for the play “Don’t-don’t-pay” directed by Peter Stoičev.
“After this production, I realized that if I work on something, if I create scenography, I also want to create costumes in order to control the whole. I have no ambition to grab a lot, better in smaller bites. If you get caught up a lot, you may feel inside that one part will not succeed. A little bit of everything – take photos, edit, draw, prepare. A large, beautiful picture tends to consist of this,” reasoned the creator.
The scenography of A. Gudas could be seen for the first time on the stage of the Juozas Miltinis Drama Theater in 2021, in the play “Cloak”. The developer vividly told about the processes leading up to the premiere.
“Usually, I talk, correspond, and meet with the directors a lot. When I receive an offer, I try not to respond immediately. I always think for a few days. Once you agree, you’re signing up for a really tedious process. Especially a week before the premiere, it’s crazy, you can’t think about anything else,” the artist shared and continued:
“Everything comes with a pen and pencil on the simplest sheet of paper. You arrange moods, planes, separate scenes, spaces. Each character has a different personality. The details of the suit help to convey his story, after all, all of it, from birth to now, cannot be told.”
Behind the scenes of the scenographer’s work
The specifics of the scenographer’s work are no less interesting and intriguing than those of actors or directors, but are discussed much less often. The interviewer reveals the behind-the-scenes of this profession.
“I prepare sketches, coordinate them with the director. Then I take the drawings to a welder, a carpenter, a costume designer, a seamstress, a prop designer… Together with the production manager Martyn Sokolov, we rethink what we can recycle – we repaint, disassemble, change the decorations of the written performances. That process is very interesting”, said the scenographer and added:
“It happens that actors have some preferences, wishes – you take that into account. Some are very easy to work with, what you give, what you wear – they will only look at their work, others may want a lighter scarf, a stronger coat or something else. It is very human. If you like to communicate, listen and be listened to, then the theater is very suitable.”
Theater is a community
A. Gudas emphasizes that the theater is a great space for cooperation, it is a kind of school of trust in people.
“When you draw or take pictures, you can do it alone, but in the theater, collective work begins – you have to start trusting others. You convey the idea, and another person, for example a carpenter, brings in his own form. You trust people – they trust you, which creates a more sincere connection. This leads in a positive direction”, said Arvydas.
The artist describes most of his work as documentation. The message is not important to him, he doesn’t catch something specific in his mind while taking impulsive photos – he just observes.
“My approach to creativity is simple. Unnecessary climbing over heads, searching, the most important thing is that there should be movement – physical and mental. For example, trips to other countries and cities are required. You can see the differences when you come back, you feel even more assured, safer here, you know every corner, but that can also become difficult after a while. You start to think that you know everything, you try to predict. You need surprise so that you don’t fall into too safe a zone, so that you don’t become lazy,” thought the developer.
Panevėžys community
When asked about life in Panevėžys, the scenographer from Pasvalis answered:
“Usually you can’t name it – ‘I like the city because of this.’ I like the city because of the people, I’m not an architecture analyst, I can’t say if the streets are designed properly. I just love the people, the community, my work in the theater. I seem to be in a different place and would not be able to work, creative work allows me to meet atypical people and share ideas. It is enriching and encouraging. I have fun rituals here, like going to the cafe in the Art Theater and talking to Tom the barista. Such simple rituals create a sense of security. But again, it’s important not to have too much of that sense of security.”
When “the sense of security is too much” – Arvydas travels.
“I plan to fly to another country for my vacation, new experiences come with travel, and I like to relax the most at a homestead near the Labanor forest, draw and read there,” says A. Gudas.
Philosophy of life
According to the photographer, balance is the most important thing in life. When asked about future plans, he reasons:
“I haven’t set any specific goals, I always say that I just want to be happy, I try to maintain such a healthy rhythm, not to get too busy, so that there is no stress, so that you don’t have to recover, so that when you go abroad, you will really be there.” Where you are, you must live there. It gives ease and freedom. And that freedom doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.”
“You are always dependent on others and others are dependent on you, that freedom is such that everyone plays their part. And that’s very good. You don’t need to conquer the whole world, you don’t even need to go somewhere if you want to rest – it’s all within you – that peace is within you. When chaos is happening around you, you can come back to yourself. If you have that, then you can go anywhere, fly to the four corners of the world and hold your own in one fist. That’s why you need to remember to sleep, read books and so on,” artist A. Gudas summed up positively in the interview.
