Stanley has come to Prague at the invitation of his uncle, to flat-sit for a few days. He’s fleeing his life in Chicago, hoping that a new place, a new context, might give him a valuable new perspective on his troubles. And yet this isn’t exactly a holiday. From the moment he arrives, Stanley is defensive and on-edge, because his uncle’s invitation isn’t as benign as it appears. His uncle Lech is an artist, the guiding light of a group of eccentric performance artists, and the mastermind of a series of immersive works that frequently slip across the ethical borderline into exploitation and humiliation. In coming to Prague, Stanley has agreed to act as the lynchpin for a new, daring work that will push his uncle’s work ever further into the grey area between art and life. For the next three days, Stanley knows that Lech’s troupe of misfits will be targeting him: seeking ways to draw him into their story; trying to shape his experience and force his actions into the line of their plot. Needless to say, Stanley has other intentions. From the moment he meets the first of his uncle’s ‘representatives’ at the airport, he does all he can to ignore the whole wretched circus. But are we really capable of choosing to be non-participants in a plot which revolves around us?

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2020/10/25/the-made-up-man-joseph-scapellato/#more-5465... ( )