“I arrived at Robert Wilson’s world by chance —perhaps in the same way that men and women stumble upon great discoveries in life. I arrived with the transparent innocence that only tireless travelers possess, driven by the desire to explore extraordinary territories of the mind and spirit.

In New York, academic research brought me closer to one of the true geniuses of contemporary performing and visual arts. I admire Robert Wilson’s work and feel privileged to have been —even in the smallest way— a part of his creative process. But this book is neither a tribute nor an exercise in blind adulation. I have made every effort to avoid excessive personalization of judgments, steering clear of uncritical praise.

Instead, I use Wilson’s work as a gateway to explore contemporary arts. Few artists, like this visionary director from Texas, have ventured so fearlessly across multiple disciplines —avant-garde theater, modern opera, contemporary dance, visual art, and audiovisual technology. He approaches each with generosity and honesty, always guided by a multicultural perspective, an experimental spirit, and a fusion of languages that define 20th century art: uncertain, hybrid, and global.

For readers eager to explore the avant garde beyond a single figure, this journey through Wilson’s work may serve as an enriching path. And yet, I still wonder why are there so few books about Robert Wilson? Aside from oversized volumes that grace coffee tables, where are the in-depth explorations? But then again, when dealing with the theater of images, who needs printed words? At least Picasso had better luck.” — Pedro Valiente [Translated from book’s prologue]

A Journey Through the Avant-Garde

All is Connected

Robert Wilson. Planetary Performing Arts

“Robert Wilson. Planetary Performing Arts by Pedro Valiente emerges as a compass guiding readers through the creative universe of one of the most visionary figures in modern stagecraft. This book is not merely an analysis; it is a journey —an illuminated path into the mind of a man who reshaped the grammar of performance and reimagined the possibilities of time, light, and silence.

The first half offers a comparative study of Wilson’s oeuvre, positioning his work against the shifting paradigms of modern theater and visual culture. Rather than a conventional reading of individual productions, Valiente maps recurring formal strategies across Wilson’s vast body of work: the sculptural use of light, durational time structures, and scenic minimalism. He situates Wilson in dialogue with artists and movements, tracing a line of experimentation that informs Wilson’s distinct stage language. This section also highlights key aesthetic traits as signatures that place Wilson at the crossroads of performance, visual art, and architecture.

In the second half, the book turns inward, examining Wilson’s creative process as a kind of ecological thinking. Drawing from Wilson’s interdisciplinary collaborations, Valiente shows how each work emerges from an “architecture of listening,” where silence, shadow, and gesture form a living syntax. The stage becomes a laboratory of perception, a planetary system of artistic interrelations. Here, Valiente’s voice shifts from analytic to personal: as a video design collaborator in The Days Before DDDIII, he offers a rare, embodied perspective on Wilson’s rehearsal methods, compositional discipline, and improvisational control. The result is a sustained reflection on how theater can operate beyond the theatrical —as a total art form, as ritual, as a reflective space for the fragility and mystery of being.” Site I Ñaque Ed. I Book Stores I EXTERNAL REVIEW