Program realized thanks to the collaboration with apollonia European art exchanges in Strasbourg.
Videos featured:
Katia Damianova (BG), European Tongue, 2005, 3’
Video documentation of a performance by Katia Damianova & the Ultrafuturo group, which took place in Sofia on 10 December 2005. Shot in a square between the Presidential Palace and Parliament building, the artist pierces her tongue with a hypodermic needle with the European flag mounted on top. The action is dedicated to the accession of Bulgaria to the EU and symbolizes the possibilities that an ordinary Bulgarian has to articulate an opinion on a process that received heavy media coverage.
Anetta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkáčová (CZ/SK), Dialectics of Subjection #4, 2006, 13’
The fourth installment of the series “Dialectics of Subjection” in which Chisa and Tkáčova compare the respective sex appeal of Slovak artists and international curators. In the “Dialectics of Subjection #4,” the artists chat about the most powerful men in European and world politics. The talk is typically girlie, full of jokes, laughter and giggles that turn to uncompromising judgment, admitting only the criteria of physical (un)attractiveness.
Andreas Fogarasi (H), A Machine for, 2006, 8’
Video realization dealing with the present situation of a former Communist cultural center in Budapest, an institution whose offerings were at one time dictated by political ideology. The camera moves slowly through the architectural details of the center as a colorful past is contrasted with the possibilities in a new socio-political situation.
Erik Binder (SK), Plastic bag Kung-fu, 2005, 2’40“
Erik Binder is one of the leaders of the Kunst-Fu creative platform that adapts a wide range of artistic practices inspired by the combined subculture phenomena from comics, graffiti, hip-hop, eco-criticism, leftist ideas and kung-fu. Plastic bag Kung-fu is representative of Binder’s characteristic approach of addressing his subjects with an unbridled, child-like playfulness and the artist’s very particular sense of humor.
Stefan Rusu (MD), Brezhnev likes Mamaliga and Mamaliga likes Brezhnev, 2001, 5’
Stefan Rusu employs an homage to Joseph Beuys’ performance “I like America and America likes me” in the title of this video work, which relates to the habits of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, who played an important role in the development of Moldavan Socialist Republic. In the film, the artist prepares Mamaliga, a corn flour concoction that is the equivalent of Italian polenta and was Brezhnev’s favorite Moldovan dish.
Anton Čierny (SK), One Day I Decided to Make a Trip (Song for Europe), 2006, 11’
A video documentation of the artist’s search for a song which could be a potential anthem for a United Europe. Presented are explorations in Vienna and Warsaw, which are among the 13 European capitals where Čierny has filmed. In each city, the artist requests that a street musician play a song that could serve as a European anthem. The project contains a strong social aspect, with musicians giving their reflections on the impact of the political and economical unity.
Miklós Mécs (H), Altkleider (A Central-Eastern European in Central Eastern Europe), 2006, 1’30”
Documentation, filmed in Dresden, of a performance in which the artist removes his clothes in an open-air market and hangs them in a second-hand stall.