horos I
above: excerpt from Horos I, 2007, high definition video, sound composition (to hear the sound press the sound icon located in the lower right corner of the moving image)
Horos I
2007
high definition video and sound composition, duration: 19 minutes 2 seconds, limited edition, 3 + 2 AP
series of video stills, dimensions variable, limited edition, 3 + 2 AP
installation: white canvas sheets, large river stones, charcoal chunks
live performance: the artist lies on top of the canvas in the installation and draws around her body using charcoal chunks, with her eyes closed, while pedestrians join her in the act of tracing their presence, occasional rain and continuous winds are an assumed part of the piece
Horos I premiered as a site-specific public project on the grounds of Manchester Community College (MCC), as part of a series of projects in POZA (2007), curated by Marek Bartelik at Real Art Ways, Hartford. Special thanks to Susan Classen-Sullivan, director, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery (MCC)
below: selected self-shot performance based photography, dimensions variable, limited edition, 3 + 2AP
Credits
written, directed, choreographed, performed, filmed, recorded, composed, and edited by the artist
Artist Statement
Horos is a Greek word that connotes space and dance. In Horos I (2007) the outdoor space of the Manchester Community College (MCC) became a large-scale drawing field resembling a meadow. I covered the ground with sheets of white canvas, which was then sawn together with a group of volunteers and was kept in place by large stones brought from the nearby river. During the many hours of the performance the wind caused the canvas to undulate, making it look like the ocean waves. Over time the canvas became darker, while the light kept shifting from early morning hours to the dusk. Chunks of charcoal were scattered around and pedestrians were invited to join me in the act of lying down in silence. Drawing around our bodies we left marks and stains of our presence. A few times rain came down and helped marks to dissolve into larger stains.
I have suspended a video camera from the nearby rooftop to record the drawing field as seen from above. In the film, seen from an aerial viewpoint, the meadow becomes almost two-dimensional. The drawing field and the bodies of participants become flattened, akin to the drawn marks themselves. The film includes both the initial unravelling of the sheets of canvas, the sewing of the sheets into one, and the wrapping of the fabric by the end of the day, which at that point resembles a shroud. I edited the footage by overlapping various moments from the day-long performance into a less then 20 minutes film, to create a sense of an ongoing event, located outside of specific time, a durational experience that seemingly can continue forever.
In the exhibition setting this film projection is shown on a continuous loop, creating a sense of ritual and repetition. I composed the sound from layers of recordings of the ambient sounds of the site, as well as murmuring and whispering voices of pedestrians. In the final sound composition, listeners can no longer decipher any words, rather, are invited to remain suspended in a moment outside of time.
- Monika Weiss
Press Excerpt
Taking as a point of departure specific national and cultural distinctions, which could be called “Polishness” by its choice of artists, the show offers an open-ended proposition that treats such distinctions as matters of choice and awareness, rather than linking them to a specific geography or a place of birth; the art is interpreted as an expression of enhanced evanescence in a politicized environment that encourages both nationalism and globalism. While such artists as Jacek Malinowski address the current situation in Poland (more exactly its psychological consequences on the Poles born after the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia), others (Azorro for instance) deal with a condition of the artist in a free market economy. Kinga Araya, an artist who lives in Canada, focuses on the complex condition of an immigrant, while Krzysztof Wodiczko examines the persisting abuse of Polish women by Polish men. Karolina Bregula gives visibility to another “silent” presence in the Polish society, that of its sexual minorities. Attention is also paid to the way the artists in the show participate in the larger world, exploring its diversity in a conscious and sensitive manner while doing it from both Polish and international perspectives (Gabriela Morawetz, Monika Weiss, and Paweł Wojtasik). Finally, several works (by Frida Baranek, Anna Bella Geiger, and Ursula von Rydingsvard) deal with issues of memory as a departure point for both questioning current reality and maintaining its continuity.
- Marek Bartelik, curator, POZA, 2007
Exhibitions
Długość cugli wyznacza średnicę areny, Galeria Sztuki Współczesnej, Opole, 2014, curated by Łukasz Kropiowski
Loneliness & Melancholy, Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery, MCC, 2007, curated by Paweł Wojtasik and Susan Classen-Sullivan
POZA, Real Art Ways, 2007, curated by Marek Bartelik
Monika Weiss, Galerie Samuel Lallouz, Montréal, 2007, curated by Samuel Lallouz
Publications
POZA: On the Polishness of Polish Contemporary Art, Real Art Ways, Hartford/D.A.P., 2008
Homo Ludens, Ludens, laboral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial, Gijon, Spain, 2008
