SUMMERTALE

2008

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TECHNICAL DETAILS

Single channel video (colour), loop, 16:9 PAL, 19’56”, audio.

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DEMO

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DESCRIPTION

An almost 20 minute long film “Summertale” was made in 2008 and it concludes a multi-dimensional and varied series “In Art Dreams Come True”. As it is the last instalment, logic requires to start at the end of the film. This is where we read that none of the people appearing in the film has anything to do with any of the fairy tales. Reading this information makes us laugh inwardly, because – technically – the story shot by Kozyra resembles a fairy tale. And even at first glance it brings to mind “Snow White”: Industrious midget women resembling the seven dwarves (despite there are only five of them), tiny beds in the little house are the same as in the Brothers Gimm’s tale, and the poisoned Maestro is revived with a kiss. In the fairy tale Snow White is woken from her sleep by a man. Here, a woman. But is she really? Nothing about the artist is as it seems. The sexy lady is somebody else… The ideal of a “real woman”, Gloria Viagra, is a man. Well-groomed midget women living in their Arcadia are not the embodiment of order and peace. Therefore, in this philosophical tale of a film disguised as a colourful fairy tale nothing is simple or straightforward. Horrific events are in a stark contrast to idyllic pictures and slow unfolding of the plot. Clean and neat outfits of the characters – to the splattering blood of the murdered. Unintelligible language used by the actors with the single Polish sentence, unfavourable towards men. And metamorphoses continue: Katarzyna Kozyra initially appears as a woman trying to adapt to the midgets and their lifestyle, only to morph into a sorceress inflicting severe punishment for the crime. The story allows for a multitude of interpretations. It enables conducting serious discussions about the most important subjects, such as tolerance among people or true Art.

Jawaka

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The project was created during Katarzyna Kozyra’s DAAD grant in Berlin received in 2003.

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SEE MORE

 

• “Katarzyna Kozyra, Casting”, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw 2010.

 

• Summertale, Zak/Branicka, Berlin 2008.

• IN ART DREAMS COME TRUE

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The Artist would like to thank all her collaborators and people who helped in the realisation of the project, in particular:

 

Production:

Kunsthalle Wiedeń, Romaeuropa Festival, Schwarzenberg Pałac i ogrody, Wiedeń, Instytut Polski w Rzymie,

Teatro Palladium, Università Roma Tre.