LORDS OF THE DANCE

Video installation

2002

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TECHNICAL DETAILS

 

7-channel video installation (colour), loop, 4:3 PAL, duration: 1^st channel – 5’54”, 2^nd channel – 2’53”, 3^rd channel – 5’33”, 4^th channel, audio fx – 4’18”, 5^th channel, music – 10’38”, 6^th channel – 2’22”, 7^th channel audio – 6’35, audio.

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DEMO

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DESCRIPTION

 

The installation consists of seven screens displaying looped fragments of films of varying length. From a crowd of bikers two men emerge: the protagonists who are shown simultaneously on all screens. The men perform a series of acrobatic exercises. The artist’s idea was to make them transform the composition they were creating without breaking contact, to create different monument sculpture each time. What distinguishes the pair of sportsmen is their skin painted gold, body covered only by underwear and helmets with cameras attached on their heads. Screens display both close-ups and full shots. Pictures displayed are composed to make a sequence showing the acrobats in various rooms, emulating poses similar to the heroes from monuments, male idols or warriors. In this piece, Kozyra looks from the feminist perspective, uses a range of clichés embedded in the culture, refers to images and ideas of masculinity present in our everyday reality.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

• Shots and close-ups recorded by cameras attached to the helmets became for Kozyra an inspiration to begin her work on the series “Faces”.

• Deliberately tacky title of the project alludes to the dance spectacle of the same name.

• The work marks the start of Kozyra’s long-time collaboration with Ania Godowska, which resulted in projects involving dance and choreography.

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SEE MORE

 

• “Katarzyna Kozyra, Casting”, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw 2010.
• “Katarzyna Kozyra”, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento 2004.

• “Lords of the Dance”, Museo Nacional Centro del Arte Reina Sofia 2002.

• FACES

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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:

Anna Godowska, Marcin Grabicki, Julia Leopold, Ewa Kaczorowska, Gabriela Maciejowska, Krystyna Muszyńska, Dariusz Nowak, Mirek Szewczyk, Hanna Wróblewska, Mieszko Zieliński, Artur Żurawski.

 

Production:

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Renia Sofia.

 

The piece was created with the support of Kozyra’s mother, Alicja.