[spectre] BREAK 21_DEAD OR ALIVE - REVIEW of the second week

[jaka zeleznikar]

BREAK 21_DEAD OR ALIVE
6th International Festival of Emerging Artists 18th June-7th July /
Ljubljana / Slovenija 



REVIEW of the second week 25th - 29th June 2002


>>>LIVE ART 

Following the theme Dead or Alive, every week being one of the words of the
title, the week that just past followed  the word "or". "Or", as we saw it,
was the balance word, so the works in the second week dealt with the
questions concerning situation between life and death, or dealt with them
in the manner of scales. 
Performance of HAVVE FJELL (NO) was the culminating event of the opening
day. This ex fakir, who came into art scene with the urge for some other
way of expresion than entertainment, held one performance from his Quintet
series. In performance "Sting" Havve Fjell was sewn to the chair with his
body, his left hand was sewn to his face, and right hand to his legs.
Statement of this artist is that pain is a solution. 


>>>VISUAL ARTISTS PRESENTED AT THE GALLERY

Unlike the first week when the space of the gallery was inhabited by a huge
object, so the intimacy of the space could strike you almost physically, in
the second week the construction was made up of  two large boards with
mixed photographies. The photographs of the different aspects of corpus
delicti, i.e. hunting or remains after a war battle, are mixed together so
the quality of the documentary  is stressed more than the artistic work
itself. Next to that  there were projections of a poetic video "Licking" on
three TV screens. 
Construction also consisted of one trophey chamber and a claustrophobic
passage to the end of the gallery where the photo album with family of
human mutants was exhibited on a tall chair.  The apse of  the gallery,
ex-chapell became a space for impressive guillotine.  


CHRISTIAN KEINSTAR (DE): Viva la Muerte 

Human fascination and desire for making murder - tools. Guillotine has a
historical, almost romantic conotation related to all the queens and kings
that lost their head on it. When exhibited in a gallery it represents an
interactive piece par excellence. 

LIANE LANG (GB): Licking 
One of the most gentle touches is licking, but when it is repeated, focused
always on the same spot, it can cause pain and a nasty wound. This
principle, which we can compare with spiritual experiences from the Far
East, can be seen in a video-animation made with beautiful anthropomorphic
plasticine and clay figures.

CHRISTIAN DE LUTZ (DE/US): The Trail from Srebrenica 1996/2001

One of the few works on the festival dealing with war. Photographs were
taken at Srebrenica, subtly showing the horror of the place, abandoned
after the attack.

MARIO MISKOVIC (HR)

Hunters always claim that they love animals the most. But after they kill
them, the animals end up in their stomachs and on their walls. At the
exhibition we have the opportunity to see a photo album of  an unknown
hunter.  

VUKASIN NEDELJKOVIC (YU): The Prince of the Forest 

Contradiction present in human relationship toward the animal was seen also
in the installation made by Nedeljkovic. Personification of roe-buck in
humanlike creature is seen through Disney's cartoon Bambi. Artificial
deers' heads ironically gets us back to reality.

SLAVICA PESEVSKA (MK/SI): 18.276 Less Alive

What is happening to the faunal and floral species in this anthropocentric
world? On display in the gallery you could see how many of them are dying.

JELENA RADIC (YU)
Family album of sweet and horrific human mutants. 


>>>>FASHION SHOW

The Fashion show that took place at the flat roof of Kapelica gallery was
actually a very succesfull fashion peformance. Models were shown lying on
hospital beds, with intubation tubes, or in body bags, lightened by
indiscrete neon light. Out of security reasons only about twenty people
could enter the roof at the same time by specially built staircase. Make up
of the models was black and white "swamp" design, and their hair was all
wet. Except for this, to the audience very interesting and bizzare
scenography, there were some quite astonishing creations dealing with
questions of death and life through the focus of fashion. 

IRENA FUNDUK (SI): Ecstasy of Death I, II

She is inspired with the bandage for covering big bloody wounds. Her
dresses, the colour of dark-blood, were like a reminder of a wounded but
preserved body.
 
ANA HRIBERNIK (SI)

Ana Hribernik is exploring artificial materials, for example latex, and
designing out of them a fashion for "future bodies" with three arms,
seventy fingers, five legs and tits on different places.

dd (CH): a-cute dress

Her very simple white dress made of unsewn fabric was attached to her body
with safety pins through her skin. When you wear your clothes like that,
except of the "needle" part of the dress, they can not get more loose. 

JASMINKA KONCIC (HR): Children of Paradise

"Children of Paradise" is the title of the collection from which we have
seen two models. They are made of spunge wrapped in red and white fabric.
The creations recall madhouse-shirts with too long sleeves and bandages.
They also recall protection suits - some parts of the body are immobilized
and if you hit the ground nothing happens to you. 

ANITA MUDRONJA (HR): Warrior I, II
Fashion inspired by army clothes. The less clothes you are wearing, the
more you are capable of moving.

STAHL STENSLIE (NO): Death by Walking, Suicide Party Dress 

Suicide clothes combine a fashion of suicide and fashion itself. You can
either suffocate because of walking (Death by Walking) or explode (Suicide
Party Dress) or blow up others. The clothes are inspired by suicidal
practice and even by attack on some institutions or people, but never
before in such a fashionable manner! 

SONJA ENGELHARDT (DE): Suicide Glove

She made long velvet party gloves with scalpel blade mounted on the zip
head which you can use to rip your veins in a stylish way. 

IVANA ZANKO (HR)

She is using incredibly structured natural materials (cotton) for wrapping
her models but the paint that she used made her end up in the hospital just
a few days before the show.


>>>NET ART

Innergirl: Suicide Journal
http://suicidejournal.com

Jimpunk: jimpunk visits mouchette at the m.org.ue
http://www.jimpunk.com/www/m.org.ue/

Melinda Rackham: Carrier
http://www.subtle.net/carrier/

Mouchette
http://www.mouchette.org


>>>VIDEO LOUNGE

The video lounge was set up on the staircase of the entrance hall of the K4
Club as a small private cinema. People could sit on the cushions on the
stairs and watch the projections. Last week there was a projection of  ERIK
HOBIJN's (NL) work "Delusion of Self-Immolation", a huge interactive piece
in which fire and water are used richly.  The work is famous under the
title Suicide machine. There was also a documentary on GUNTHER  VON
HAGENS's (DE) sculpture-collection made of human bodies. These controverse
pieces are signified with the term plastinates.  The third piece shown in
the video lounge was RON ATHEY's (US) radical, painful and poetic
performance. The performance is an excerpt  from "Four Scenes in a Harsh
Life" where he is explaining some important events in his life i.e. using
drugs, trying to commit suicide, prostitution and the fatal HIV infection.  
The video lounge is a great addition to the exhibition. Its importance lies
in the fact that we can show works which correspond to the topic 'Dead or
Alive'. Besides that people have one more opportunity to see something they
have missed. 


>>>SHORT AND ANIMATED FILMS

They were shown to the cinephillic audience in the Kinoteka. The audience
was thrilled and inspired by short and animated films, which were a great
success. Last week they could be seen in the video-animateque and in the
Kolosej cinema. The same schedule is valid for next week.

Short films

David Brooks (US): Member
Alain Escalle(FR/JP): The Story of the Floating World
Boris Hars-Tschachotin (DE). Lurch
Fariborz Kamkari (IR): Born to be a Soldier
Kenneth Kainz (DK): A Rare Bird
Marianela Maldonaldo (GB/NO): The Look of Happiness 
Jorg Wagner, Stefan Prehn (DE): First Day on the Job
Virgil Widrich (AT): Copy Shop


Animated films

Neels Britz (ZA): DAM
Rene Castillo (MX): To the Bone
Martha Colburn (NL/US): Spiders in Love
Jo Goigne (BE): Quick Death
Sally Golding (AU): Contained Vessels or Diseases Stolen from Other Bodies 
Igor Lazin, Bense Sandor (HU): Hilda's Story
Balász Pál (HU): Villy the Elephant
Bruno Razum (HR): Re:


We proudly announce third week events of the festival (from 2nd to 7th of
July): social situation - dinner made of human flesh by Zoran Todorovic
(YU), the suicidal performance of Elena Kovylina (UA) and "blood letting"
performance by notorious Franko B (GB). The works in the exhibition will
cover the "alive" part. 
Stay tuned.