THE
PRINCIPLE OF THE MISSING PIECE
text by Andrea Domesle / ZASADA
BRAKUJACEJ CZESCI UKLADANKI tekst Andrea Domesle
Our
Lady’s Forever is Anna Konik’s latest video work. Compared
with her previous videos, there is one major difference: the characters
are played by amateur actors, a young woman, a young man, a little
girl and a little boy. In the past, Anna Konik’s film works
featured real people in their everyday settings. The film narrative
was based on interviews, conversations and staged group scenes. This
method is derived from reportage, and videos that use it are often
placed within this genre. But the method has been appropriated by
young artists, in particular those whose interest focuses on content,
clear statements and specific socio-political messages. The last two
points are not of primary importance in Anna Konik’s works,
which have a poetic quality that is especially prominent in Our Lady’s
Forever. In addition, while Anna Konik takes those she interviews
seriously as individuals, she also generalises their fates and what
they say. This sets her firmly apart from her older Polish colleague
Artur Zmijewski, who uses a brutal, merciless interview technique
that pushes interviewees to commit dubious acts they would not otherwise
consider. With her highly sensitive handling of her subjects, Anna
Konik has introduced a very different tone into Polish video art that
might be described as feminine, but more importantly as humane. For
her reserve also sets her apart from the current grande dame of Polish
video art Katarzyna Kozyra, whose approach is voyeuristic and, more
recently, lavish.
The fact that Anna Konik’s video work has its place within the
realm of art becomes clear by the way it is presented in the exhibition
space. The positioning of the individual videos establishes links
between them and determines the way viewers stand, thus influencing
their interpretations – a method developed in particular by
Bruce Nauman. Furthermore, the installation-based approach turns the
presentation into a three-dimensional volume that can be walked around
but also entered. This sculptural approach to video was developed
by Bill Viola, whose sense of time Anna Konik also appreciates.
Links exists at various levels between Our Lady’s Forever and
Anna Konik’s older video works. Some of these are discussed
below in order to give an outline of developments within her oeuvre
and an impression of the distinctive quality of her artistic use of
video. (...)
Text
is published at the catalogue "Our Ladys Forever" Zacheta
National Gallery, Warsaw, 2007
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