Artist at Work, Proximity of Art and Capitalism by Bojana Kunst

Author:Bojana Kunst [Kunst, Bojana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78535-001-6
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2015-08-28T00:00:00+00:00

4.2. Slowing down Movement

In order to understand how movement is connected with change and how this opens numerous ways of contemporary perception, it is necessary to think of movement in its relation to time. On 17th November 2007, in one of their Ballettikka Internettikka guerrilla actions, which intervened into various spaces using robots and other miniature mechanical devices for a decade, and broadcast these events online, Igor Štromajer and Brane Zorman illegally brought a robot to the top of the famous Lippo Centre in Hong Kong. On the other side of the world, at an equally eminent avant-garde art venue, the Hellerau Festival House in Dresden (Germany), the audience was waiting for the broadcast of this ‘illegal’ guerrilla ballet action, which was scheduled for 10 PM CET. The steps of the action and the schedule of the preparations for the ballet were planned up to the minute, in accordance with the illegal nature of the event. Temporality came second to the strategic effect of taking over the space and synchronicity served the realization of the planned event.

Through a series of short electronic messages from the two authors, the audience was notified in advance about all the details of the action and the ascent of the Hong Kong skyscraper, on top of which Ballettikka Internettikka: Stattikka – an ‘almost static but still transitive net ballet’ was supposed to take place. At 10 PM, giant projections began in the Hellerau Hall. On its walls, ceiling and floor, the image of the robot appeared. With two red lights as eyes, the robot was situated on a concrete edge made of white ceramic tiles, as though it were just about to take a new step. Behind it, one could see the glittering and rhythmically pulsating lights of the Hong Kong metropolis, a night without proper darkness. Throughout, there was a sound as though someone were continually changing the (local) radio stations. The length of the transmission was determined in advance: 35 minutes. After the first two minutes, the head technician in charge of the transmission to the hall skyped the two authors atop the Hong Kong skyscraper: “Hey, is everything ok? When will things start? There’s nothing happening here yet.”150 The authors replied that everything was fine. After 35 minutes of transmission, a meticulously scheduled and synchronised descent took place, followed by securing the equipment. The level of risk involved in the action was assessed as the maximum by the two authors.

Indeed, when are things going to start? The question of the technician in charge of the connection between Dresden and Hong Kong was not that of a person technically skilled but ‘uninformed’ in the field of contemporary art. Rather, it mirrored the increasingly uncomfortable atmosphere in the hall; after a few minutes, people began to fidget, walk around and many actually left the hall. The artistic director of the festival, Johannes Birringer, later described the various reactions of the audience in his blog. While some people were enthusiastically following the authors’ project, others

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