video art kitchen

video art kitchen vol.5 : express!body

Ulrike Rosenbach + Signe Theill + Rafael Montanez Ortiz + Lutz Gregor + Christian Möller + Patricia Hoeppe + Hanno Baethe + Josef Robakowski

In time for the Art Cologne the fifth issue of video art kitchen express!body is now available:

The program of approximately one hour comprises historical and contemporary works from the imai video art collection. Performance artists, video artists and dancers show that the boundaries between the fine arts and the performing arts are becoming diffuse and through their passionate encounter these art forms generate a specific expression of media which is attractive, brutal and close.

imai presents eight dance art positions from the distribution program. The selected art works from 1975 to 2008 document the symbiosis of moving images and bodies which artists have continually explored since the early days of video art. This relatively new form of art is closely connected to performance art and dance. In physically-oriented sequences artists focus on their sexual identity or seek a physical experience with their surroundings. Through subsequent editing they create a new impetus for motion or use the camera to focus on a particular detail to control and confuse what the observer views. express!body shows the body as a motion carrier and conveyor of meaning in media art.

Click on the individual art positions to directly access the selected art works in our online catalogue where further material is available for viewing and download.

*Ulrike Rosenbach: Tanz für eine Frau, 1975, 06:39 min* The video in black and white shows the artist turning to the melody of the waltz "Ich tanze mit Dir in den Himmel hinein" (I dance with you into heaven). The music repeats just like a gramophone record which jumps. The beautiful melody and a romantic dress evokes the image of a musical figurine. At first seeming like a little girl's dream, the art work develops into a confusing video performance concerned with the image of an entrapped woman. Veiled with net lace and turning to the tiring repetition of a sentimental song, the film changes from a dream into a nightmare – from perpetual monotony to physical exhaustion.



*Signe Theill: Gulliver Dreaming, 2008, 15:39 min* Berlin – the Potsdamer Platz railway station – a young lady looks for a place to rest. With a small case and dressed like a traveller she lies down on a bench. During the night around the railway station she tries to make contact with people but only finds machines. The dancer Shannon Cooney creates improvisations between toilet turnstiles, telephone cells and ticket dispensers in an area dominated by vending machines. The odd person rushing by does not notice her.



*Rafael Montañez Ortiz: Dance No.4, 1984-85, 04:36 min* In Video Dance Number 4 Ortiz uses film sequences to generate choreographic arrangements. Uncompromising sequences and permanent repetition compose an electronic sound to which the figures in the film move. The automated motions and sounds disclose the immanent dance and song in our locomotive system and speech.



Lutz Gregor: Frankfurt Dance Cuts: Vanessa Le Mat Synapse, 2005, 06:37 min In Synapse Vanessa Le Mat searches for internal and external motion impulses. In everyday scenes such as in the supermarket or at the hairdressers the dancer is afflicted by marionette-like grotesque motions which seem to be remotely controlled. The impulses are triggered by her external surroundings and also appear to surprise the player as much as her surroundings. The video artist Lutz Gregor orchestrates the setting with the camera and the improvisations of Vanessa Le Mat and creates the poetry of the moment and the humour.



Lutz Gregor: Frankfurt Dance Cuts: Jone St. Martin Meat Me, 2005, 06:17 min In Meat Me by Jone St. Martin, Lutz Gregor films the physical points of contact between a dancer and her partner. In these sequences specially choreographed for the camera the bodies of the woman and man rub against each other. The physical sequences were filmed in the area of a slaughterhouse and complemented by cross-fading with raw and bloody meat. The combination of the sounds generated by the processing of the meat in the slaughterhouse together with the extreme friction of the dancing bodies gets to you.



*Christian Möller: Camera Music, 1997, 02:15* The video documents the interactive image and sound installation Camera Music. The installation is based on an automated system for motion detection: the moment of the motion is the trigger for image and sound. Swarms of blue particles visualise the moment of motion of the viewer on the projection screen. The soundscape is generated from the spectrum of an electro-acoustic composition and reacts to changes in the image. This enables the viewer on the spot to control the video image and sound. Spontaneous choreography is created by visitors to the exhibition. In Camera Music the body does not move to music, but images and sound are composed by the body.



*Patricia Hoeppe: ground touched sky – sky touched ground, 2001, 05:43 min* In her performance the artist travels along the East-West axis of Berlin. Again and again she falls. She starts her walk along the Karl-Marx-Allee and stops at the triumphal column where she collapses exhausted. The video turns the world upside down at the moment when she falls. The reversal from above and below confuses the orientation of the viewer and as with the artist the ground under his feet disappears. In her last fall the artist bridges the distance between the sky and earth and the blue of her clothing mixes with the blue of the sky. Like a fallen angel, Patricia Hoeppe lies at the feet of the triumphal column. She then rises and dances barefoot - released.



*Hanno Baethe: Stay just a moment, 1990, 18:00 min* I notice a difference, I see no difference, I feel no difference – inside you are 17 and here outside people only see the old man… (Hanno Baethe). Stay just a moment uses choreographic and dancing expression to depict the agony of a young spirit which feels imprisoned in its ageing body. The comparison with the body of a young women arouse erotic memories in the old man and painful longing for youth, warmth and sexuality. But the differences of body and spirit leave the man cold, motionless and trembling within himself.



*Józef Robakowski: Dance with Trees, 1985, 02:39 min* In contrast to the other presented videos, the art work Dance with Trees is without people. This time the dancer is behind the camera and is able to vividly convey the perspective of the dancer to the viewer. His dance partners are young trees, wooden and upright in the forest. The camera moves to the "Tatitatammm" sound of the singing artist whose dance steps are heard on the leaves. The sound and camera work playfully to make the trees and the viewer the protagonists of the video.


Concept: Renate Buschmann and Tanja Natter Text: Tanja Natter

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