The Birth of Venus / performance

The performance was created during the residency as part of the project: Slits. Women in Performing Arts, organized by the Institute. Jerzy Grotowski in Wrocław. It was then presented at the festival under the working title Dissolution. The action referred to an image – an image imposed by culture, confronted with bodily physiology.

During the performance, I created a costume made of a translucent, airy fabric. I started the action by taking off my everyday clothes, then I unrolled the roll of fabric like a roll. The fabric was lying on the floor, parallel to the river flowing outside the window. I moved around by piercing it. I had a smooth fabric surface in front of me and an airy structure behind me. In my implementation, I took into account the specific character of the rehearsal room at the Grotowski Na Grobli Institute. Its bright parquet floor and beautiful windows overlooking the Odra River made the costume created during the activity resemble a princess dress, or a ballerina’s airy crinoline. When the dress was ready, the delicate princess invited the audience to intensive physical training to the rhythm of music and the trainer’s commands from the Internet. Due to intense exercise, the structure of the dress was damaged, sweat and sprayed water made the fabric on my breasts become soft and sticky – it started to resemble foam. When I couldn’t exercise anymore, I stopped, opened the window, let my airy crinoline loose in the wind, and sat in front of the mirror. I pulled a thread from the dissolving sticky fabric, which was already starting to melt into my skin. I put the thread in my mouth like I was eating pasta. I threaded the saliva-soaked thread onto the needle; trying to sew a softer dress resulted in the thread tearing the material instead of connecting it. The dress stuck to my wet skin, the needle piercing it touched my stomach. I peeled off layers after layers. The performance lasted 60 minutes.

Fragment recenzji festiwalu autorstwa Anny Pawlik opublikowanej w czasopiśmie Didaskalia:

Video documentation Due to the scenes of nudity, you must log in via YouTube to confirm your age to view the film

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