There are many short documentaries showing Niki de Saint Phalle’s shooting method, making her objects release paint once the bullets hit the canvases. In one particular documentary, De Saint Phalle’s face is momentarily out of focus. It is as if the camera man wasn’t fast enough to adjust the focus to catch the sharpness of her expression. Her voice though, always hits me. The frustration, the anger, the disappointment. The injustice. This is what strikes me, and not the spectacle surrounding it. Not the dressed-up audience. Not the editing of the documentary presented as a show promoting this specific retrospective of hers. The artist is there, as an entertainer, the violence is like a bullfight, bloody and gory but everybody is laughing, enjoying themselves. The seriousness contained. The paintings, the objects remain, but what is stuck in my mind is her blurred, furious face.
In my version, I work with a group of boys and young men in the ages 16 to 20 years old. A ring is formed by them and they circle around in a choreography of movements. After a while one is separated from the group. One of the starts to film them with a cell phone. Water balloons with black paint are thrown at the single man who is now standing in a corner. Once the balloons are used, the other exits except the the one filming who turns the towards the audience, still filming. He then exits. This will be done in other variations.
In my version, I work with a group of boys and young men in the ages 16 to 20 years old. A ring is formed by them and they circle around in a choreography of movements. After a while one is separated from the group. One of the starts to film them with a cell phone. Water balloons with black paint are thrown at the single man who is now standing in a corner. Once the balloons are used, the other exits except the the one filming who turns the towards the audience, still filming. He then exits. This will be done in other variations.
April 9, 2017
BANG BANG, performance in Rom8 in Bergen, Norway.
Excerpt of 3 min, total aprox. 20 min.
Performers: Henrik Nordin, William Alexander Vik Skaten, Jimmy Trinh, Jasper Siverts and Nicolas Africanus
BANG BANG, performance in Rom8 in Bergen, Norway.
Excerpt of 3 min, total aprox. 20 min.
Performers: Henrik Nordin, William Alexander Vik Skaten, Jimmy Trinh, Jasper Siverts and Nicolas Africanus