(Image derived from google image search; http://slought.org/img/archive1/1264+press1.jpg) I found Nitsch in a different chapter of Art and Today (see pg. 219), and felt his performance works fell into the "Art and Representation" category.
Nitsch is known primarily for his candid and gory depictions of cult-ish sacrifices and his subversive re-enactments of Christian and pagan rituals (including staged human crucifixions). While such works may seem purely created to shock on face value, Herman's works are part of a larger idea he first executed in the late 1950's*; to create and perform a Dionysian celebration of life integrating the body, spirit and the mind; not unlike a more tangible version of theatre. These large-scale works were part of what Hermann called the Orgien Mysterien Theater (Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries). The image above, however, (derived from the work 6 Tage Spiel - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater. Day 3: Day of Dionysus ), does not depict the less gory elements captured during the rest of the day's filming; grapes and tomatoes trampled in staged village wide celebrations; the above image instead suggesting life is definitively finite; his constant depictions of death have a distinct existentialist feel to them.
Working mimetically , Hermann's re-enactment of key historical events (the crucifixion, the Festival of Dionysus) is, in a performative overall sense; an accurate representation; capturing the almost ecstatic crowd sentimentality. However, the still and focalised documentation of Hermann's work as a copy becomes clear via small details; the modern glasses worn by the man on the right of the image above; the runners on the woman to the left, the crisp artificial white of their androgynous "costumes"...
While I can appreciate the concepts fuelling his works, personally, Hermann's works made me feel kind of nauseous.
*Hermann is still exhibiting today, thus, I would consider his work (despite having been produced prior to 1980) contemporary.
No comments:
Post a Comment