Rite of Spring, video installation, 1999—2002
The work was inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky's choreography for Igor Stravinsky's ballet The
Rite of Spring, and produced as an animation. Version I is shown on six small monitors
arranged in the form of an inner and an outer circle (three monitors each), and shows a
fragment of the Dance of the Chosen Victim, lasting thirty seconds. Version II is on seven
large screens, arranged as above, and shows the animation of the whole, 4.5 minute long,
Dance of the Chosen Victim.
Summer Tale, video, 2008
Summer Tale is most recent film made as part of the In Art Dreams Come True project. It is
a fairytale story that in the finale gives way to gore-style horror. The plot takes us to a
lovely house and garden where a group of midget women lead an idyllic life. Into their
harmonious and organised world magically enter Maestro, Gloria Viagra and the artist
herself stylised as Alice in Wonderland. At first, the visitors arouse curiosity and are treated
with sympathy. But their strangeness violates the fairytale world’s unwritten laws, resulting
in a tragedy. Under an appearance of benevolence and openness hides a fear and hatred of
strangers. Music is the language in which the protagonists communicate here — feelings of
happiness or sadness are expressed in the form of opera arias.
Men's Bath, video installation, 1999
Produced for and first shown at the Venice Biennale, where the work received an
Honorable Mention. Men's Bathhouse consists of four simultaneous projections (each
lasting 8 min.) onto four 105 x 140 cm screens mounted within an octagonal architectural
structure, suggesting the interior of a bathhouse. The projections are visible both within and
outside of the construction. The screens show scenes from the footage shot at the Budapest
bathhouse, and show men's behavior at the bath while being filmed with a hidden camera.
The artist is disguised as a man and appears among the other men being filmed in the
bathhouse. A three minute film of the artist disguising herself is screened on the small
monitor situated at the entrance of the installation. .
Casting, Warsaw, video, 2010-2011
Casting is a part of Katarzyna Kozyra`s project for a full length autobiographical feature film. The artist is currently in the process of writing the script for this film and searching for a cast. For Kozyra, the casting is an opportunity to look at herself from another perspective, from the perspective of a viewer who has been familiar with her work for many years, or of a viewer who is encountering it for the first time at the exhibition in Zachęta.
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Copyright Katarzyna Kozyra | 2012