Polish Performance Archive

Description by Filmoteka Muzeum

Theis is a footage of Wojciech Bąkowski’s audio performance held at the Municipal Gallery BWA Arsenał in Poznań. The event was plunged in darkness, and the audience could see nothing but twinkling tape recorder diodes and power strip lights, which combined to form a pulsating constellation synchronised with the emerging sound.

The artist built a minimalist audio installation comprising four tape recorders. Pre-recorded and processed in advanced, the sounds and the vocal line are played in four independent streams. Thus mixed, the soundtrack is complemented by the artist’s live recitation of his poetry. The sources of sound are controlled by turning selected tape recorders on and off.

Both the style of Bąkowski’s poetry and the visual layer of his performance betray references to New Wave in the 1980s, rap and minimal music.

(ZK)