Performans

Description by Filmoteka Muzeum

1.
The first of the assembling films was made in 2008, when the Prague-based Open Form Studio was launched. The film was recorded in the building of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and featured Libera’s students as well as artists representing Grzegorz Klaman’s studio.
The students perform their actions to the camera mounted on a tripod, referring to the movements of their predecessors, while being aware that they also inspire the activities of the following participants. For instance, in one of the images we can see Zbigniew Libera standing in front of the camera and holding a mug in one hand and a cigarette in the other. In the following scene, one of the students approaches the artist and lifts him up.

2.
In the second assembling film, the camera is set differently. This time, Zbigniew Libera suggests that the exercise participants set the camera in motion. Students perform activities that they wouldn’t be able to perform with a camera standing still – they run around the studio, hand the camera to each other between their legs or simply leave the studio to interact with the public space of Gdańsk.


3.
This film introduces a certain innovation. The camera operator’s task is to document the event, while carrying out an activity at the same time. Thus, one of the students records his run and jump, another one moves the camera through his sleeves and underneath his clothes, from one end to another. Zbigniew Libera, in turn, films a ball he’s bouncing. In every case, an interesting and dynamic action emerges, which also becomes an active documentation of the activity.

References: Ł. Ronduda, Zbigniew Libera’s Open Form Studio, Prague 2011.

(MK)