Sustenazo (Lament II), 2010 Stills from limited edition video, courtesy the artist.
Monika Weiss "Sustenazo (Lament II)" July 10 - August 1, 2010
TAZ - Temporary Art Zone
From Press Release:
"Composed in the form of contemporary Lament, SUSTENAZO (LAMENT II), 2010 consists of 3 video and musical movements and combines historical reflection with the exploration of gesture, trace, and duration as conditions of embodiment. The Greek word "Sustenazo" means "to sigh, to lament inaudibly together." The work explores visual and musical aspects of the ancient ritual of lamentation and its historical connection to feminine expression, especially as contrasted with the notion of the heroic myth within the narrative of war. Weiss creates new meanings by opening up a space of historical memory and translating it into a context that is both timeless and contemporary. The sound track created by the artist incorporates overlapping voices reading passages from Goethe's "Faust II".
SUSTENAZO (LAMENT II) was first exhibited as part of the artist's recent solo exhibition, "Monika Weiss: Sustenazo," at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (March-May 2010), an exhibition inspired in part by a specific event that took place at the castle during the onset of the Warsaw Uprising. On August 6, 1944 the German Army forced more than 1,800 patients and medical staff to abruptly evacuate the Ujazdowski Hospital (now CCA), giving them only overnight notice."
"...The film ends as two hands slowly release the face of the female performer, a woman's voice reading sentences such as "Everything is transitory is only a parable," now broken up and altered again and again, overlaid with the dark murmuring voices of a chorus. Finally, the woman bends her head forward under the black headscarf and sinks to the ground. What remains is the empty white wall." - Volker Oelschläger Chorus of Lamentation: Video Project by New York Artist Monika Weiss" in Markische Allgemeine, July 9, 2010
To read full review in German (English version coming soon), click here.
TAZ - Temporary Art Zone
Schiffbauergasse 4i
D-14467 Potsdam