Artus
Artus kortárs művészeti stúdió
Stele (2006)
Élő emlékmű-rekonstrukció
Stele: a large stone slab with engravings or graphs used in ancient times as gravestones or for commemorative purposes
‘When I was first visiting the ruins, I met an old man, who was over 80. He had spent all his life there, in the forest. Before I went to the ruins he called me aside and gave me a piece of good advice. He said: ‘Don’t mind the speeches of the tour guides. Go in, feel the stones, look around, feel the smells, let yourself muse. Let the place talk to you. Figure out the story of this place yourself. And for you that will be the truth. Then you can listen to all the other lies or truths. But don’t forget: your story is the best one.
After all it’s not the truth that matters but reality. And right now it’s right there, in you.’
I took his advice and this is what I found:
There are two kinds of time: the now and the not-now.
Watch out! – Their tameness, which appears to be good manners, is in fact a ritual prudence that has evolved through centuries. We know and fear that each of their little acts will have its consequences.’
The company spent a month in Mexico working on the Stele project with the American Thunder Bay and the Romanian Toaca companies.
In 2007 the performance won the Grand Prize at the Veszprém Dance Festival.
Creator-performers: Dombi Kati, Lipka Péter, Oldal István, Téri Gáspár, Sőrés Zsolt
Creative collaborators: Bakó Tamás, Gold Bea, Susan Prins
Music: Ed Herbst, Sőrés Zsolt
Video: Ernst Süss, Bodóczki Antal
Lights: Kocsis Gábor
Space: Goda Gábor, Kocsis Gábor, Oldal István
Production assistant: Rácz Anikó
Directed by: Goda Gábor
Premier: November 2006, Artus Studio, Budapest
Sponsored by:
National Cultural Fund, Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture, Cultural Committee of the Budapest Mayor’s Office
Pictures
Very Simple Image Gallery:
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Technical rider
PRODUCTION BY ARTUS – GÁBOR GODA COMPANY AND MEDENCE CSOPORT
FOX SPIRITS
ARTUS Performing Company established an art laboratory for contemporary Hungarian art, the ARTUS-STUDIO in 1997. In a huge factory area, 32 dance performers, choreographers, actors, stage and costume designers, composers, painters, architects and sculptors share a 2000m2-sized space. They share not only the space, but also their art, thus inspiring one another’s works. Originally, ARTUS were a dance theatre-based company. But the Artus performances cannot be considered as dance or theatre shows. However, over the last ten years, the Company have incorporated other art forms and new technologies into its performances. The use of the visual and audio elements, computer and video art installations, specific dramatic elements, signs beyond text often dominates movement, which of course has a certain meaning. Artus do not tell the story but is in search of it. It presents experiences emerging from fragments of mythological, biblical stories, it is abstract and intellectual at the same time, sometimes on a completely philosophical ground in the most elementary, sensitive language of movement, scene and music.
The starting point of the performance was the fox spirits frequently occurring in Chinese tales that often take the shape of human beings and has a very sensual nature. It lifts its head in the moment of death. It crawls on the roof, amongst the roofbeams. People fear them.
Wherever you go you will find the traces of the fox spirits.
An installation is built taking in both the audience and the performers. The installation built from tons of wood becomes alive for the time of the performances. In the built space first the audience pass by the living sculptures, then the performers stroll amongst the audience.
The force of Artus partly hides in the creative participation of the members of the company in the creative process. This time they had the opportunity to create freely in the built installation on the basis of the fox myths and legends of Middle-Age China.
Medence Csoport is a group of young Hungarian interior architects, industrial and visual designers. They are striving to find a harmonious unity between nature, art and society through planning a unique environment for a new way of life. Their individual pieces of furniture, installations and interiors are designed with respect to the environment and nature. ’Our approach is an interdisciplinary one, as our work includes both craft and artistic endeavour. Architecture, performance, fine and applied arts form an organic unity in our work continuing the spirit of the Bauhaus’. The Medence Csoport’s definition of space and the environment emphasises the communication between natural materials and new technology.
The space and sculpture mark the place of the dance on one hand, and it is an analogy of the dance, its eternalised moment. And dance relieves the sculpture from its timeless and immobile state in order to give life to its inner story and dynamism.
„(…) one of the most important performances of Artus was created, the Fox Spirits. Light, puzzling, enchanting. If you miss it you’ll regret it.’ (Ágnes Veronika Tóth, ÉS, 18 March 2005)
„A myth is created of poetic pictures in the space, pertaining to the same as all the other religious legends: about the relationship of men and women, about birth, death, playful, haunting spirit demons and creative people breaking the magical unity of the world, aiming at rationality. (…) Fox Spirits is simply brilliant.’ (Csaba Kutszegi, Magyar Hírlap 13 March 2005)
Creator-performers: Tamás Bakó, Kati Dombi, Bea Gold, Gábor Kocsis, Péter Lipka, Andrea Nagy, Nina Umniakov
Space: Medence Group
Assistants: Oldal István, György Tr.Szabó
Production assistant: Anikó Rácz
Directed by: Gábor Goda
Accessibility is provided in the space of the performance!
Supporters: NKA, National Dance Theatre
Performances: 8 p.m. 16, 23, 24, 30 September, 1 October - Artus Studio, 1116-Budapest, Sztregova u. 7.
Booking:
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, further info: www.artus.hu
Basic technical info:
Space requirement: 17m x 24m for the complete installation
Set-up: 3 days, set down: 1 day
Electricity: 3 x 32A
Pictures
Cain's Hat (2001)
Mystery of murder and law. Cain and Moses, the two murderers, under one hat. Cain killed. He struck down his brother with a stone. We hardly know anything else about him. Cain is a murderer. Moses killed. Then he wrote in stone "THOU SHALT NOT KILL". Moses, the lawmaker. Movement-dance, dance injected with arts, body-poetry, thought theatre.
Performed by: Tamás Bakó, Gábor Goda, Bea Gold, Kiss Erzsi - guest artist, Péter Lipka,
Choreographic assistant: Ildikó Mándy, Composer: Erzsi Kiss, Light design: Gábor Kocsis, Costume design: Kriszta Remete,
Director/choreographer: Gábor Goda
’In the beginning was the Stone...
Stone in the heart. Stone in the hand. Stone in the head.
You could also be Cain if suddenly you were to become one of many, where once you were the only One.
Where everything that once belonged to you becomes common property.
And where is Abel? Poor Abel.
- Poor Stone -
(Cain Didn't Even Have a Hat)
The hat has not existed since the beginning of time. The hat had to be invented. Those driven into perpetual flight held their hands above their heads in fear of the wrath of Yahweh. Then, suddenly, their hands just stayed there. It happened something like this.
Ever since then the hat has been a peculiar object. It is the symbol of respect, concealment, defence and protection. It separates and binds, protects and conceals. It suggests humility and fear. Just as the hat conceals the mark of Cain, so too can it brand with its own distinctive mark.
Cain is a master in the art of camouflage. He hides away his true self. He is pure kindness, pure mask. Moses is rebellious and yet meek. In order to curb his own aggression he passes laws and then forces them upon everyone else. If someone disobeys the law he "boils over and raises Cain". The performance can be viewed as a series of stories involving Cain which are told in a different way every time. We on the other hand search for the meaning of things. We have inherited Cain's rage and Moses's laws - we are endlessly running amok.’ (László Upor)
Pictures
Very Simple Image Gallery:
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Technical rider