תפריט נגישות
ניגודיות עדינהניגודיות גבוהה
מונוכרום
הדגשת קישורים
חסימת אנימציה
פונט קריא
סגור
איפוס הגדרות נגישות
להורדת מודול נגישות חינם תפריט נגישותניגודיות עדינהניגודיות גבוההמונוכרוםהדגשת קישוריםחסימת אנימציהפונט קריאסגוראיפוס הגדרות נגישותלהורדת מודול נגישות חינםA man walks into the Mayor of Holon’s office in Israel, wearing a badger on his head and a hare poking out of his light blue Adidas tracksuit top and says, ‘Please ask me any question you like.’ It could be a joke. It could be a serious breech of security. Or it could be the new film by Marcus Coates, ‘The Plover’s Wing’ filmed as part of Hapzura; The Festival of Experimental Music and Sound Art, a project of The Israeli Centre for Digital Art, Holon (being screened at The Tate Gallery as part of the Tate Triennial from February - April, 2009)
And what did the Mayor ask? Moti Sasson asked Marcus how he should handle the problem of the violent youth of his city. This theme of a struggling community links to previous recipients of Marcus’ shamanic services: the citizens of Stavanger, a middle class Norwegian town dealing with a sudden influx of Nigerian immigrants bringing with them the social problems of poverty, prostitution, and a spread of HIV; and Liverpool locals whose housing estates were being demolished. When I asked Marcus what drew him to situations where these kinds of complex social problems would be the obvious question, he explained to me: ‘I strongly feel that the artist, [in particular] my role as an artist, has a responsibility, and I feel that my imagination can be put to good use socially, even politically. I’m encouraging on a personal level very different ways of thinking about problems. It’s a massive challenge for an artist to come up with answers rather than posing questions.’
As a country, Israel with its internal and external tensions and threats, is a site rich in material for Marcus and again presents groups in society in crisis and conflict that are certainly not only art gallery visitors, ‘Art performance is usually to a specific audience that is well-primed, which is very small in a way, it has a function in the art world, but it struggles to have a function in society. My objectives are to by-pass the art process and take it straight to public audience and not really present the performance as art but as a functioning process. And with humour, and the capacity to shock, it brings people together, through skepticism and also wanting to believe in the person standing there.’
There certainly is a great deal of humour and shock involved. After a sip of tea, Marcus pulls down the reflective lenses of his sunglasses and enters a shamanic trance. This involves going on a journey and communing with animal spirits. With each animal he meets he responds to their call, thus filling the Mayor’s room with a litany of incredibly bizarre sounds - squawking, calling, cooing and honking.
When the trance is over Marcus sits down, lifts up the reflective lenses from his sunglasses, and describes what he saw and explains its relevance with sensitivity, intelligence and eloquence. Enter the plover. ‘I explained [about the plover] this is so part of your identity, defending yourself, a victim position, where you go to immediately. The important thing for [Israel] as a nation is, through education, to emphasize shifting identities and an empathy with a different position. It’s a fundamental position of resolution within a conflict, to be able to emphasize with your enemy or oppressor.’ Marcus intimated the local problem in Holon might have greater, national implications and the Mayor who gives special importance to education in his policies seemed sympathetic to his suggestions.
Courtesy of the artist, Kate MacGarry, London and Workplace Gallery, UK.
Animal(s) Communication Cooperation Humor Israeli Palestinian relations Nature Performance Art as aid Body Youth
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
A man walks into the Mayor of Holon’s office in Israel, wearing a badger on his head and a hare poking out of his light blue Adidas tracksuit top and says, ‘Please ask me any question you like.’ It could be a joke. It could be a serious breech of security. Or it could be the new film by Marcus Coates, ‘The Plover’s Wing’ filmed as part of Hapzura; The Festival of Experimental Music and Sound Art, a project of The Israeli Centre for Digital Art, Holon (being screened at The Tate Gallery as part of the Tate Triennial from February - April, 2009)
And what did the Mayor ask? Moti Sasson asked Marcus how he should handle the problem of the violent youth of his city. This theme of a struggling community links to previous recipients of Marcus’ shamanic services: the citizens of Stavanger, a middle class Norwegian town dealing with a sudden influx of Nigerian immigrants bringing with them the social problems of poverty, prostitution, and a spread of HIV; and Liverpool locals whose housing estates were being demolished. When I asked Marcus what drew him to situations where these kinds of complex social problems would be the obvious question, he explained to me: ‘I strongly feel that the artist, [in particular] my role as an artist, has a responsibility, and I feel that my imagination can be put to good use socially, even politically. I’m encouraging on a personal level very different ways of thinking about problems. It’s a massive challenge for an artist to come up with answers rather than posing questions.’
As a country, Israel with its internal and external tensions and threats, is a site rich in material for Marcus and again presents groups in society in crisis and conflict that are certainly not only art gallery visitors, ‘Art performance is usually to a specific audience that is well-primed, which is very small in a way, it has a function in the art world, but it struggles to have a function in society. My objectives are to by-pass the art process and take it straight to public audience and not really present the performance as art but as a functioning process. And with humour, and the capacity to shock, it brings people together, through skepticism and also wanting to believe in the person standing there.’
There certainly is a great deal of humour and shock involved. After a sip of tea, Marcus pulls down the reflective lenses of his sunglasses and enters a shamanic trance. This involves going on a journey and communing with animal spirits. With each animal he meets he responds to their call, thus filling the Mayor’s room with a litany of incredibly bizarre sounds - squawking, calling, cooing and honking.
When the trance is over Marcus sits down, lifts up the reflective lenses from his sunglasses, and describes what he saw and explains its relevance with sensitivity, intelligence and eloquence. Enter the plover. ‘I explained [about the plover] this is so part of your identity, defending yourself, a victim position, where you go to immediately. The important thing for [Israel] as a nation is, through education, to emphasize shifting identities and an empathy with a different position. It’s a fundamental position of resolution within a conflict, to be able to emphasize with your enemy or oppressor.’ Marcus intimated the local problem in Holon might have greater, national implications and the Mayor who gives special importance to education in his policies seemed sympathetic to his suggestions.
Courtesy of the artist, Kate MacGarry, London and Workplace Gallery, UK.
Animal(s) Communication Cooperation Humor Israeli Palestinian relations Nature Performance Art as aid Body Youth
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
