KR WP
/5
- KR WP
- 2000
- video, color, sound
- 7min, 11sec
Artur Żmijewski’s video "KR WP," made with former soldiers of the Polish guard of honor, whom Żmijewski made exercise naked for him in a fitness center, depicts standardized behavioral patterns in a form that is in stark contrast to these norms. Adaptation and deviation, their movements seemingly guided by leading strings, and anarchistic derision unite into a deconstruction of prevalent ideas of morality and values. As viewer, one has no option but to join in with the scorn and still be amazed at the inappropriateness of the occasion. Here, “displaying the inner beast” means freeing the soldiers of the leash of national political obedience; it means mobilizing the soldiers against their own orders. In this work, Żmijewski’s strategy of undressing and of baring international rituals and his insistence on naked facts find both literal as well as symbolic expression. R.F.