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TILT, Jarocin and my eye

TILT, Jarocin and my eye
/8
    • TILT, Jarocin and my eye
    • TILT, Jarocin i moje oko
  • 1986
  • video, color, sound
  • 20min, 6sec
Józef Robakowski’s video “TILT” takes its title from the name of a Polish punk band that was founded in Warsaw in 1979. The video documents one of their concerts at the 1986 indie rock festival in Jarocin. According to Tilt founder Tomasz Lipinski, they saw themselves as post-punk—though they are also viewed as having been one of Poland’s very first punk bands. As Robakowski suggests via the subtitle, “Jarocin and My Eye,” his video shows the crowd of attendees and their gazes from a somewhat sidelong perspective. At points in the video where the camera is positioned within their sight, one can see changes in their behavior. This work’s surveillance-like character amounts to a critique of the popular notion that youth culture is always associated with authenticity. One sees the audience members suddenly become very earnest while listening to the music, causing the situation to seem almost depressive. One central shot, however, focuses on a photographer taking pictures of the band. There is a doubleness of filmic gestures, here, with the photographer becoming aware of being seen and visually documented. In this, Robakowski reflects upon the camera itself and its function as an artificial lens that is controlled by its user’s eye and hence in command of the situation and its visual representation. W.S.