Poemim
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- Poemim
- 1980
- video, color, sound
- 10min, 46sec
For “Poemim,” Katalin Ladik carried out a series of performative gestures that were filmed by Bogdanka Poznanović in Novi Sad in 1980. The camera focuses on contortions in Ladik’s face produced with help from certain utensils. In the beginning Ladik presses her face against a pane of glass, leaving parts of her face flattened. This performative act was also carried out for the still camera, producing photos reminiscent of works by Cuban artist Ana Mendieta from the early 1970s. In the present work’s second part, the artist attempts to drink through her nose using a straw—an act accompanied by peeping sounds characteristic of her performative singing method. This experimental sound poetry continues as Ladik proceeds to make gestures with her hands. In between these, she plays with several pairs of toy sunglasses and, in one instance, uses a white spray to cover her face and hair—after which she takes off the sunglasses and exposes her eyes. The video concludes with Ladik making a chirping sound of a sort that is likewise often heard in her vocal performances, by virtue of which she occupies a unique position within the experimental performance art scene of the 1970s. W.S.