Zorka Ságlová - Homage to Fafejta

AUTHORSHIP

Equal co-authorship: Zorka Ságlová

CLASSIFICATION

Classification: documentation -

DATES

Date of creation: 10/1972

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Duration: 00:21:39
Sound: Silent

EXHIBITIONS, PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS

Compilation containing the work: Czech Performance Art: Film and Video 1956-1989, Edice VIDA 5, VVP AVU, 2015
Attachment included with work’s publication: booklet CZ + EN

NOTES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Notes: Film by: Jan Ságl
Appearances by: Vratislav Brabenec, Mejla Hlavsa, Josef Janíček, Věra Jirousová, Ivan Martin Jirous, Dana Němcová, Zorka Ságlová
Digitized black-and-white super 8 film without sound

Adopted text on the work: Homage to Fafejta was Zorka Ságlová’s final collective action. Like her previous happenings, in its nature it was close to land art. During the early Normalization era, Czech performance artists were forced to escape into nature. Here, they had at least some artistic freedom, which the closely watched public space of the city could no longer offer. In Ságlová’s case, however, nature was a natural part of her work from the very beginning. Her art explores various archetypal symbols while combining artificial and natural elements. Homage to Fafejta was inspired by a legendary Prague druggist known for his original advertising slogans who appears in a song by The Plastic People of the Universe. The participants in the happening, who included several members of this underground band, traveled to the abandoned Vřísek fortress near Česká Lípa, where they inflated 500 condoms and used these “balloons” to transform the surroundings. As with her previous actions, it was extensively documented on photographs, but photographer Jan Ságl also captured its actual course on super 8 film. In an interview published in the book Dancing on the Double Ice (2013), Ságl describes how he acquired a film camera in 1972 thanks to a generous gift from Jiří Kolář. Ságl shot several outstanding movies, the most noteworthy of which are Underground (1972) and the aforementioned Homage to Fafejta. It was without sound, but during screenings Zorka Ságlová placed much emphasis on audio accompaniment either through music or via her own narration. After its digitization, she added a song that Pygmies sing to ceremonially celebrate the end of work. The film is shown here in its original version without music.
Source of text: České akční umění: Filmy a videa 1956-1989, Edice VIDA 5, VVP AVU, 2015
Author of text: Pavlína Morganová, Terezie Nekvindová, Sláva Sobotovičová
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INFORMATION IN PARTNER DATABASES

Artlist #1: Record at Artlist