THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING!
Natalie Perkof
Curated by Silvie Šeborová, Miroslav Jiřele
NDB Brno, Janáček Theatre, 2015
1. Theater. A place where we go for an artistic, theatrical experience.
2. National Theater. It evokes the idea of something noble, women’s tall pumps, glittering handbags and men’s suits.
3. Janáček Theater. A building from the 1960s with an auditorium for 1383 spectators, built of a reinforced concrete skeleton, which allows glazing of the entire front facade.
Natalie Perkof worked with these definitions when she decided to prepare a site specific project for the Janáček Theater, ie a project that is created for a specific place responds to it, making this place an integral part of it.
The fourth starting point for Natalia Perkof was the topic of manipulation, which the artist understands in the context of the contemporary world; whether it is the manipulation of the media, which creates an image of viewers, readers and listeners about specific events, or manipulation in terms of social pressure on the success of the individual, which is then reflected in where and how someone lives, what modern devices has an equipped household, what he drives a car. We can also be manipulated physically even in moments when we do not realize it ourselves, or we indulge in this manipulation voluntarily. Specific example, From which Natalie Perkof draws visual inspiration, it concerns airport halls, where due to – whether unrealistic or unrealistic – terrorist threats, we spend time in the mantineles of significant fronts that lead us to X-ray and control counters.
There is nowhere to go, but what if it was? How are manipulation barriers ingrained in our minds? Is it even weird for us to show up in a place where it doesn’t really belong? Such as theater? The sublime theater, one of the last places associated with ties and cocktail dresses. Theatre. A place where we go for an artistic, theatrical experience. However, this experience does not necessarily have to be just theatrical. Natalie Perkof extends it with another experience that can complement the theatrical,
I become his opponent. I intentionally do not mention the word art, because although Perkof is an art artist, she works here with media other than painting, drawing or sculpture. Is your primary impression that you don’t know why art should look like this?
And are you sure that no one has manipulated you into this attitude? Any effort to accept is appreciated. Thank you for her, thank you for your understanding.
Silvie Šeborová