Kovačič, Marko
No. 1390
"Casus Belli (performance in Škuc Gallery)"
Artist: Kovačič, Marko
Title: Casus Belli (performance in Škuc Gallery)
Duration: 19:45
Year: 1983
Genre: Performance
Production: ŠKUC

 
SYNOPSIS

Documentary footage of the artist's new wave performance at Škuc Gallery in Ljubljana in 1983.


The video documentation was recorded in real time and broadcast simultaneously through the Škuc Gallery window for visitors who couldn't fit inside. At the venue, there was a metal structure holding a stretched screen onto which the artist’s handmade slides were projected. In the first part, the artist superimposed his body onto the projected images; his figure was visible in the background as a shadow or silhouette. Positioned behind the screen, he engaged with the Constructivist and Expressionist elements displayed on it, using mechanical movements and activist gestures to create both static and moving images. (Interspersed during the performance was a text in Serbo-Croatian read aloud by Dragan Čolaković - Šiljo, which began with the words "I don’t want to boast. But I can say I punched someone in the ear..." This text is an adaptation of an absurdist short story “Vindication” by Daniil Kharms.) In the second part, he stepped out from behind the screen—or membrane—to face the audience as a vulnerable, erotic body of flesh and blood, and performed a self-destructive act: he wrapped his face in adhesive tape until he ran out of breath.


_______________________________


The Casus Belli project unfolded as a series of live events and film or video recordings, manifesting as a succession of distinct artworks sharing the same title (1983). The first was a performance executed solely for the camera, resulting in a short Super 8mm film. This was followed by a public performance recorded in real time and simultaneously broadcast through the Škuc Gallery window for visitors who could not fit inside. Using documentary footage of this performance—supplemented by additional material and editing—the artist created an original video work. Next came a video performance at the 1st International Video Biennial "Video CD" in Ljubljana, where the video served as an integral component of the event: eight video cameras captured the artist’s movements from behind the screen and displayed them on monitors arranged around the venue's perimeter. The frontal, "representative" silhouette image projected onto the screen was thus counterpointed by the revelation of the artist’s flesh-and-blood body behind the screen; he eventually stepped out before the audience to perform a self-destructive act. The final iteration was a 9-channel video installation (featuring a 5-minute video loop) that the artist created for the exhibition Multimedia Practices and Production Venues at MSUM (Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana) in 2017. It was composed of earlier documentary material—recordings from the aforementioned projects sharing the same title "Casus Belli"(1983): a performance (Škuc Gallery, Disko FV), a video performance (1st International Video CD Biennial), and a Super 8 film (Škuc Production). 


(Source: Barbara Borčić: Race with Time: Performance and Video in the Rear-View Mirror, SCCA-Ljubljana, Theatre Museum/Institute, Ljubljana, 2014 – exhibition leaflet).


 


 
SERIES
 
OTHER WORKS
 SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme II (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme II (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme II (talk)
SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme II (talk) (29:15)
Production: SCCA-Ljubljana, Slovenska kinoteka, 2023
A conversation between Igor Prassel, Marko A. Kovačič and Peter Cerovšek at the second programme of The Lost Horizon (24 January 2023). The Lost Horizon. Screening of Marko A. Kovačič’s film/video opus from 1983–2021 at the Sloveni...
 SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme III (lecture and talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme III (lecture and talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme III (lecture and talk)
SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme III (lecture and talk) (23:04)
Production: SCCA-Ljubljana, Slovenska kinoteka, 2023
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 SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme IV (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme IV (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme IV (talk)
SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme IV (talk) (05:26)
Production: SCCA-Ljubljana, Slovenska kinoteka, 2023
A conversation between Igor Prassel and Marko A. Kovačič at the final screening of The Lost Horizon programme (23 March 2023). The Lost Horizon. Screening of Marko A. Kovačič’s film/video opus from 1983–2021 at the Slovenian Cinematheque (D...
 SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme I (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme I (talk) SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme I (talk)
SCCA-Ljubljana, Marko A. Kovačič - The Lost Horizon: Programme I (talk) (14:41)
Production: SCCA-Ljubljana, Slovenska kinoteka, 2022
A conversation between Igor Prassel, Marko A. Kovačič and Barbara Borčić at the beginning of The Lost Horizon programme (6 December 2022). The Lost Horizon. Screening of Marko A. Kovačič’s film/video opus from 1983–2021 at the Slovenian...
Marko A. Kovačič - Post at the Red StarMarko A. Kovačič - Post at the Red StarMarko A. Kovačič - Post at the Red Star
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Production: Gibatorij, 2021
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Marko A. Kovačič - Hruporona 2020. The Last TunnelMarko A. Kovačič - Hruporona 2020. The Last TunnelMarko A. Kovačič - Hruporona 2020. The Last Tunnel
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Marko A. Kovačič, Marko  Kovačič - Casus Belli (installation)Marko A. Kovačič, Marko  Kovačič - Casus Belli (installation)Marko A. Kovačič, Marko  Kovačič - Casus Belli (installation)
Marko A. Kovačič, Marko Kovačič - Casus Belli (installation) (00:04:57)
Production: Marko Kovačič & MSUM, 2017
9-channel video installation (5 minutes loop) was made for the exhibition "Multimedia Practices and Venues of Production", using the older artist's video materials from his projects in Ljubljana with the same title Casus Belli (1983): performances (Galeri...
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Marko A. Kovačič - Hrupofon (03:20)
Production: Marko A. Kovačič, SCCA-Ljubljana, 2015
The artist has constructed a sculptural music machine called hrupofon (Bruitphone – hrup=bruit in french) that he is playing by adding to the digital sound scene the real-time manualy produced sounds. 'It's a real music, a real composition', say the...
Marko A. Kovačič - Golden Section/IndeedMarko A. Kovačič - Golden Section/IndeedMarko A. Kovačič - Golden Section/Indeed
Marko A. Kovačič - Golden Section/Indeed (00:29:08)
Production: KUD France Prešeren / Zavod SCCA-Ljubljana, 2004
A film in the genre “the silent musical” was originally screened with live music (VIS Zlati Kastrioti). It creates a Kastrioti story about a mother who leaves her children to their fathers due to a stormy spirit, unspoken love, and the realiza...
Marko A. Kovačič, Kolja Saksida - Lab PartyMarko A. Kovačič, Kolja Saksida - Lab PartyMarko A. Kovačič, Kolja Saksida - Lab Party
Marko A. Kovačič, Kolja Saksida - Lab Party (00:04:37)
Production: Forum Ljubljana / ZVVIKS production, 2003
Lab Party is a story about the cloning and genetic mechanical mutation of living beings after the year 2227. The setting is a laboratory where laboratory technician Plastos encounters problems and runs into a malfunction. He tries to solve the issue to no...
 
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