Photo courtesy of Pracownia Dziekanka 
Photo courtesy of Pracownia Dziekanka 
Photo courtesy of Pracownia Dziekanka | Sword of Damocles (1983) |
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Pracownia Dziekanka, Warsaw with Franklin Aalders I worked with Franklin Aalders on several projects in the early eighties including time spent in Poland staying with a radical group living outside the system. We were paid by a local free-spirited farmer to make an installation in his living room. We used dozens of logs which we painted gold and ‘cascaded’ them across his ceiling to envelop his television. In Warsaw we used the analogy of the Sword of Damocles, a sword precariously suspended by a single horse hair epitomizing the imminent and ever-present peril and sense of foreboding faced by those in positions of power. We made various sculptural sword shapes and placed each other’s bodies in equivocal situations such as within a burning sword shaped outline. In the UK we worked on several similar pieces including street interventions such as Grand Pianos and Car Horns. “The festival (South Hill Park) spawned, two days later, at the Air Gallery, a small and dramatic sequel. Dutch artist Franklin Aalders performed with Anne Bean, a zebra crossing piece that survived twenty minutes before two rapidly summoned policemen forced an ending. To the horrendous sound of two grand pianos playing slow dramatic scales—finale of the weekend—the artists crossed and re-crossed the road, kissing once each time as they passed. An amused bus driver joined in briefly, while an outraged resident sparred with amplifiers. It was, of course, art - and neatly showed how artists can get in the way of real life. More please and in London” Time Out |
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