Lecture by Barbara Skles "Repeat the unique:
reconstruction in the theater and photography."

July 28 - Thursday - 19:30

A lecture by Barbara Skles will be devoted to the practice of reconstruction and the status of repetition in the art of the twentieth century. If the art of avant-garde above all put genuine and authentic (as well as unique experience associated with these concepts), then theorists such as Walter Benjamin and Rosalind Krauss drew attention to the connection of avant-garde practices with the ideas of copy and reproducibility (as in the case of gypsum castings by Rodin or the question genuine photographic print).

In the theory and practice of the Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski, such subjects as the authenticity and irreproducibility of aesthetic experience, of course, occupy a central place. All the more surprising is the attempt of the WoosterGroup in 2004 to reconstruct - that is, to repeat in all details - a 20-minute excerpt from the Grotovsky’s play “Acropolis” (or rather, to repeat the video made in London in 1968) as part of his production of “Poor theatre".

Why do artists in different types of art set the task of literally repeating certain works, as if giving up their claim to the authenticity and uniqueness of their work in advance? Can the reconstruction repeat the past or another work? What type of participation does reconstruction require from the viewer and the artist? What is its relationship with the institutional and economic context of contemporary art? And what prospects does it open for a look at the history of art?

About the lecturer:

Varvara Sklez graduated from the graduate school of cultural studies at the Russian State Humanitarian University, graduate school from the University of Manchester. Co-founder of the Public History Laboratory, member of Theatrum Mundi Independent Research Laboratory, editor of theatrummundi.org, curator. Published in the journals "New Literary Review", "Sociology of Power", "Article", "Translit". Research interests: performance studies, theory of history, public history, documentary theater, Jerzy Grotowski Theater.