Layer upon layer
a painting is painted,
until it looks like nothing
but the image.
Beautiful?
Beautiful as the most beautiful of them all.
Picture Perfect
28 min
#vr360
2021
press
[…] The naked body of Simona Semenič, later completely covered by layers of clothing, evokes references to the author’s broader oeuvre. We know the dramaturge and playwright for her feminist-inflected writing, rooted in the connection between the political and the intimately personal.
Engagement with female sexuality and eroticism, the problematization of the status of the woman artist, and critiques of the healthcare system and cultural policy are the contexts within which we read the performance as a critique of contemporary capitalism and our fascistoid state. […]
In the performance description, Rok Vevar writes: ‘Layer by layer, the image is painted until it resembles nothing but the image itself. Beautiful? Beautiful as the most beautiful.’ These lines encapsulate the theme of this one-act piece very well, transforming the naked body of the artist into an image — in fact, into a symbol of the Slovenian state.
Within nationalism, the female image is the image of the healthy mother, the housewife, an object covered by clothes that must be regulated and controlled as much as possible. Restricted movement caused by the quantity and discomfort of clothing is one of the forms of repression we are accustomed to both within the capitalist fashion industry and within national ideology. The aim is to strip her of as much freedom as possible and frame her in a way that serves the interests of those in power. So that she becomes silent and motionless, like a painting.
Ana Lorger, Kriterij
credits
Picture perfect
Author and 360 direction Simona Semenič
Co-authors Arjan Pregl, Igor Remeta, Rok Vevar, Tomaž Grom
In cooperation with Nada Žgank, Urška Jež, Alenka Herman
360 Camera and montage Andrej Lamut
360 Light design Leon Curk, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Špela Škulj, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne
360 Sound recording Studio 100
Text Rok Vevar
Production En–Knap Productions, En–Knap Productions Trbovlje / Stage360
Co-production Mesto žensk, KD Integrali
In collaboration with Aerowaves dance network, DDTLab, Multiversum, Bunker – Old Power Station
Stage360
Founder and artistic director Iztok Kovač
Technical coordinator Omar Ismail
Sound post-production Studio 100
VR technology consultant Marko Cafnik, Multiversum
Executive producers Goran Pakozdi in Katja Gabrijelčič
Managing director Marjeta Lavrič
Head of finance Julija Travančić
Head of public relations Nina Smerkol
Marketing and project coordinator Goran Pakozdi
Event organisation and coordination Katja Gabrijelčič
Technical team Leon Curk, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Špela Škulj, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne
This project is a part of a partnership network Platform Center for Creativity co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and by the Republic of Slovenia.