Once Upon A Time

In an intense and prolonged sequence of direct eye contact, Vladimir Mitrev explores the themes of masculinity and heroism. Drawing from what he deems to be one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history, Mitrev borrows a crucial sequence from Once Upon a Time in the West, directed by Sergio Leone in 1968, where the ruthless killer, Frank, and the mysterious protagonist, gunman ‘Harmonica’, look deeply into each other’s eyes before dueling to the death. The artist appropriates the scene to investigate the intensity of the direct gaze. By doing so, he topples toxic masculinity on its head and exhibits the immense strength of vulnerability. 
In the video, the artist maintains eye contact with the viewer for over ten, seemingly excruciating, minutes. Despite being sustained, his gaze is certainly not suspended in time, as the video format emphasizes the duration by allowing the artist’s eyes to tire, well up, and eventually tear. Yet, his raw gaze, in direct contrast to the brief look exchanged between Frank and ‘Harmonica’, comes across as an act of striking vulnerability: a stripping of all armors and metaphysical barriers blocking him from the viewer. The only difference between Mitrev’s and Leone’s versions is the duration of the gaze. In the movie, the eye contact is sustained for a few, poignant seconds, during which the characters’ ethical and moral positions are highlighted: ‘Harmonica’s’ heroism is emphasized, while Frank’s cruelty is underscored. Meanwhile, the sheer length of Mitrev’s version allows the inherent violence of the gaze to subvert the pathos of the viewed and convert it into power of the viewer. Suddenly, it is not just a look exchanged between two people, the recorded stare-off is no longer broadcasting their true colors. Mitrev’s lengthy approach unveils the power the observer holds over the observed and brings our consciousness to the intervening recording device mediating the artist’s gaze. Empowering the distant observer, the camera ultimately throttles the traditional power dynamic of the gaze. Yet, by holding his stare, Mitrev exhibits great strength in navigating this shifting dynamic, redefining our understanding of power and masculinity.
The eyes have long been thought to be windows to the soul. From the Italian Renaissance, which witnessed Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda (1506) and puzzled viewers with Mona Lisa’s tracking eyes, to Salvador Dalí who adapted the eye as a surrealist symbol for that which is invisible, unseen, and -in an allusion to Freudian psychoanalysis- unconscious, artists have consistently payed attention to portraying the eye and depicting the gaze. In Once Upon A Time, Mitrev engages with this historic discourse and heavily alludes to the eye’s post-modernistic colloquial synonymity with omniscience and clairvoyance. Mitrev’s confrontational approach is similar to that of pop artist, Andy Warhol, particularly to his invasive 3-minute mug-shot-like recordings of visitors at his studio, a series of almost 500 recordings he had titled Screen Tests (1964–66). For the duration of the 100-foot Bolex film, Warhol asked his subjects to sit as still as possible, even refrain from blinking, studying the effect of the mediating camera – the effect of documentation– on the power of the gaze. Recorded in a similar fashion, Mitrev’s film can be interpreted as a cropped Warholian ‘Screen Test’, one which ultimately ponders what happens when one is asked to emulate stillness, project an image of themselves and give into the camera’s recorded gaze.

Alya Alawadhi (Translation: Christopher Haley Simpson)
   

--- Präsentationshinweise

 videocity.bs beteiligt sich bei der „∑-Summe“-Aktion, bei welcher die unabhängigen Kunsträume in Basel sich im Jahr 2017 abgesprochen haben, das Medium Video im November in den Mittelpunkt zu stellen, um eine Vielfalt an Themen und Herangehensweisen vorzustellen. Ein Aufruf erging an die audiovisuellen regionalen Kunstschaffenden, Werke der letzten beiden Jahre einzureichen.  Die videocity.bs-Kuratorin Andrea Domesle hat aus den über 200 Einreichungen 5 Künstlerinnen und Künstler ausgewählt.
Obwohl unabhängig und eigentlich für einen Kunstraum entstanden, ist bei videocity.bs spannend zu erleben, welche Herausforderung die Grösse der elektronischen Werbetafel und der öffentliche Raum an die Videos stellen: Welchen Einfluss hat das quirlige Treiben des Messeplatzes auf die Wahrnehmung der autonomen Kunstwerke?  Das Leben verstärkt die Faktoren Bewegung und Raum in den Videos und dort, wo diese mit Ton komponiert sind, ersetzt es die ursprüngliche Tonspur.  Der Alltag lässt die Videos in neuem Licht erscheinen und umgekehrt, die Videos den Alltag.  videocity.bs wird einen Monat lang zum immateriellen Bestandteil des Messeplatz und regt zu Austausch, Verschiebungen von Ordnungssystemen, unerwarteten Blicken und Begegnungen an.

 --- Notes on Presentation

    videocity.bs is participating in the "∑-Sum" action, in which the independent art spaces in Basel have in 2017 simultaneously agreed to put the artistic medium of video at the centre of focus, in order to showcase a multitude of themes and artistic approaches. An appeal by "Summe" association was made to the audiovisual artists working in the region to put forward works completed during the last two years. videocity.bs curator Andrea Domesle has chosen 5 artists from out of the 200 applications. 
Although independently created and intended for an art space, it is exciting to witness during videocity.bs what challenges the large electronic advertising screen and the public space pose to the videos: What influence does the lively hustle and bustle on the Trade Fair Square have on the reception of these autonomous art works? The surrounding flow of life itself amplifies the factors of movement and space within the videos and wherever these have been composed with sound, the original sound track is substituted by noise from daily life. Everyday life allows the videos to appear in a different light and conversely the videos experience the different framework of today. videocity.bs is poised to become an immaterial daily component of the trade fair square once more, stimulating exchange, the displacement of interpretative systems, summoning unexpected views and encounters.

https://www.vladimirmitrev.com

--- EN

Under the title of “ ∑-Summe” five videos from five artists are brought together by the curator Andrea Domesle, format 16:9, 1-canal. The videos from Pascale Grau, Parvez Imam and Dirk Koy have a soundtrack, but during videocity.bs they are however shown without sound on the eBoard, so that the Basel city sound for once provide their unique sound track.
From 03.11. till 30.11.2017 the videos had been visible with certain exceptions on a daily basis from 8 till 24 hour, broadcast interspersed between the infos on the eBoard of the Basel Congress Center, Messeplatz 21, adjacent to the Swissôtel Le Plaza.

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Unter dem Titel „∑-Summe“ sind fünf Videos, Format 16:9, 1-Kanal, gruppiert. Die Videos von Pascale Grau, Parvez Imam und Dirk Koy haben eine Soundspur, werden auf dem eBoard jedoch ohne Ton gezeigt, so dass die Stadtgeräusche ausnahmsweise den Sound bilden.
Vom  03.11. – 30.11.2017 wurden die Videos mit einigen Ausnahmen zwischen Infos auf dem eBoard des Congress Center Basel, Messeplatz 21, beim Swissôtel Le Plaza gezeigt. Täglich 8 bis 24 Uhr.

Artists: 
Matthias Aeberli, *1952, lives in Basel, matthiasaeberli.ch
Pascale Grau, *1960, lives in Basel, www.pascalegrau.ch
Parvez Imam, *1967, lives in Basel, www.parvezimam.net
Dirk Koy, *1977, lives in Allschwil, www.dirkkoy.com
Vladimir Mitrev, *1972, lives in Basel, www.vladimirmitrev.com