How to Do Things With Words (A Legal Performance)  

Bita Razavi

The video shows the artist getting married in her studio in Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. The studio is built to resemble the official marriage room of the registration office in Helsinki where people have half an hour time to get married with presence of two witnesses. The video deals with the theatrical aspect of a wedding ceremony by using different elements like lighting, movement of the camera and the expressions of the performers - who are playing a familiar act but in an unfamiliar situation. This focus on theatricality and the switch between documentary and fictitious style of the video raises the question of the validity of the marriage and the motivation behind it.

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Production Year
2011
Duration
00:05:07
Type
Installation
Tags
ceremonies, installations (works of art), legality, marriage, marriage ceremony, media art, performance (art forms), political art, video art, video installations
Original Title
How to Do Things With Words (A Legal Performance)
Finnish Title

How to Do Things With Words (A Legal Performance)

English Title

How to Do Things With Words (A Legal Performance)

 

Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
Yes
Sound
Yes
Cast
Bita Razavi (Author), Antti Jääskeläinen (Cinematographer), Hans Barc (Cinematographer), Bita Razavi (Director), Bita Razavi (Editor), Ilkka Pitkänen (Editor), Bita Razavi (Producer), Bita Razavi (Script), Samy Kramer (Sound Design), Kuvataideakatemia (Funder), AVEK (Funder)
Press Photos

Bita Razavi

Born: 1983

Bita Razavi (born Tehran, 1983) lives and works between Helsinki and countryside Estonia. She holds a BA in Music from Tehran Art University and a MFA from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. Razavi's work has been exhibited in various exhibitions worldwide and she has received several awards such as Best Documentary at the D'Aubagne Film Festival, 2008 and Oskar Öflunds' grand prize in 2017. Razavi is selected to represent Estonia in the 59th Venice Biennale.

1 works

How to Do Things With Words (A Legal Performance)  

Bita Razavi
2011 / 00:05:07 / Installation