Performance Tapes
Vaara Roi
Performance Tapes is a compilation of Roi Vaara’s performances from the years 1983-96. The works chosen represent different attempts of translating the language of performance into the language of video art. The raw material has been edited with discretion in order to maintain the characteristics of a performance as they are. The works chosen are: WHITE MAN (10 min, Helsinki, 1983) A man painted in white, holding a briefcase, appears in the streets of Helsinki and surprisingly attends the international conference of art critics. SHIPPING CRATE (15 min. Pori Art Museum, Museum of Central Finland, Jyväskylä and Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 1991) A touring exhibition as a performance. A man is packed in a cargo box which is presented as an object of art in various museums. 4 PIECES IN LINZ (6 min. Performance – Relikte und Sedimente, Offenes Kulturhaus, Linz, 1993) 1. "Autograph". A textual piece on the significance of an autograph and the act of spraying one's name on the wall of a gallery. 2. "The opposite round one". Greetings and turning of a bald head against the round corner of the room. 3. "Closed." A person rushed to the door that does not open. 4. "Deposit". A spider web covers a person sitting on a chair until he stands up, opens the bird cage and exits the room. THIS IS A BAD PERFORMANCE (8 min. Non-Stop Performance Night, MUU ry, Helsinki 1991) Two men wearing tuxedos are sitting next to each other performing different, synchronized acts. TOWARDS THE SKY (3 min 50 s. Klimata, Foto Galerie, Bern, 1994) A man is in the basement, wedged towards the sky. ALARM (7 min 40 s. ”Festival of Light”, Helsinki 1996) A man is taped upside down on a glass wall. The alarms are on.
Roi Vaara
Born: 1953
7 works