The minimum of the routine


kotka gudmon: the minimum of the routine 2016 / exhibiting artist & lecture performance
Budapest, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts

‘The minimum of the routine’ titled site specific video installation was an immersive projection with a lecture performance. The audience experienced the video content as a parallel reality spatially around them. The theme represented scenes from an ordinary daily routine of a single person, but in an abstract and minimalist way. At the end of the lecture performance the audience was asked if they imagined the fragrance of the shower gel when the bathing person was “having a shower around them”. Hence, what is the minimum of a visual experience one can identify oneself with? Beyond that, what does it elicit, if something is happening around them in the theatre space and not on a usual central stage as expected?

Reception depends on the individual’s perception, and so the spectator’s illusion about reality; consisting of personal experiences, standards, socialization, fantasy and the power of the mind that fills certain gaps with own associations - as it fills the white void background and the black body/objects of the video. The goal of the project was to investigate the mechanisms behind the routine of spectating, the process of self-identification and the stream of thoughts that flow through the viewer while experiencing art. A further aim of the installation was to trigger the experience that the space as a medium has a dramaturgic potential.

Video and images were powered by and created thanks to the support of Vera Éder.