Bratislava



The visual language of the photographs plays with the archival attitude. Nimcova works to abandon her own sensibilities by mimicking the formal qualities of found photos. Stumbling upon an archive of pre-revolution photographs, she was moved to rediscover the people presented in the photos, to see them move again, dance again, simply be again. She finds her subjects, oddly enough in the same spaces as before with the wrinkles added. When her familiarity with photography takes over she moves to video, changing mediums to destabilize her own position. She treats the video much like a still image. Very little movement takes place. She requests a simple task from her models: to exercise. Allowing them complete choreography, location, tempo, action, costume, all left to the subject. She wants them to exercise. Through which she opens the image so to see an individual, and the historical imprints that have shaped it. The exercise triggers memories of army training, school mornings, perhaps an amateur dancer. Nimcova polishes the residue, and gives us shiny images of what it was and what it is now. Ultimately, the subjects transcend the specificities of their own culture; bring forward the discomforts presented by ageism and our desired collective amnesia of what has failed. (by Tala Madani)

more about Lucia Nimcova at www.luco.sk

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Open Gallery
Bastova 5
Bratislava, SK

www.ncsu.sk