‘Pulsing techno music, graphic figures onscreen, a disturbing Minotaur in the dark and a shattered, struggling character who repeatedly asks for help. Phoenix, the fictional club created by three young artists, media artist Tamás Páll, curator/theorist Gyula Muskovics and dancer/choreographer Viktor Szeri, invites us to investigate the secret world of fetish and roleplay, to unpick the hidden correspondence of sex and theatre, power and acting. Beyond representation; basically, that is the substance environment where Phoenix leads us. It steps out of the concept of black boxes and as a site-specific, ongoing event, or as Szeri puts it, as ‘a kind of >>being<<’, where looped scenes happen all around, makes the spectators get lost in its maze.

Viktor Szeri is a promising dancer-choreographer of his generation. His works often mirror the experience of getting lost. From gender issues to youth culture and sexuality, he chooses topics that are familiar and singular at the same time, and then places them in a spectacular and sometimes shocking context. By doing so he endeavours to shift the audience from its comfort zone.’ Zsuzsanna Komjáthy, curator

CREDITS

Creators and performers: Viktor Szeri, Tamás Páll, Gyula Muskovics
Music composition and live performance: András Molnár, Tamás Marquetant

REVIEW

‘Beyond representation – for me, that is the substance environment of Phoenix, the so-called ongoing performance by the triumvirate of choreographer/dancer Viktor Szeri, media artist Tamás Páll & theorist Gyula Muskovics. As Szeri puts it: “it’s not an ordinary performance, it’s a kind of >>being<<.”
(…)
…once you have entered the building* and stepped on the Moebius, the manifold starts circling around you, and bit by bit reminding you of the most “terrible and necessary cruelty which things can exercise against us. (Artaud)“
(…)
What can the body do to break the minatory minotaur hegemony? Phoenix doesn’t answer that question. Albeit, on the level of performance, it suggests a possible exit. On one hand, with the self-mirroring structure, it evokes the theoretical discourse of mirror, that, as a known threshold, can be considered as a gateway to the khôra. On the other hand, with the looping technique, it also startles out of linearity and a kind of cyclicality develops. As cyclicality is a, basic, female characteristic, it also opens up the dimension of heterogeneity, where neither distinction, nor hierarchy prevail. Likely, that’s why you feel that you’re not a spectator of the performance. Because all the solid borders are melted by the heat of fire, in which Phoenix is burning away, just to be reborn from the ashes once again. And again. And again.’ Zsuzsanna Komjáthy, The Reborn 

Dancer, choreographer Viktor Szeri, 3D artist, game designer Tamás Páll and curator, theorist Gyula Muskovics have all combined to create immersive installations and performances since 2018. Their trans-disciplinary art projects connect contemporary dance with new technologies, poetry and curatorial vision. The collective is preoccupied with the changing role of the human body and the notion of real experience on the verge of the virtual and the physical reality. Their praxis is based on a long-term commitment to certain topics, improvisation, continuous transformation and adaptability. Their performances are never the same: they change their shapes; they move, melt and mutate according to the moment and the space they occupy.

GYULA MUSKOVICS

(b. 1988) is an independent curator/creator based in Budapest, Hungary. He worked for several institutions and organizations in the past, such as the Ludwig Museum, tranzit. hu, OFF- Biennale, and Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, in Budapest. His work investigates the political potential of the personal and its relevance in the resistance to social and political pressure.

TAMÁS PÁLL

(b. 1989) is a game designer, developer and 3D artist who lives in Berlin. His works have been exhibited at The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; FACT, Liverpool; Panke Gallery, Berlin; Ludwig Museum and Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest. He is a co-founder of the Rites Network art collective. His research and artistic focus is on the emergence of artificial intelligence, post-human systems and techno-dystopias.

VIKTOR SZERI

(b. 1993) is an independent dancer and choreographer, based in Budapest. His performances have been presented in various places across Budapest, Prague, Berlin and Minsk including theaters, exhibitions and festivals. His work is characterized by transmedial experiments. His pieces deal with youth culture, subcultures, and weird identities.

CO-PRODUCER

Katlan Group

SUPPORTERS

Workshop Foundation, Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, MeetFactory, International Visegrad Fund

CONTACT

Gyula MUSKOVICS
gyula.muskovics@gmail.com
+36.30.522.1727