Premiere: 10 December 2012, SĽUK, Bratislava
Concept, Director, Set and Costume Design, Performer: Sláva Daubnerová
Choreography: Stanislava Vlčeková
Dramaturgy and Technical Cooperation: Pavel Graus
Light Design: Slavomír Šmálik
Production: P.A.T. Platform for Contemporary Theatre
About the work:
A visual solo performance inspired by the life and work of American photographer Francesca Woodman. The work explores loneliness, vulnerability, the female body and the relationship between photographic image and lived experience.
Artistic approach:
Daubnerová reconstructs Woodman’s photographic process live on stage, using her own body, self-timer photography, projections, objects, sound and movement. Rather than creating a conventional biographical portrait, she transforms photography into a live theatrical event, with the performer simultaneously becoming the subject, image and creator.
Critical reception:
Theatre scholar Soňa Šimková described Untitled as a visually and emotionally powerful performance at the boundary between theatre and visual installation, highlighting Daubnerová’s search for an original form capable of achieving a highly cohesive artistic expression.
Daubnerová later described Šimková’s study as important in helping her recognise and articulate her own artistic language and understand that her path was moving beyond conventional theatre direction.
Performance:
Daubnerová was the sole performer as well as the author and director, physically entering the photographic compositions she created on stage.
Awards and nominations:
Dosky Award 2013 – Best Production
Nominated for Dosky Award 2013 – Best Actress
Nominated for Dosky Award 2013 – Best Direction
Tatra banka Foundation Art Award 2013 – Young Artist, Theatre
Annual Prize of the Literary Fund 2013 – for direction
Act Award, KioSK Festival 2013 – for lighting design
Selected international festivals:
APAP, New York, 2014
International Platonov Arts Festival, Voronezh, 2014
Off Europa Festival, Leipzig/Dresden, 2013
Artistic development:
Untitled is a key turning point in Daubnerová’s development: her earlier interest in the lives of artists becomes a fully developed visual language combining documentary research, photography, the performer’s body and new media. The work also confirms the recurring “woman/artist” line that connects M.H.L., Untitled and later Masterpiece.
