Montažstroj

Montažstroj was founded in 1989 in Zagreb, Croatia under artistic direction of Borut Šeparović, as an independent performance group with the idea that the complete artwork is realized not only in theater, but also in all art media and their mutual correlation.

The word "montažstroj" is a lexical creation, a Croatian compound made up of the words "montaža" meaning assembly or film editing, as well as work executed on a conveyor belt and "stroj" denoting both the machine as a futuristic ideal and a line-up of soldiers.

During the 1990s Montažstroj received international recognition, high critical acclaims and numerous awards as the most successful Croatian Company of dance and physical theater. Subsequently, the Company performed at a number of international festivals and venues in more than 20 European countries and the USA ^[1][2].

Widely differing in their contents and style and format, Montažstroj art pieces were usually described as political and engaged, commonly exploring uncharted artistic and often interdisciplinary areas.

The initial 7 years were dedicated to the 'Theatrical representation of the football and pop culture'. The aim was to explore mental and physical limits of the performers, as well as the total artwork including all domains of contemporary art. In addition, the Company has realized several performances, installations, and award winning video clips and choreographic works. The experience of real socialism, the historical changes occurring in post-communism and the war in former Yugoslavia, deeply influenced, and thus defined the Company's artistic credo.

The material for performance was found in everyday events and often led to the radical stage reality (that can be described the best by the terms and slogans presented in Montažstroj's productions: 'risk', 'athletes of the heart', 'fighting and sport spirit', 'art without God', 'no distance', etc.^[3]) After the successful introduction with the plays VATROTEHNA, and RAP OPERA 101 (adaptations of antic myths in the context of global satellite programs and local war surrounding), Montažstroj first came into worldview in 1991, with the success of their music video clip "Croatia In Flame"^[4]. The artistic research was continued with an actualization of post‐communist transitional myths (the triviality of late‐capitalist mythologies in EVERYBODY GOES 2 DISCO FROM MOSCOW TO SAN FRANCISCO and the biblical conversion in FRAGILE ^[5]), when Montažstroj was even labeled as the theater of transition.

In 1997, Montažstroj relocated its activity and initiated its artistic plan entitled Performing mission, with a long‐term objective of building an international company with a strong artistic identity, unbound by a particular culture. Operating in a nomad manner, but predominantly in the Netherlands (under the name Performingunit), the group focuses on the human state, that is, the position of the individual, and identity problems, attempting to avoid spectacular theatrical elements and highlighting the very presence of performers as the main ingredient of the production. In this period more intimate performances, such as TERRIBLE FISH (emerging from Sylvia Plath’s poetry), WHO IS WOYZECK? (based on Büchner's canonic text Western Theater) and THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD (after the equally entitled story by [[Danilo Kiš]]) were realized.

Montažstroj's last projects T‐FORMANCE, T‐FAKTOR and THIS IS THE THEATER YOU DESERVE belong to a series of innovative interdisciplinary projects. These are multimedia interactive games/events, which explore the phenomenon of terrorism and its cultural performability, that is, contemporaneity in relation to the “3T” – terror, TV and theater. By amalgamating the traditions of theatrical performance and contemporary interactive trends, the audience is in a position to determine the final form and content of the performance, by a number of decisions it is faced with making. Special emphasis is put on the use of new media (the internet and mobile phones), which is why such projects step out of the theater into the sphere of digital art.

Performances

1990. FIRE-TECHNICS | VATROTEHNA (text ‘Prometheus Bound’ by Aeschylus), Montazstroj, Zagreb

1991. RAP OPERA 101 (text ‘Philoktetes’ by Sophocles & H. Mueller), Montazstroj, Zagreb; co-production: festival Eurokaz, Zagreb

1993. ENJOY MONTAZSTROJ! (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb

1994. EVERYBODY GOES 2 DISCO FROM MOSCOW 2 SAN FRANCISCO (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb

1995. DISCO RE-MIX (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb

1996. EURO-BODY (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb

1997. EXERCISES MOBILE sections + CONVERTIBLE sections (work-in-progress), Montazstroj, Zagreb with different partners

1999. FRAGILE (dance performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb & Performingunit, Breda; co-production: Intercult, B.I.T., Frascati

2000. DUET (dance performance), Performingunit, Breda

2001. TRUTH OR DARE? (performance), Performingunit, Breda; co-production: Chasse Theater Breda, Frascati Amsterdam

2001. TERRIBLE FISH (performance based on poem “Three Women” by Sylvia Plath), Performingunit, Breda

2002. WHO IS? WOYZECK (based on “Woyzeck” by Georg Buchner), Performingunit, Breda

2004. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD | ENCIKLOPEDIJA MRTVIH (based on story “Encyclopedia of the dead” by Danilo Kiš), Montazstroj, Zagreb

2007. T-FORMANCE (interactive performance), Montazstroj, Zagreb, co-production: Teatar &TD, Zagreb

2007. THE THEATER YOU DESERVE | KAZALISTE VASE I NASE MLADOSTI (interactive event), Montazstroj, Zagreb, co-production: Teatar &TD, Zagreb

Crossover

1989. KOPACKA U GALERIJI (action / performance)

1990. ACHTUNG ALARM (action / performance)

1991. CROATIA IN FLAME (video clip)

1991. HOP & RAS, DVA (installation / performance)

1991. ATLETA SRCA vs. BARBAROGENIJE (action)

1992. MONTAZSTROJ LIVE! (music performance / concert)

1995. NO DISTANCE (action / street performance)

Awards

1991. Award for the choreography of ‘Vatrotehna’ at the '6th Festival of Yugoslav Alternative Theatre' in Podgorica, (Montenegro)

1994. Special Mention of the Jury for the choreography ‘Everybody Goes 2 Disco from Moscow 2 San Francisco’ at International choreographers competition ‘4th Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de SeineSaintDenis' in Paris (France)

1999. Award of the Audience for the performance ‘Fragile’ at 33rd BITEF festival in Belgrade (Serbia)

2001. Award of the Jury for the performance ‘Terrible fish’ at 3rd Golden Lion festival in Umag (Croatia)

Footnotes

1. ^ In Performance: Performance Art - New York Times
2. ^ This Is Not A Metaphor For War - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
3. ^ `E.G.2.D.F.M.2.S.F.': CROATIAN HORROR LAID BARE.(Entertainment)(Review) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA) - HighBeam Research
4. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_za_Hrvatsku
5. ^ Scenarkivet | Fragile

External links

• Montazstroj
• Performingunit
• 20 godina Montažstroja (Croatian)