Montazstroj

Montazstroj was founded in 1989 in Zagreb, Croatia under artistic direction of
Borut Separovic, 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 "montazstroj" is a lexical creation, a Croatian compaund made up of the words "montaza" 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 90's Montazstroj has 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 USA [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E5DB113CF933A0575AC0A960958260 In Performance: Performance Art - New York Times ] ] [ [http://articles.citypages.com/1996-10-02/arts/this-is-not-a-metaphor-for-war/ This Is Not A Metaphor For War - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) ] ] .

Widely differing in their contents and style and format, Montazstroj 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 Montazstroj's productions: 'risk', 'athletes of the heart', 'fighting and sport spirit', 'art without God', 'no distance', etc. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-64673677.html `E.G.2.D.F.M.2.S.F.': CROATIAN HORROR LAID BARE.(Entertainment)(Review) - Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA) - HighBeam Research ] ] )After the successful introduction with the plays VATROTEHNA, and RAP OPERA 101 (adaptations of antic myths in the context of global satellite programs andlocal war surrounding), Montazstroj first came into worldview in 1991, with the success of theirmusic video clip CROATIA IN FLAME [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_za_Hrvatsku] . 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 [ [http://www.scenarkivet.se/uppsattning/1175/fragile Scenarkivet | Fragile ] ] ),when Montazstroj was even labeled as the theater of transition.

In 1997, Montazstroj relocated its activity and initiated its artistic plan entitled Performingmission, with a long‐term objective of building an international company with a strong artisticidentity, unbound by a particular culture. Operating in a nomad manner, but predominantly inthe Netherlands (under the name Performingunit), the group focuses on the human state, thatis, the position of the individual, and identity problems, attempting to avoid spectaculartheatrical elements and highlighting the very presence of performers as the main ingredient ofthe production. In this period more intimate performances, such as TERRIBLE FISH (emergingfrom Sylvia Plath’s poetry), WHO IS WOYZECK? (based on Büchner's canonic text WesternTheater) and THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE DEAD (after the equally entitled story by DaniloKis) were realized.

Montazstroj's last projects T‐FORMANCE, T‐FAKTOR and THIS IS THE THEATER YOUDESERVE belong to a series of innovative interdisciplinary projects. These are multimediainteractive games/events, which explore the phenomenon of terrorism and its culturalperformability, that is, contemporaneity in relation to the “3T” – terror, TV and theater. Byamalgamating the traditions of theatrical performance and contemporary interactive trends, theaudience is in a position to determine the final form and content of the performance, by anumber 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 thesphere 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

External links

* [http://www.montazstroj.com Montazstroj]
* [http://www.performingunit.nl Performingunit]