First, the basis is laid for theMalaktion(painting
action) to last several days: the walls and the floor of the gallery
are covered in large canvases, a selection of paints, colour pigments,
brushes, sponges and vessels for pouring prepared. A group of
assistants, barefoot and clad in white painting shirts, get ready. The
“colour frenzy” can begin. At the climax of the event, the view through
the gallery’s eight windows is truly spectacular. Before the visitors’
eyes, empty canvases turn into works of art. Under the direction of
Hermann Nitsch, the assistants stir, pour, paint, splatter, wipe. At
times, the master himself steps up.
sigmund
freud thought that the infant smearing faeces was the source of all
culture. just as he saw the source of many neuroses in exaggerated calls
for hygiene imposed on the toddler. the promethean sensual act of the
young human, the smearing with body-warm faeces forms a chain all the
way to the cultural achievements of a tizian, a beethoven, a mondrian. i
am happy to have freed up again the smearing of faeces, as the source
of painting. the striving for form in the orgien mysterien theater,
through the confrontation with the evisceration of animal cadavers, the
uncovering of bowels filled with warm faces, and the breakdown of an
organism recently alive, in this light becomes understandable.hermann nitsch, 2014
VIDEO 1st Day 70. Malaktion
VIDEO 2nd Day 70. Malaktion Part 1
VIDEO 2nd Day 70. Malaktion Part 2
PHOTO ALBUM 70. Malaktion
