METAKINETICS
Kinetic installation with dance and music performance
Galanterie Mécanique (2013) is a symphony of kinetic objects, video, performance, and music that explores the relationship between humans, machines, and progress. The installation highlights the harmony between essential and seemingly unnecessary elements, functioning together as an interconnected system. These smaller parts engage with the mechanical aspects to add lyricism while absorbing their essence, creating a dynamic system reliant on both organic and mechanical components.
Inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, the work reflects on labour mechanization and the capitalist drive for efficiency, where humans become mere extensions of machines. This idea parallels the Russian avant-garde theatre of Vsevolod Meyerhold, whose approach to synchronized movement embodied the fusion of human precision with industrial progress. Galanterie Mécanique transforms the gallery into an immersive space, where mechanisms, light, shadow, dancers, and music unite to reflect a harmonious vision of cooperation and progress, where every component plays a crucial role in sustaining the shared system.
Credits:
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Co-author of the concept: Urša Vidic
Construction of individual elements: France Petač
Design of individual mechanical elements: Jonathan Podborsek
Electrical engineering: Martin Podlogar, Tomo Markočič
Music (My Silver Line of Thinking): Bowrain, KALU, JAŠA