Thiago Szmrecsányi
Jamaze (reading)
The invitation to create an action for a graveyard chapel located in Jamaica was a solemn opportunity to thank the neighborhood for our previous residency. Jamaze was unfinished: an action with a five wood tablet set and metallic balls rolling in a maze, leading the reading of a poem-game, with coordinated motor skills. The text contained all the sayings I had collected from the Jamaica Colosseum Mall’s displays in our residency there. But here Jamaze was a transition action, which contained only blocks of text. In the Mall we sensed the importance of dressing well for workers and customers, so we dressed up, preparing ourselves for a Mass. Graves honor people. People sing and get married in chapels. My dear partner Natalia had a bouquet of flowers. But what kind of relation could Jamaze have with the new surroundings? No access to the graveyard and an empty chapel, before the crowd came, made me wonder what sort of ritual we could celebrate with my boxed poems and flowers there. As people approached the promenade, Natalia sang to herself, and while I walked slowly in circles, I reconnected with the maze idea. In front of the chapel we were a barrier, retaining visitors outside. In the original Mall space, my poem could invite customers to enter. Here, after I read the first part of the poem, I could not communicate with my partner, who concentrated on her actions. I had no more to do and say, and people were waiting to enter. I mumbled some Portuguese: “vou entrar agora”. No one followed me inside. I could hear but not see my partner anymore, her reading other parts of my poem, singing, silencing. Inside the chapel I was alone for a while.
About the artist
I am an artist who enjoys observing urban spaces and collecting materials and fragments that I find on the way. I am a sort of garbage collector. I play with the wasted, the observed, and the common until they become some sort of a game. Lately, I have been collecting words. I have curated projects in the Essex Street Market, shown my own work in Brazil, Canada and New York. Recently I created ART&COM with Natalia de Campos at the Jamaica Colosseum mall as part of Jamaica Flux 2016.
Jamaze poem: Thiago Szmrecsányi
Photos of Jamaze performance: Thiago Szmrecsányi and Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
Jamaze (reading)
The invitation to create an action for a graveyard chapel located in Jamaica was a solemn opportunity to thank the neighborhood for our previous residency. Jamaze was unfinished: an action with a five wood tablet set and metallic balls rolling in a maze, leading the reading of a poem-game, with coordinated motor skills. The text contained all the sayings I had collected from the Jamaica Colosseum Mall’s displays in our residency there. But here Jamaze was a transition action, which contained only blocks of text. In the Mall we sensed the importance of dressing well for workers and customers, so we dressed up, preparing ourselves for a Mass. Graves honor people. People sing and get married in chapels. My dear partner Natalia had a bouquet of flowers. But what kind of relation could Jamaze have with the new surroundings? No access to the graveyard and an empty chapel, before the crowd came, made me wonder what sort of ritual we could celebrate with my boxed poems and flowers there. As people approached the promenade, Natalia sang to herself, and while I walked slowly in circles, I reconnected with the maze idea. In front of the chapel we were a barrier, retaining visitors outside. In the original Mall space, my poem could invite customers to enter. Here, after I read the first part of the poem, I could not communicate with my partner, who concentrated on her actions. I had no more to do and say, and people were waiting to enter. I mumbled some Portuguese: “vou entrar agora”. No one followed me inside. I could hear but not see my partner anymore, her reading other parts of my poem, singing, silencing. Inside the chapel I was alone for a while.
About the artist
I am an artist who enjoys observing urban spaces and collecting materials and fragments that I find on the way. I am a sort of garbage collector. I play with the wasted, the observed, and the common until they become some sort of a game. Lately, I have been collecting words. I have curated projects in the Essex Street Market, shown my own work in Brazil, Canada and New York. Recently I created ART&COM with Natalia de Campos at the Jamaica Colosseum mall as part of Jamaica Flux 2016.
Jamaze poem: Thiago Szmrecsányi
Photos of Jamaze performance: Thiago Szmrecsányi and Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
