Interview with Olga Prokhorova
29.08.2016, Izhevsk, Russia
Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
I studied performance art for 2 years in Sweden at a very special course where students were occupied most of the time with only making and watching performances. Before that, I had my career in journalism and produced TV shows for young audiences. My team was crazy about cinematography and we courageously experimented with video images and ways to tell a story. Later, when I saw pictures of performance art, I thought – I belong there.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
Ideas are usually too big to embrace all at once, to see it from all perspectives. Also, I like to leave room for the imagination of my audience. I wouldn't like to be a dictator in my art and explain "what it was about". My own purpose could be frightening and unpleasant for the audience,,, I try to figure out the main points of my performance such as what happens in the beginning? How do I end it? Is it somehow predictable? Then, I usually try to visualise the whole process in order to feel comfortable, sure and ready to perform- to be satisfied. But, 99% of time I find answers and solutions only on the last day. Often more meaning and beauty in a project is discovered afterwards, after being inside the action. And, I never rehearse my performances. It usually comes with stress.
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
In my latest project which I did for the ”Mother Tongue” Performance Art festival in Helsinki, I rolled out 20 kilos of dough. Then I embraced 3 kilos of mincemeat, sang a lullaby to it and then I laid in the dough. My mother-in-law was next to me on stage, watching me working. She made a ”pelmen” (ravioli type Russian food) out of me and I kept singing whilst being cloistered inside the dough until there was not enough air. I was a singing ravioli. At the end, I broke out through the wall of dough, pushed the meat out and dragged myself outside. During the process, the audience listened to a recorded talk of my grandmother in Russian, who for the first time was revealing secrets about her youth and family life.
Q: With what kind of form / material do you express yourself and use in your work and how did you arrive at using this material?
I suppose movement is the key element for me. Through movement and physical efforts I try to increase the intensity, show the act in process and show change. And then I take a great deal of inspiration from the language of my grandmother- her very poetic and absurd way of expressing ideas with the words.
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Q: Why / when / how did you start to work with performance, what is your background, how did you arrive at doing performance?
I studied performance art for 2 years in Sweden at a very special course where students were occupied most of the time with only making and watching performances. Before that, I had my career in journalism and produced TV shows for young audiences. My team was crazy about cinematography and we courageously experimented with video images and ways to tell a story. Later, when I saw pictures of performance art, I thought – I belong there.
Q: What is your process like when you make a performance, from idea to actual work?
Ideas are usually too big to embrace all at once, to see it from all perspectives. Also, I like to leave room for the imagination of my audience. I wouldn't like to be a dictator in my art and explain "what it was about". My own purpose could be frightening and unpleasant for the audience,,, I try to figure out the main points of my performance such as what happens in the beginning? How do I end it? Is it somehow predictable? Then, I usually try to visualise the whole process in order to feel comfortable, sure and ready to perform- to be satisfied. But, 99% of time I find answers and solutions only on the last day. Often more meaning and beauty in a project is discovered afterwards, after being inside the action. And, I never rehearse my performances. It usually comes with stress.
Q: Can you tell about your latest project?
In my latest project which I did for the ”Mother Tongue” Performance Art festival in Helsinki, I rolled out 20 kilos of dough. Then I embraced 3 kilos of mincemeat, sang a lullaby to it and then I laid in the dough. My mother-in-law was next to me on stage, watching me working. She made a ”pelmen” (ravioli type Russian food) out of me and I kept singing whilst being cloistered inside the dough until there was not enough air. I was a singing ravioli. At the end, I broke out through the wall of dough, pushed the meat out and dragged myself outside. During the process, the audience listened to a recorded talk of my grandmother in Russian, who for the first time was revealing secrets about her youth and family life.
Q: With what kind of form / material do you express yourself and use in your work and how did you arrive at using this material?
I suppose movement is the key element for me. Through movement and physical efforts I try to increase the intensity, show the act in process and show change. And then I take a great deal of inspiration from the language of my grandmother- her very poetic and absurd way of expressing ideas with the words.
<<Back