Hajnal Németh
Contrawork (Version 2)
April 2012
Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Website
Performance of 12 hours for the reopening of the Palais de Tokyo.
Delivered by István Dankó, Tamara Mózes, Natalia Orlova (singers) and Luidji Caloc (car mechanic), performing the song “Dark Green Citroen”.
“Contrawork” is a contra-concert in the scope of which two different work processes - with contrary motivation and goal – are completed in the course of 12–18 hours. A car's meticulous disassembly into its parts – like a systematic and slow destruction – happening simultaneously with the piece by piece chanting of the destructed vehicle's parts – like a linear construction. To define briefly the gist of the piece: dismantling contra composing. The end-product of one action is the raw material for the other, so the score of the musical piece is composed by the system of the removed car parts.
With that Citroën logo shining bright on all four wheels
With that logo shining bright
My hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension
Invented by Citröen
The envy of my bothers and sisters
Giving you a soft-cushioned ride
In normal conditions
And a tight body control
