Hermann Nitsch
6 Tage Spiel - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater
Day 3: Day of Dionysus (Excerpt), 1998
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“I also believe that, with regard to both the tragic aspect of suffering and instants of extreme ecstasy and affirmation of life, art needs to have a sense of sacred solemnity. […] We propagated a very aggressive type of art, not a cozy art but an art that displayed tremendous power and intensity.” — Hermann Nitsch
“A psychoanalytically-oriented dramaturgy allows the Dionysian to burst forth from within us. Suppressed areas of inner impulses are made visible. The actions with flesh, blood and slaughtered animals plumb the collective areas of our unconscious minds. The paramount aim and purpose of the festival is a profound affirmation of our existence, our life and our creation. The mysticism of being leads to a permanent festival of life. […] All are invited to drink. A mass intoxication is imperative, an all-embracing intoxication of the participants is ordained, unrestrained drinking takes place, day and night, in vineyards and cellars. Slaughter of a pig. GRAPES, FRUIT and TOMATOES, ANIMAL LUNGS, FLESH and INTESTINES are trampled on in ecstasy. People trample in SLAUGHTERED ANIMAL CARCASSES FILLED WITH INTESTINES, in troughs full of blood and wine. Extreme noise from the orchestras. Slaughtering of the bull, slaughtering of two pigs. Disembowelment.” — Nitsch, Das Orgien Mysterien Theater
Hermann Nitsch (born 1938) is an Austrian performance artist and a forerunner of Wiener Aktionismus (Viennese Actionism, or Performance art). Nitsch is known for his ritualistic performance actions, often combining fake crucifixion with the disemboweling of lambs and other animals. In the late 50s Hermann Nitsch developed the concept of the “Orgien Mysterien Theater” (Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries) a total work of art appealing to all senses, celebratory and life-affirming. Drawing on religion, philosophy and psychology, he has composed numerous theoretical writings, compositions and scores to accompany over 100 realized action performances between the years of 1962 and 1998. In 1998, Nitsch staged his 100th performance (named the 6-Day Play after its length) which took place at Schloss Prinzendorf, his castle in Austria.
— Slought Foundation, Die Aktionen: 1962-2003, a retrospective exhibition
Links
- Slought Foundation media kit [PDF]
Includes Osvaldo Romberg’s curatorial essay “Redemption through Blood,” as well as selected passages from a 2003 interview with Hermann Nitsch.
- Bloody Man: The Ritual Art of Hermann Nitsch
By Eugene Gorny
- Proposal: An adjusted sign model for action art - Example o. m. theatre
By Hans T Sternudd, Department of Art History and Musicology, Lund University
- The Sacrificial Aesthetic: Blood Rituals from Art to Murder
By Dawn Perlmutter, Anthropoetics 5, no. 2 (Fall 1999 / Winter 2000)
Sacred solemnity? Eating shit and having entrails poured on you, and/or having others piss and defecate on you doesn’t quite seem to hold up to any kind of aesthetic I’d respect. It’s one thing to read De Sade fantasizing about such things, but to actually witness fools making such “art” is a bit much. Not to mention the amount of disease that could be potentially spread by this kind of “perfomance art.” This is like “Fear Factor” for the arty-farty set, I suppose…
Comment by norelpref — put May 1, 2006 @ 12:27 am
[…] presented also here […]
Pingback by Hermann Nitsch, 6 Tage Spiel - Das Orgien Mysterien Theater. Day 3: Day of Dionysus (Excerpt) 1998 « >dmtls Merzbau — put December 4, 2007 @ 10:04 pm