KALEIDOSCOPE IV
KALEIDOSCOPE IV
Kaleidoscope is a traditional animation video project that I started in 2014, comprising so far four independent but interconnected animation videos: SnakeBoy, HavocDance ,Electric Buzz and Striptease.
This latest edition, from 2021, runs for 07:12 minutes and has 10.284 frames.
Kaleidoscope is a traditional animation work that grows over time, feeding on brief animated sequences and gifts that glide hypnotically.
It is like a logbook, where the characters represent metaphorical scenes, with the sounds of the planet Jupiter in the background.
The work is designed as a living being in constant mutation, a sort of space diary of obscure and strange events.
Some of the concepts addressed by the project include the following:
Sexual identity; Power and control over desire; Religion as an Institution; False dogmas and sin; Doppelgängers and mirrors; Alienation and extremist conducts; Female empowerment; Ritual magic; Masks; Identity game, and the power of the body as a source of knowledge.
The main characters in each of the Kaleidoscope videos have in common a dance-like body language when they carry out their actions, occasionally interrupted by gifts that break the visual mantra of the scene like little flashes.
Another common element among the three videos is their decomposition.
SnakeBoy, HavocDance ,Electric Buzz and Striptease present a break with the self-image, its ambivalence, division, alteration, duplication or even its disappearance.
The four identities fade away to become part of a kaleidoscope game that broadens their definition.
They are all surrounded by a strange, magical and symbolic space that seems empty.
The first video introduces SnakeBoy, a handsome and sensual man riding a snake as a cowboy, who crazily enjoys his control of the situation. Aware of his own power, he is the master of his own desire.
The symbology of the snake, linked to the original and feminine sin in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is replaced here by a fake snake that represents a vehicle that transmits the revelation of the true sexual identity of the man.
HavocDance is a little story of a surprising encounter.
The dancer Havoc appears walking slowly towards what she believes to be her reflection in a mirror.
When she thinks that she is facing herself, what she actually finds is not her reflection, but her other “self”, and not necessarily a dark one.
The anticipated encounter with herself becomes a discovery and revelation of “the other”, and both selves decide to dance as one. Dancing with your doppelgänger.
At the beginning of Electric Buzz, a circle of strange, body-free hands get ready to start a spiritualist session.
The magical, long-nailed hands start vibrating and emitting an electric buzzing sound.
Suddenly, a strange being with changing geometric shapes appears floating right in the centre of the circle.
Little by little, amid the foggy smoke emanating from the changing body, we can discern some human shapes that all of a sudden end up materializing in the desired body that was being invoked: a goofy looking being, dressed with a butcher´s apron, gloves and a mask.
Far from being a revealing presence, the body just dances slowly with the swing of a morphine addict in the centre of the circle.
It dances and disappears without giving any answers.
A metaphorical action dominates Striptease. A man takes off his clothes partially, interrupted by flashbacks of strange characters.
The underlying theme is not about the act of taking your clothes off, but about undressing your inner self, getting rid of everything to the bone… It is indeed an abdication.
These four characters are interrupted by flashes of play scenes that represent very specific roles linked to them.
INSTALLATION AND PROJECTION OF THE WORK
The work Kaleidoscope was designed to be screened in a cubic, black room, with walls covered with mirrors to enhance the sense of infinity.
A “no place” was created, where the audience could tune into a cosmic atmosphere, with the sound of a surrounding mantra produced by the waves from Jupiter recorded by NASA in the outer space.
The exhibition space was designed as a chill-out area, where visitors could lay down on the carpet or watch the video standing up, enjoying a moment for themselves.
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Marta Serna SanzDirector
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Project Type:Animation
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Runtime:7 minutes 12 seconds
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Completion Date:September 7, 2021
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Country of Origin:Spain
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Shooting Format:16/9
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Film Color:Black & White
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Vegap AwardsMadrid
Spain
October 27, 2021
Spanish premiere
Marta Serna is an experienced and multidisciplinary artist who has created a mysterious and unique universe inhabited by brave, enigmatic, pseudo-human and above all, powerful characters. Her work combines illustrations, animation videos, installations and performances, resorting to different techniques according to the needs of her stories, which are always complex, radical and disturbing.
Serna’s projects reveal what is hidden and is not supposed to be seen, creating unique universes where fiction and reality blend in a perfect dance that immediately captivates the spectators. With autobiographical elements and historical and symbolic significance, her stories propagate and grow endlessly, connecting with each other and expanding a body of work that leaves no one indifferent. The main characters are often women who are extremely strong, brave, clever and empowered. They are witches, sorceress and dancers who are able to transform their reality and are not afraid to unleash their wildest instincts. Usually, the characters that inhabit this unusual world never lead ordinary lives; quite the opposite, they cross the boundaries of what is considered human to experiment with the uncanny, transform behaviours and captivate us with their magic. Her most recent works, created ad-hoc for museums and galleries, are in large format: video projections on walls and large-scale printing of her drawings, adapted both to public and institutional walls. In her last works, Serna wants to continue her series of specific projects where she engages with the public through her monumental creations that she has created embracing the history of the space where they will be exhibited.
Short biography
She graduated from the Complutense University of Madrid (1993) at the Faculty of Fine Arts in the specialty of Painting. She has completed higher studies in Classical Dance at the Royal College of London, Spanish Dance at the Royal Conservatory of Córdoba and Oriental Dance and folklore in Istanbul and Cairo. She has worked as a creator of sets in film, theater and television, and currently collaborates as a dancer with the Cristiane Azem dance company and the Paloma Mejia Martí theater company.
As a visual artist, she starts from drawing as an expressive formal base. She is focused on illustration, traditional and digital drawing, video animation, installation and sculptural drawing in methacrylate. We can see her work on Spain, England, France, Germany, Mexico, the United States, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Middle East
Currently she works with the gallery Espacio Marzana, Bilbao.
Last solo exhibition. 2020. " Kaleidoscope. SnakeBoy + HavocDance + Electric Buzz “. Video animation and drawing at Fundación Bilbao Arte and "The Mask of False Faces (FakeFaceMask)" at Galeria Espacio Marzana. Bilbao. 2019 "Mystery Magnet". Specific project of installation, video animation and drawing. DA2, Domus Artium.Salamanca.2017 “Slow Walk” .Drawing site specific project. Mikser Festival-Migration 2017. Silos Zitomlin.Cervantes Institute.Belgrade2015 “Immaculated Dreams”. Video animation and drawing project. Galeria Espacio Marzana.Bilbao2014 "SnakeBoy". Video installation and Drawing.OpenStudio. 2012 "Alphabet for Little Monsters". Rita Castellote Gallery. Madrid.2011 "Misty Eyes & Mourning Stones". Sculptural drawing, video animation and drawing Gallery Asm28. Madrid. “- Black Éxtasis”. Finalist for ABC's Sala 4 Project for Arco 2012.2010 “Black Wings”. Installation of vinyl and audio, video projection. Domus Artium.Salamanca. “BlackSparkle”. Sculptural drawing, video animation, and drawing. Marzana Space Gallery. Bilbao. "Winter's Tale". "Dark Delicate". Mural installation, sculpture and drawing. Blue Cubo Gallery. 2008 "Blood Breath". Drawing, video, wall installation. NO: ID Gallery. London “- Cruel but Fair”. Drawing, painting, video animation and installation. Rosa Santos Gallery. Valencia..2006 “Havocʼs Amazing Cosmic Trip”. Video installation. Project 142. Clampton, Hackney. London. "Havoc Oddity." Video and photography. Blue Cube Gallery. León. 2001 “Hot Legs”. Painting, drawing and installation, Marin Galy Gallery. Malaga. "Carne Feble". Granada.2000 "La sombra Feble". Installation, painting, drawing and sculpture. Regium Garage Gallery. Madrid.1998 "The Protective Skin". Lae Sferazul Gallery. Valencia.
Collectives as “Capital Animal” Casa Encendida.Madrid (2016) ”“ SnakeBoy ”Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (2015) The Noise of Bubbles”, Red Bull Academy, Matadero, Madrid. “Mysty Eyes” Palais de Tokyo, Paris “Gráfica. 30 Artists from young Spain ”Institute Cervantes de Líbano, Jordan, Bulgaria, Algiers, (2012). “Rencontres Internationales”, “Power Trilogy” Pompidou de Paris (2011) “Merrie Melodies”, Domus Artium, Salamanca (2010) Cat Power “Madrid Community Artistic Creation Awards”, ARCO 2009 “Bloody Boots”, ARCO 2008, and visual project "Bloody Little Creatures" in London for musical group The Cure. Has recently been awarded by Vegap for the realization of the animation video Striptease.