Nataša Prosenc Stearns: code L – Fragments 
20. 9. — 12. 10. 2019
X-OP / KiBela, Ulica Kneza Koclja 9, Maribor

code L – Fragments video installation at the KiBela Gallery presents a selection from the new series of videos by Nataša Prosenc Stearns, recorded for the original opera by Milko Lazar.

According to librettist Eva Kraševec, “code L testifies to the power and depth of human emotion – a unique selection of emotional culture moments captured in the time and space of today. Inspired by Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments, it is fuelled by myths, archetypes, philosophical works, and the intimate.”

Transparent screen projections integrate shadows, silhouettes, and reflections of architecture elements. What emerges is a space-inside-space, which in the opera occupies the stage, while in the gallery it is the space into which the visitors enter.

Human intimacy has been a topic of interest for Nataša Prosenc Stearns since the beginning of her career. Her focus is on “the human condition” – what goes on with human beings in the contemporary world; where is our psyche, our soul, our heart? As many times before, she explores these themes through interpretations of the human body – a figure, which is, however, always integrated in the environment. The exhibited works are moving collages based on image layering. They depict states of constant emergence; the integrity of the body disintegrates, establishing new connections with the environment and suggesting new possibilities for regeneration. Transformations occur under the influence of water, sand and other elements, which in the works of Nataša Prosenc Stearns change from natural elements into deconstructing or integrating visual artistic elements – in some of the works they trigger the disintegration of the image, in others, they are the substance that connects and protects them.

An intense concern with the body is the artist’s response to the alienated existence of modern humans, which is becoming increasingly “disembodied” because a great part of human relationships has shifted from the physical world onto screens and into the virtual Internet space.

code L – Fragments
Video installation by Nataša Prosenc Stearns
Based on motifs from the original opera code L by Milko Lazar
Set designer: Rocc
The original opera code L based on the libretto by Eva Kraševec, with director and set designer Rocc, was performed for the first time in March 2019 at the SNG Opera in Balet Ljubljana.
Video cast: Jasmine Akakpo, Issac Silva, Carmela Segal, Andrew English, Jmack, Frankie Arounwong, Danielle Viale, Ellis Moye
Camera operator: Lisa Stoll

 

code L – Fragments from Nataša Prosenc Stearns on Vimeo.