2016
Installation: video (21 min.), book (23.5×17 cm, 54 pages), object
Rehearsals for Victory invents a fictitious sport called “Victory Gymnastics,” entirely constructed from the movements performed by Romanian female gymnasts while standing on the winners’ podium at international competitions. Stripped of the athletic routines that precede the win, the work isolates the post-competition ceremony as its own highly regulated, political performance.
In Romania, from the Ceaușescu regime to the present day, elite gymnastics has served as a powerful tool for state validation; a way to project an image of national vitality and ideological success onto the global stage. Rehearsals for Victory focuses on the rigid protocols of this success: medals held to chests, eyes fixed on moving flags, and bodies held perfectly straight while national anthems play. The victory of one athlete becomes the victory of many. Over decades, these repetitive gestures have hardened into a ritualized choreography where individual triumphs are instantly absorbed into the collective identity of the nation.
The project is presented through three main elements:
Gymnastics for Victory
Video (21 mins.)
Camera by Iulius Costache
An instructional video detailing the fundamental rules, postures, and physical principles of “Victory Gymnastics”.
Routines of Victory
Book
An artist book featuring technical illustrations and written breakdowns of the complex podium exercises.
Conversations during Victory Gymnastics
Object
A dialogue piece capturing two sports commentators analyzing the aesthetic and performance of a competition, based on gathered real-conversations during international competitions.
Special thanks to: Iulia Mocanu, Ileana Faur, Iulia Alina Dibu, Pitisan Piti, Alin Zăbrăuțeanu
Exhibited as part of Space Is Not the Final Frontier at Salonul de Proiecte, Bucharest, Romania, 2016.