The pair of artists, Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani, do not only deal with places of transformation, they also observe, in their highly aesthetic films, the social and cultural change of societies. The two artists produced a new film, Dynamis, for the TEMPUS RITUALIS exhibition. In the film they ask people who they randomly meet in the city of Thessaloniki to take part in a patience exercise, and in this way develop a collective cultural performance.
The setup is simple: A table or marble slab in open space, on which one or more persons simultaneously try to balance a raw egg. This procedure is not so simple; sometimes it takes a few seconds and at other times it can take up to several minutes. The artists have stated the following: “Thessaloniki is the centre of our new work featuring this social balancing act, figuratively speaking. It takes constant concentration, patience, commitment and passion to stay on a task until you succeed. It is also a matter of practice and perfection, and continuous efforts in order to master the art, very much like a ritual that requires constant practice”. The egg idea came from a Butoh Workshop; only the participants who managed to balance a raw egg, and who had the necessary focus, could participate in the master workshop. They have conveyed this principle through their work.
In this process the egg is a complex form, which requires focus in order to be understood, and a balancing act in order to be implemented. A balancing act on an egg. Finding a balancing contest. Life as a fragile element. The egg as a symbol of the ongoing efforts to find a balance.