JULIA RUZYCZKA DE ROSENWERTH

Write up submitted to Jomba! (2021):

“/e/ven/t//hor/izon/ is a work that arises from an interest in the edges of things – the boundaries, or horizons that serve as transitory spaces of ambiguity. Thinking of the ‘event horizon’ of a black hole, in astrophysics, this is the point at which an object that passes through the surface of the black hole is no longer perceptible from an outside observer. Inspired by this idea of changing visibility/recognisability, /e/ven/t//hor/izon/ explores the perception of the boundaries of the creator’s own body and how those can be disturbed through a conversation between the limits of the camera’s lens and the perspective of the videographer. The disruption of the image of the body is performed, in part, to find alternative ways to relate to one’s own body. As such, this work is also a personal and intimate journey for the creator. In /e/ven/t//hor/izon/’s score, which is created for the film, recorded sounds of the performer moving and breathing are manipulated digitally, creating a tension between the so called ‘organic’ and ‘inorganic’, which is intended to open the sonic reference points in the score to create an ambiguous soundscape that invites the listener to find their own reference points. /e/ven/t//hor/izon/ is conceived, created and performed by Julia Ruzyczka de Rosenwerth.”

Concept: Meghan Harris

Web design and development: Julia de Rosenwerth, in consultation with Meghan Harris

Videography (when will you be home?): Julia de Rosenwerth

Video editing: Julia de Rosenwerth, in consultation with Meghan Harris

Live Art Arcade Instagram caption:

“Julia Ruzyczka de Rosenwerth (@juliaderosenwerth ) presents “Krystyna” for Arcade2020

red wooden beads on a twist of aging cotton/ a relic/ something to hold/// a lasting memory/ you/ sitting beside my bed/ saying a prayer for sleep/

Julia is a performing artist and web designer currently completing their master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Performance Praxis at Rhodes University/UCKAR Department of Drama.

See more of their work on Instagram @juliaderosenwerth and at www.juliaderosenwerth.com

#liveartarcade #arcade2020 #arcade #onlineperformance #performanceart #liveart #videoart #juliaruzyczkaderosenwerth #juliaderosenwerth #krystyna”

In the outside inside space is a long-distance digital collaboration between Thulani Chauke (Johannesburg, South Africa), Josman P (Blanca, Spain) and myself (Makhanda, South Africa). It has been created over the past four months and builds on existing artistic relationships we have formed over the past few years.

The project responds to the Covid-19 restrictions by finding ways to adapt live performative practices to online, digital spaces, and through this asks how connection and intimacy can be fostered in a time when isolation is paramount.

In the outside inside space draws on Arturo Escobar’s (2018) writings around relationality and the Pluriverse and seeks to explore how materials affect and are affected by their relationship to other materials. Based on initial artistic impulses I created – in the form of sound, video, text and image – Josman, Thulani and myself went through a process of creating a series of multimedia responses to these impulses. These were then shared with one another and resulted in the creation of further responses which now form the total content of the web project.

After the content was created, I went through a process of assembling the materials into five constellations on the web page, paying attention to the initial impulses, our combined compositional choices and the overall way in which the individual materials ‘spoke to’ one another. I was interested in how each piece of content affected and changed the next, and how its readings changed even more when viewed in context of a larger constellation of materials.

I see each constellation as a series of fragments that ‘come together’ to create a structure. This structure is formed through placing fragments in direct and varying relationships to one another. Each constellation provides a context which can inform/embellish/’speak to’ each fragment contained within it. I am deeply interested in the interdependence that is formed between the individual fragments and their respective constellations; they seem to mutually create and change one another.

This short work forms part of Julia’s Masters coursework. Exploring micropractice, she interweaves text and image to create an open-ended narrative that moves forward and back in time.

Falling is necessary and inevitable. It is generally something we try to resist, but it should rather be welcomed. An alternative way to understand falling, is as an opportunity for change, essential to new growth, and the potential for release. The act of letting go becomes recovery. To practice this surrender, we give up control to give in to mystery. We have to risk losing who we are, to the worthy potential of who we can become.

Concept:  Marsi van de Heuvel

Performance Artists:  Adriana Jamisse,  Sizo Mahlangu,  Julia de Rosenwerth, Marsi van de Heuvel

Producer: Lisa Gardner

Director / Director of Photography: Republic of Nowhere

Camera Assistant / DIT / Post Production: Delon Misic

Camera Operator: Jason Musgrave

Special Thanks:  Velocity Films for location, Panavision South Africa for camera gear