BURN, BABY, BURN!

Frank Theys’s surreal work presents the human body as you’ve never seen it before. Several naked people are recorded during movement, sometimes like dancing. These images have been twisted and contorted, like a cross between a kaleidoscope and the Hall of Mirrors at the circus. The shapes are twisted into curves, into extended lines, into circles and petalled flowers. The images writhe across the screen, constantly evolving and shifting. The image on screen sometimes reveals a human face, sometimes reveals a mythical creature on strangely constructed legs, sometimes a hypnotically beautiful flower. Reminiscent of prehistoric wall paintings and premodern religious or ritualistic dance, the images loop constantly over a background of screaming, cheering and whooping interwoven with percussive but simple music, creating a trance-like eerie atmosphere and the impression of a large collaborative audience.

This work has been digitised in the frame of DCA Project