Rassim Krastev
«Corrections 1996–98»

Since the early 1970s, using one’s own body ranks among one of the essential components of most performances. This was proven by countless performers in the East and West alike. In both cases, insisting on the reality of the body was a stance in opposition to an ideological and realistic-social mould. In the 1990s, this clearly articulated opposition could no longer be sustained. Through the video documentation of his action piece «Corrections 1996-98,» Rassim Krastev reacts most to this drastic and perceptual expulsion of the body’s value in East European countries. For more than two years, Krastev trained his body in gyms in order to achieve, both ironically and rigorously, the ideal image of the successful artist. In doing this, he pointed toward the logic of a capitalistic value of images. That, in the end, these «corrected» images are again received by the Western art market is part of the tomfoolery of his project’s logic.
RF