On the BG Track (3)
- 2002
- single channel video
- 06'57“, Pal, Stereo, Color + B&W
- EA 5 + 2 AP
- Public Collections: Centre Pompidou/MNAM, Paris; Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia, private collection
"In On the BG Track (2002), Krassimir Terziev brings together footage from Western mainstream flms that mention Bulgaria, Bulgarians and “Bulgarianness”. The dialogue varies from typical clichés to strange attempts to attach “nationality” to exoticism. Of course, these samples merely contribute to creating a mythology from the unknown. In this way, with a slightly bitter sense of humour, the author comments on the tendency to present the unknown as something exotic, which is not only characteristic of Bulgaria and “Bulgarianness”, but also to any kind of difference, or otherness."
Boryana Rossa, "Entertainment, Propaganda, Experiment:The Technological and Social Foundations of Creative WorkUsing Video Technology", in: Edit András (ed), Transitland. Video art from Central and Eastern Europe 1989-2009, Ludwig Museum—Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, 2009
On the BG Track examines how film industry creates certain images of unknown, exotic cultures, as is the case with Bulgaria. The plot is structured on the juxtaposition of scenes shot on the streets of Sofia to five film excerpts. The camera follows a protagonist, walking in various parts of Sofia, then slowly zooms in, getting closer to his back, focusing on the image printed on the white t-shirt he is wearing. The image is a frame from the movie, an excerpt of which slowly fades in. Thus the printed film still is the vehicle moving the narrative between reality and fiction.
original title: По българската следа
date of production: 12/2002
project by: Krassimir Terziev
camera: Krassimir Terziev
featuring: Alexander Yanev
music & sound: Alexander Yanev
production & post-production: interSpace Media Art Center
with the support of Daniel Langlois Foundation for Arts, Science and Technologies
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Mirror Image Observation, Impakt Channel (https://impakt.nl/channel/curated), 2021, curated by Jackie Tan
A Possible History. Bulgarian art through the Sofia City Gallery collection, Sofia City Gallery, Sofia, 2013, sellected by Diana Popova
Transitland. Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe 1989-2009, SPACE Gallery, Bratislava, 2010; curated by Cathy Rae Hofmann
Transitland - Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe 1989 – 2009, The Red House Sofia, Sofia; curated by Cathy Rae Hofmann
Transitland. - Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe 1989 – 2009,Transmediale, Berlin; curated by Cathy Rae Hofmann
10 Years Video Art in Bulgaria, travelling exhibition, Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, 2009; curated by Adelina Popnedeleva
New Video New Europe, The Kitchen, New York, 2006; curated by Hamza Walker
New Video New Europe. A Survey of Eastern European Video, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museum of Art, Grand Forks, 2005, curated by Hamza Walker
New Video New Europe. A Survey of Eastern European Video, TATE Modern, London, UK; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, 2004, curated by Hamza Walker
Impakt Festival for experimental film, video and new media, Utrecht, 2004, curated by Aaron Dunewind
New Video New Europe. A Survey of Eastern European Video, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, 2004, curated by Hamza Walker
M.A.P: Case Study, City Art Gallery, Sofia, 2004
9TH. Cairo Biennial, Ehnaton Art Center, Cairo, 2003, curated by Galina Dimitrova
Blood Lines & Connections, Contemporary Art Museum, Denver, 2003, curated by Sydney Payton
Video Art BG: Contemporary Video Art from Bulgaria, Klinikum Ludwifshafen e.g., Munich, 2003, curated by Svilen Stefanov
Forum of European Cultural Exchanges Thessaloniki, Contemporary Art Center, Thessaloniki, 2003, curated by Nina Vagic/Personal Cinema
Video Screening 04: Travelling Programme, Galerie Martin Janda Raum fuer Actueller Kunst, Vienna; VTO, London; Zero, Piacenza; Kurimanzutto, Mexico City, 2003; ICA, Sofia, curated by Iara Boubnova
The Last East-European Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, 2003, curated by Stevan Vukovic/Dragan Todorovic
Import – Export: Contemporary Art from Bulgaria, Sofia Art Gallery, Sofa, 2003, curated by Maria Vassileva
Kontext:Europe: Impuls von Balkans, Public Art Festival, Theater des Augenblicks, Vienna, 2002
European Perspectives – Insbruck Art Expo, 2002, booth of Irida Gallery, Sofia