Forced Response
The camera provokes passers-by into reacting, then repeats a single gesture until an ordinary action begins to feel almost absurd. In this brief experiment, Jolanta Marcolla explores how film does not simply record reality, but can actively shape it through the act of filming and editing.
Forced Response is a minimalist experiment in two parts. The first captures the spontaneous reactions of passers-by confronted by an aggressively operated camera; the second repeatedly duplicates a short shot of a person adjusting their hair, transforming a single gesture into an obsessive rhythm. Marcolla thus juxtaposes two ways of influencing behaviour – direct intervention in the filming situation and manipulation of the recorded material. A pioneer of Polish video art, Marcolla was among the first Polish artists to consciously adopt video as her primary medium. Through experiments with closed-circuit imagery and projection loops, she explored how the camera not only observes reality but also influences behaviour and shapes the way we perceive it.
Jolanta Marcolla
Visual artist working with photography, film and video. She studied independently at the Faculty of Painting at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Wrocław, graduating in 1974. She was a co-founder of the GALERIA SZTUKI AKTUALNEJ (Contemporary Art Gallery) artistic group.
Reżyseria: Jolanta Marcolla
