Assemblage of the pig

"Péter Forgács’s video work (TOTEM), which was made in Kapolcs, is set in the ex-sanctuary of Kiscelli Church turned into an exhibition hall. This work demonstrates that even if you can't turn a dog into bacon, a pig can be assembled from goulash. Pigsticking is seen to follow an inverse chronology. It is possible to observe in real time the easily identifiable stages of traditional separating spare-ribs into pieces, running a reverse course, from replacing the lard, to pouring back the blood into the vein, up to the pulling out of the knife. One more twist is accompanied to the images of pigsticking: the „viewer" set in front of the monitor is considered as a stuffed swine that, being led back like this, can call up the memory of cast (video)pearls before swine, just as the possibility of narcissistic identification of video and swine."

Miklós Peternák
1995

Credits
1992 - installation

Exhibited

1999/2000 • 1949 -1999 Central European Avant-garde
Ludwig Museum Budapest, Vienna, Madrid & Barcelona

1999 • "Hungarian Totem" Zeitgenössische
Kunst aus Ungarn, Fellbach, Germany

1999 • "MOST" group Exhibition,
Bochum Museum, Germany

1999 • FAUNA, group exhibition
Zachenta Museum, Warsaw

1998 • INTER ACTUS 5,
Accademia Ungheria, Roma

1997 • "a triple dialogue", group exhibition,
Krakow, Poland

1996 • Shiseido Gallery,
Tokyo, Japan

1996 • Sao Paolo XXVIII. Biennial,
Sao Paolo, Brasil

1996 • Postmasters Gallery,
New York, USA

1995 • Kiscell Municipal Gallery,
Budapest, Hungary