Hajnal Németh

Contrawork (version 1)

Performance, version 1, 18 hour long, MicaMoca Project Berlin, 2011

Delivered by István Dankó (singer) and Thomas Fischer (car mechanic), composing and performing the song “RED FORD MONDEO”.

"Contrawork" is a contra-concert in the scope of which two different work processes - with contrary motivation and goal - are completed in the course of 12-18 hours. A car's meticulous disassembly into its parts - like a systematic and slow destruction - happening simultaneously with the piece by piece chanting of the destructed vehicle's parts - like a linear construction. To define briefly the gist of the piece: dismantling contra composing. The end-product of one action is the raw material for the other, so the score of the musical piece is composed by the system of the removed car parts.

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"I am also called Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique

I was produced in the year 1996

At that time I was one of the most reliable cars

I was one of the safest places to be

For so many souls, for such long journeys

And I am still present as a car, as a machine in red skin

But I started to lose some of my attributes and features

As I know, yes I know

I go shuffling out of life

Just to hide in death awhile

By slow destruction I enter the bright - or I don't know what

But I’m not afraid to die

No, I’m not afraid to die

Do I still have some weight?

My body started to lose some of its parts, I can’t hear myself functioning anymore"

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"Instrument panel trim in cheesy wood-grain finish

Plastic periphery vision wood-grain

Dashboard grey

That cheesy wood-grain finish

We know it's made from plastic

But it's always in that wood-grain finish

Giving the instrument panels

That lovely lovely trim, yeah

That lovely trim

It's got air-vents

Air-vents to keep us cool"

(details from the lyrics “RED FORD MONDEO” written by István Dankó and Hajnal Németh)

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Contrawork

Video of the performance, Full HD, Stereo, 43', 2011

Performers: István Dankó, Thomas Fischer

Camera: István Imreh

Sound: Johannes Saal

Post production: Yensin Jahn - PlanetRoc Studio

Recorded at MicaMoca Project, Berlin

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Contrawork

Photo series, 18 pieces, 30 x 40 cm, 2011

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Exhibition views: MicaMoca Project and Photo Edition, Berlin, 2011

Photo: Hajnal Németh