ABSTRACT

Ballettikka Internettikka is the umbrella name for a series of art projects that first began in 2001 as an exploration of internet ballet. It has continued with internet performances, guerrilla tactics and mobile live internet broadcasting strategies. 1 In the first internet ballet (Ljubljana, 2001) the focus was on broadcasting dance movement with still images. Since then, the project has developed into a research of the complex tactical and guerrilla strategies employed by broadcasted performance. Ballettikka Internettikka can be summed up as a series of art projects in which artists Igor Štromajer and Brane Zorman enter various public spaces and broadcast their performances (ballets) live on the internet. In recent years the focus of the project has been on the emotional tension between the fictional guerrilla framework, the performance location and the performing skills of the robot. In 2007 the duo's attention shifted to the destructive manipulation of the main hero (see Figures 12.1 and 12.2). 2 Most frequently, the intervention into the selected space is illegal: the artists take the role of guerrillas who, equipped with accessible everyday technology, ‘invade’ a public space in order to create a performance which is broadcast live on the internet. 3 Ballettikka performances, however, are not designed as spectacular interventions, but as strategic invasions into obscure areas of the chosen buildings, such as offices, restrooms, kitchens, rooftops and so on. 4