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Subject: Syndicate: +FREE FALL IN THE ALBANIAN TRANCE From: marjan@kud-fp.si (Edi Muka (by way of Marjan Kokot)) Date: 1 Aug 1997 17:15:54 +0200 * * * * * +FREE FALL IN THE ALBANIAN TRANCE by Edi Muka The most elaborated , used and experienced term in the Albania of the first half of the year 1997, was "the surprise". From March 97 there was an image that conquered every possible and existing kind of media, be it static, moveable, verbal , countable, in albanian or in every interested language and frequency. It was the iconography of an iron instrument whose function was to shoot other pieces of iron which on their side aimed at opening holes of different sizes to take out what the holed objects contained. Carried by every representative of every age of human genealogy, as in an absurd theater where the past, the present and the future were played simultaneously, out of time dimensions, moving to various landscapes and contexts, this instrument with its iconography turned into an omnipotent omnipresence, conquering the physical and virtual borders of time and space. Together with the immeasurable quantity of murduring munition it released an immeasurable amount of Albanians' adrenalin. At first sight, Albania resembled very much to a spaghetti western, played according to neo-realist standards, where almost everybody turned into a potential "pistolero", but where also the monotony of the pistols was substituted by the unlimited range of guns and weapons of every kind and origin possible. The power of explosives undertook the task of changing the territorial geography of Albania. There was a new category in the field of Albanian ballistics as well, and it was labelled "blind bullets", coming from every direction, possible and impossible. But more than a spaghetti western, living in such a "trance" situation resembled the entertainment game "rollercoaster". For somebody that tries the game for the first time the sensations are inevitably dominated by those of fear and loss of gravity. When you start moving, you feel that you are surrounded by space in every direction and the possibility of contact with earth are fast diminishing. This is followed by a short horizontal drive in a breathtaking height that goes towards a point beyond which you do not know what will happen. When your wagon is at this point it dives in what physics calls "free fall". At this moment you are in a point of the universe absolutely different from the ones defined for human's normal action. And so the wagon goes on and on to its second, third, fourth falls. But very strangely, at a certain point, the reaction caused by the fall starts moving from the sphere of fear to that of acceptance, ending up as pleasurable. This was approximately what one sensed when next to your table a kalashnikov was shooting. Together with the desire to escape to the other end of the world, where such a thing wasn't happening, there was also a feeling of curiosity that glued you to the chair, wiping out the ability to discern which of the two was more powerful. Little by little things started to find their places in the new scene of the absurd theater that Albanians were playing according to, or against, their will. The whole map of human relationships was changed continuously within moments of time. Maybe this was the most intense experience of the term "transitional", which brought with it a sense of loss of balance and lack of center. However, apparently Albanians have decided to act and behave differently. It seems as though the suffering of the recent months not only exhausted them, but made them understand that they can act and be different. The persistence with which the spirit comes back and overwhelms the killing paranoia that tried to change the essential relations, is amazing. The remarkable calm with which Albanians faced the last political elections is a sign that the above mentioned loss of balance and lack of center were phenomena that developed into a positive tendency. In the meantime, what happened to Albanian artists during this period is sad but positive. The actual situation that Albania has been going through and that is still experiencing has been one of the most fertile territories for art production. The cultural potential that the Albanian territory offers in abundance constitute a very strong and specific basis upon which they can start to build their work. The disappearance and the reconstruction of the relations between individual and society, body and surroundings, sex and society, and many others, altogether conditioned by the omnipresence of the gun provoke careful observation. Thrown into the free fall of this Albanian trance might be the starting point of conceiving really important and significant art pieces. The recent situation in Albania over the last months, besides showing to Albanians themselves where a lack of civic responsibility leads, was also evidence of the most recent failure of Western European politics. Apparently the Albanians have decided to change things, and this time start building upon a new balance. At least by now they know what they shouldn't do.