The series of performative walks, created in collaboration with the choreographer Iza Szostak, took place both in and around Parade Square next to the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. From the fifties until the fall of communism, the square was used by the government of People's Republic of Poland for propaganda parades and speeches. The participants of Walkout, dressed in coordinated outfits, performed together as a disindividualised and unified collective: walked in a straight line, took the same poses, made gestures together, or just moved according to some arbitrary rule, as if to examine the physical limitations imposed by the space itself. Parade Square is often regarded by the city’s residents as an unpleasant desert of stone and concrete, which—along with figures decorating the entryways to the Palace—lent these performances a solid, sculptural quality. With its historically significant location, this piece also critically addressed a wide array of meanings and associations derived from oppressive totalitarian regimes of the past and their fascination with disciplined bodies that perform collectively in perfect unison.
Performers: Natalia Atmańska, Karolina Bielawska, Andrzej Godziński, Ignacy Hryniewicz, Oskar Malinowski, Mary Szydłowska
Costumes: DOOM 3K