For this project, Jankowski collaborated with one of the largest TV stations in Latin America to produce an episode of the Mexican telenovela La que no podia amar (The One Who Could Not Love). He used the original script, set design, and actors, while introducing one fundamental change in terms of their means of communication: the actors do not use words, but rather transmit their thoughts and emotions through the most direct form of expression – the act of crying – in order to convey both conflicts and their cathartic resolution.
By employing the grand gesture of crying, Jankowski refers back to the grand gestures employed by Siquieros in his mural. Indeed, both the mural and the video are imbued with the melodramatic quality of works executed for mass cultural consumption and for the creation of public impact. Yet whereas Siquieros’ mural may be described as an artistic rendition of a political manifesto, Jankowski’s video is the ironic answer to the utopian dreams expressed in this mural.
Less Reading...