COPY NOTHING

Hajnal Németh, „Copy Nothing”, 2024, performance, in the framework of the project „On Seeking”, After the Butcher, Berlin
In the picture: Júlia Koffler
Photo by Anna Mándoki

Performance quoting taglines from car ad copywriters from the past nearly 100 years (1930 – 2024). A vocal and instrumental piece interpreting a poem composed from selected car commercial slogans that do not refer directly to the car itself. The lines, taken from advertising archives, evoke the ad campaigns of both the Eastern and Western car industries, lifted from their original context, in a ritualistic repetitive performance delivered by Mark Ballyk (percussions, vocals) and Júlia Koffler (vocals).

“Enthusiasm as standard
The standard of the world
Stay home
Where freedom begins

The unseen ocean
Step in”

(Detail from the 64-line poem “Copy Nothing” by Hajnal Németh)

Hajnal Németh, „Copy Nothing”, 2024, performance, in the framework of the project „On Seeking”, After the Butcher, Berlin
In the picture: Mark Ballyk and Júlia Koffler
Photo by Lise Nellemann

”Copy Nothing”, 2024
Performance
Written and directed by: Hajnal Németh
Realized by: Mark Ballyk (percussions, vocals) and Júlia Koffler (vocals)
Language: English
Duration of the piece: approx 20 min

Presented in the framework of the project “On Seeking” in 2024 at After the Butcher – exhibition space for contemporary art & social issues, Berlin.