this is my truth, tell me yours

Hi,

my name is Jasna and I would like to invite you to see my performance. It’s my first solo and I’m quite excited about it.

The title of the piece is “this is my truth tell me yours” which is actually a quote of a quote, but the piece itself doesn’t deal with these quotes, it’s more about some of my own “truths”.

I have been working as a writer and a dramaturg for almost 15 years, but lately I have been thinking about wanting to do something else, because I think art is really fucked up and because art really fucked me up.

But then I made this piece about how art fucked me up, and I actually realised it’s more of a love-hate relationship between me and art. And I realized I actually often really like art. (Although it also gets on my nerves quite often.)

Some other topics that I explore in this piece are female orgasm, male masturbation, artistic responsibility and buzzing in the ears. I also mention Konstrakta, Jan Fabre, Oliver Frljić, Xanax and Jesus.

In short, I would be glad if you would come to the show. (Below you’ll find a more official description that my producer asked me to write.)

See you,

Jasna

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“this is my truth, tell me yours” is a solo project by the dramaturg and writer Jasna Žmak, in which she explores her relationship with the artistic field, questioning the responsibilities and the anxieties that the role of the contemporary artist implies. Leaning on her personal experience from 2011, when she started suffering from tinnitus and hyperacusis after firing a theater gun during the performance “MandićMachine”, directed by Bojan Jablanovec and performed by Marko Mandić, in this piece Žmak creates her own version of a ŽmakMachine, and explores the ways
in which art forms the reality we are living in. Although seemingly not connected, the themes of tinnitus and patriarchy become the central motif of this work that operates at the intersection between stand-up comedy and lecture performance. Appearing on stage in the role of the performer for the first time, Žmak deals with questions of truthfulness and representation, participation and responsibility, guiding us through her dramaturgical and sexual experiences, asking herself and the audience questions about the importance and the meaning of artistic production in the era of wild capitalism.

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The project was developed as part of the PARL – Performance Art Research Ljubljana 2022 – program.

The project was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City Office for Culture, Intercity and International Cooperation and Civil Society of the City of Zagreb, the Kultura Nova Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the City Municipality of Ljubljana.

The play uses fragments from the following works:

Borut Šeparović: documentary film “Potrošeni“, production: Montažstroj (2014)
Jasna Žmak & Petar Sarjanović: “Jasna Jasna Žmak to Petar Sarjanović Sep 26“, magazine Četveroruka, Ed. Sonja Pregrad & Marina Petković Liker (2017) Sonja Pregrad & Marina Petković Liker (2017.)

The play does not use fragments from the following work:

Ana Grbac & Nikola Podkrajac: radio documentary “Tinitus“, cycle “Oda-birano”, Ed. Iva Lovrec Štefanović, production: HRT (2017).

some references:

Marko Mandić: “Extract Mandić“, production: Via Negativa (2009)
Oliver Frljić & Borut Šeparović: “Zagreb noću“, production: Banana gerila & Montažstroj (2009)
Bojan Jablanovec: “MandićStroj“, production: Via Negativa (2011)
Borut Šeparović: “55+“, production: Montažstroj (2012)
Matija Ferlin: “Mi smo kraljevi a ne ljudi“, production: Croatian National Theater Zagreb & Kunstenfestivaldesarts (2015)
Ivana Müller: “O! Voice“, production: &TD, apap – Performing Europe (2015)
Olja Grubić: “Golo življenje“, production: Via Negativa (2019)
Paolo Magelli: “Ja sam ona koja nisam“, production: Zagreb Youth Theater (2021)