M HKA Ensembles

Video, 00:06:23.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BK006158).

Koraal [Choral] shows, in a grainy black and white, the hands of the artist peeling an orange and elegantly and tenderly dividing it into segments. By zooming in on this ordinary action the images are given an almost ritual character. The title of the work alludes to this ritual element. Lili Dujourie links the choral, a protestant hymn, to the movement of the hands, which evokes a certain rhythm and creates a silence. The picking of this title is determined by the poetic quality of the word ‘choral’, by the associations and memories it evokes from the artist. There is no storyline, only a registration of minimal gestures. The passing of time, a crucial theme in Dujourie’s work, becomes palpable. The use of black and white defines the nature of the work. The image of the orange is immediately associated with colour, as a result of which the orange ‘filters through’ in the image. The emphasis is rather on the action, than on the form or colour. The peeling of the orange has a sensual character, but the orange is also eaten: according to the artist, Choral is about destroying things out of love.