The darkened gallery space of Postmaster’s Gallery in Chelsea showcases Katarzyna Kozyra’s film “summertale”. A further addition to the series In Art Dreams Come True, the film assumes the same characters with a slightly varied plot. Set in a fogged forest in the glistening light of summer the richly colorful film is eccentric and lacks dialogue. Nostalgia for old bedtime stories emerge once the viewer overcomes feelings of confusion and horror.
Harping on prominent themes from fairytales and folklore universally recognized and branded by Disney, Koyzra examines the validity and harm caused by such extreme stereotypes and clichés. The Polish born artist uses parody to further her agenda forcing the viewer to question the foundation of their beliefs and ask themselves if they too were molded by these often intolerant portrayals.
Despite the lack of verity in these fictional stories many of the common paradigms such as gender roles are threaded into our social fabric. Of course everyone knows there is no princess trapped in a tower guarded by a dragon awaiting rescue from a knight on a horse and Snow White certainly did not take up residence in a cottage with seven disorderly dwarves. But the fact remains that the markers of femininity and masculinity laid down by these very stories spill over into the real world. Not to mention the presence of little people (dwarves and elves) creeping their way into almost every beloved story as merry helpers always welcoming their guests and acting as servants. At first Koyzra continues this Wizard of Oz notion in “summertale” but in the end contradicts the idea by making the dwarves murders.
The unusual narrative begins like any other fairytale with chirping birds and cheerful music but almost as soon as the film starts the story strays from the norm. A band of dwarves bustles around pruning their garden flowers and freeing dust from their linens. After a heavy rain to the dwarves surprise three large mushrooms pop up and like a bird breaking out of its eggshell the opera singer, a drag queen, and Koyzra dressed as a baby emerge.
The dwarves quickly welcome their guests showing them to their rooms. To their dismay the opera singer makes himself a little too at home throwing clothes all around his perfectly tidy room. The dwarves feel disrespected after finding his room in disarray and cook up a plan to poison the opera singer. Upon his death the singer is laid to rest in a casket surrounded by flowers. Overcome with sadness Koyzra now dressed as an Alice in Wonderland character, kisses the singer awakening him.
Consumed by vanity the drag queen obsessively reapplies makeup and parades in front of the mirror like a true diva. The dwarves look on as she proceeds to the bathroom and stands while urinating all over the toilet seat. Questioning the drag queen’s femininity the peasant dressed dwarves look suspiciously at the lifted toilet seat and used facial razor. They then gather around plotting the demise of both the drag queen and her equally messy friend the opera singer.
The dwarves drag the vulnerable bodies of the opera singer and drag queen down the stairs into a dungeon-like setting to repeatedly bludgeon their victims with axes. Koyzra forced into isolation emerges from the cottage with smeared makeup and teary eyes. She casts a spell on the dwarves below and they immediately turn to mushrooms.
The cyclical narrative makes little sense leaving the viewer with many questions including the meaning of the reappearing mushrooms and the dwarves’ true motivation to kill. Did they really kill over a pile of clothes on the floor and soiled toilet seat? Other questions ensue like why did they spare Koyzra? In the end there is no happily ever after for this fairytale.
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