Gohar Sargsyan /ARM/
Speech, 2020
Video, 1:37
The video work, “The Speech” is a synthesis of speech and animation. Where speech and image complement each other, they create new associations of visual perception. The first known treatise on public discourse, summarising the practice of the speakers of ancient Greece, was written two thousand years ago. According to the theory of its author, the Roman philosopher Cicero, public speaking is a monologue intended to inspire and persuade a large audience. Its simple principles have changed throughout the history of different cultural societies, but its basic rules have remained and are still relevant. Modern technology allows for visual effects that make monologues even more persuasive... and the internet blurs geographical boundaries.
The text is inspired by the final Speech from the Charlie Chaplin's film The Great Dictator (1940).
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Gohar Sargsyan was born in 1981 in Gyumri, Armenia. She studied ceramics and drawing at the National Centre of Aesthetics in Yerevan, then art history at the Institute of Fine Arts in Yerevan and at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. In 2016, she graduated from the Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in Yerevan, Department of Animation. She has been involved in several local and international projects, with a solo project titled Observer exhibited in 2017. Currently living and working in Yerevan, she uses a wide range of media, including printmaking, digital printing, video art, animation, and textile design.