MELEE IN THE COMPETITION STORE (2024)
video 1’46”The store, registered as the first department store in Hungary, was located at the corner of Rákóczi Street and Síp Street in Budapest and was known as Verseny Áruház (Competition Department Store) from 1949 onwards. Its iconic neon sign features workers pulling the untearable trousers in opposite directions.
The press of the time often reported on the battles for products – according to thesearticles and newsreels ‘pushy housewives’ and ‘peak hours’ awaited customers during sales.
The two male characters re-enact the scene of the neon sign, reminding us of similar situations that still occur today — in an age of endless product variations and mass production at its peak — during a clearance sale or Black Friday events. While in the neon sign and some episodes of the socialist newsreels, products underwent various stress tests to demonstrate quality, today, in the age of planned obsolescence, the quality competition is increasingly replaced by the competition of prices and advertisements.
Exhibited in K11 Labor as part of the exhibition Work Competition
Budapest, Feb 27 - March 21 2024
Photo by Dániel Gaál
Cast: László Kőrösi, Bence Tóth, Violetta Vigh
Camera: Dániel Kiszler
Post-production: Violetta Vigh
Special thanks to MOME Techpark