In 1993 Dower found a set of videotapes on an Amsterdam market. The tapes contained a mid 1980's performance by the cabaret clown Zou Zou filmed in Germany. Much of Zou Zou’s material refers to politicised issues of the time, like the nuclear arms race and space travel. During the show, Zou Zou performed a short mime to guitar accompaniment.
Dower became fascinated by Zou Zou's performance and decided to reconstruct the mime's physical space in three dimensions. A video monitor playing the mime is incorporated in the sculpture and its location is anticipated by the original mime. ‘Zou Zou’s Mime Reconstructed’ was first exhibited at the Open Ateliers of the Rijksakademie in 1993. Dower spent several years trying to trace Zou Zou, advertising in the theatre press and screened an appeal on the side of the Southbank Centre where the video was projected in 1999. It was screened directly onto the outside of the National Theatre's 4th wall and was on such a scale that it was viewable from the North side of the Thames. Zou Zou was eventually found through his participation in a German theatre festival and was traced to Amsterdam. He was American and had studied at clown school in Paris. It transpired that Zou Zou had been going out with a girl who Dower knew well and she had had a studio at that time on the same coridoor as Dower at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, where the sculpture was first shown.
In 1999 (at Lokaal 01 in Antwerp) Zou Zou finally saw the sculpture of his mime and brought along the guitarist from the original recording, as well as one of the original props from the performance. This prop (a suitcase) contained a pop-up Nuclear power station, complete with a car park and concealed xylophone, on which he had played 'When the saints go Marching in'. Upon seeing his mime translated into 3 dimensions, Zou Zou exclaimed: “You piss in the wind and 15 years later, it comes back and hits you in the face”.
Dower impersonated Zou Zou in a series of photographs which were shown at Les Merveilles du Monde, Musee des beaux Arts, Dunkirque, France 2006. During this exhibition, Dower also drove around Dunkirque dressed as Zou Zou.
Home |
