Body Monologues. Rhythm of the Factory

For his contribution to the 2026 Urban Art Biennale, the Russian artist Igor Ponosov has examined historical photographs and video footage from the Völklingen Iron and Steel Works. In doing so, he worked entirely in the spirit of the avant-garde theatre director Wsevolod Meyerhold – who fell victim to Stalinist terror in 1940 – and his biomechanical method of acting. Here, the human body becomes a precise instrument; emotions follow bodily movements – not the other way round. With his ‘Monologues of the Body’, Ponosov explores the place of the human being amidst the gigantic machines and installations of the iron and steel industry by developing a choreography that draws on the observed movement patterns of workers at the Völklingen Ironworks. The artist describes the result as ‘biomechanical theatre’, which pays homage to the people whose gruelling physical labour underpinned the factory’s success for over a century.