giza pixelak
irudia
North Korea, in addition to offering contemporary history one of the most bizarre national leadership sagas, is also home to many aesthetic
experiences close to the paranormal. Amongst these are the “mass gymnastic games” that turn people into pixels.

Mass gymnastics, supported by the nationalist Sokol movement in Czechia, were created in the 19th Century. Those games, rather like Floral Games, were a showcase of nationalist sentiment, patriotic union, youth and worker unity and strength. The most important element of these gymnastic games is the skilful ability to coordinate and synchronise mass choreography. As you can imagine, this type of activity that reduces people to the stature of ants very quickly became the favourite display mechanism in countries with fascist or communist regimes. International gymnastic games disappeared with the fall of communism. It would have been completely extinguished by now if it weren’t
for North Korea’s “natural reserve” of bizarreness. And just as nowadays when fascism has been dissolved in the capitalist system, like alka-seltzer in water, all you have to do is head along to a football stadium to see that these type
of mass games haven’t entirely disappeared from our midst (though much more shabbily done it must be said).