Robert Morris' Performances
dal 23/7/2008 al 23/7/2008
Segnalato da
23/7/2008
Robert Morris' Performances
Monika Spruth Philomene Magers London, London
A screening of videos of Morris' groundbreaking 1960s performances, 21.3.(1963), Arizona (1963), Site (1964) and Waterman Switch (1965). Morris' four-years engagement with contemporary art led to a series of highly interesting performances, which shaped his sculptural art practice in a profound way. This screening presents new versions of the original performances, which were re-staged specifically for the camera by the artist Babette Mangolte.
Morris and Schneemann in rehearsal for 'Site', 1964. In 'Robert Morris: The
Mind/Body Problem', exhibition catalogue, Guggenheim Museum Soho, 1994, p.169.
In conjunction with the current Robert Morris exhibition 'Morning Star Evening
Star', Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers would like to invite you to a screening of
videos of Morris’ groundbreaking 1960s performances, '21.3.' (1963), 'Arizona'
(1963), 'Site' (1964) and 'Waterman Switch' (1965). Morris’ four-years engagement
with contemporary art led to a series of highly interesting performances, which
shaped his sculptural art practice in a profound way. Inspired by minimalist
sculpture and the Judson Church Memorial dance scene, 'Site' and 'Waterman Switch'
explore the
relationship between dancers and objects, while '21.3.' forecasts Morris’ life-long
fascination with the lecture as an art form. Collaborating with key artists, such as
Carolee Schneemann in 'Site' and Yvonne Rainer in 'Waterman Switch', these films are
not only documents of the interdisciplinary nature of the expanded arts movement of
the 1960s, but they also shed new light on Morris’ sculptural practice and its
relation to the human body.
This screening will present new versions of the original performances, which were
re-staged specifically for the camera by the artist Babette Mangolte. These
performances were re-created under Morris’ supervision for his retrospective at the
Guggenheim Museum in 1994.
Film Programme:
'Site', March 1964, performed at Stage 73, New York, 18’
This minimalist performance, which originally featured Robert Morris and Carolee
Schneemann, is one of Morris’ most influential dance pieces. A male dancer wearing a
white mask performs a series of banal yet highly coded movements with a big white
board in front of a ‘real’ version of Edouard Manet’s famous 'Olympia'. Highly
influenced by the new dance movement, this performance deconstructs the relationship
between abstraction and symbolism, triviality and meaning, dance and the fine arts.
'Waterman Switch', March 1965, performed at the Festival of the Arts, Buffalo, 21’
In 'Waterman Switch' a male and a female dancer make their way across the stage on
two narrow tracks, hugging each other’s naked bodies in an almost claustrophobic
intensity. Rosalind Krauss referred to this celebrated performance, as an homage to
Samuel Beckett’s clowns and their “somewhat different form of endlessness and
repetition than that of the bachelor machine”.
'Arizona', March 1963, performed at the Judson Memorial Church, New York, 17’
Preceded by performances such as 'Column' and 'War', Arizona is one Morris’ earliest
public dance performances. In this rarely shown performance a male dancer performs
four different choreographic sequences. Using an extensive voice-over narration and
simple tools such as a lance Morris creates a minimalist meditation on male
identity.
'21.3.', Feb 1963, performed at the Surplus Theatre New York, 12’
Dressed in a ‘professor’ suit and standing at a podium, Morris performs the famous
1939 lecture 'Studies in Iconology' by the art historian Erwin Panofsky. This
seminal text, in which Panofsky differentiated between meaning and form in art,
becomes the site for appropriation and intervention: rather than reciting the text,
Morris moves his lips in synch to a pre-recorded audio tape interrupting the
seemingly natural bond between mind and body.
Due to limited seating booking is essential. Please call Juliane Peiser on 020 7408
1613 or email her at jp@spruethmagers.com.
Please note that Yvonne Rainer will give a talk at Siobhan Davies Studio the
following day, Friday the 25th of July. http://www.siobhandavies.com/parallelvoices.
We also would like to announce that Robert Morris will give an art lecture at the
Royal Institution of Great Britain on the 24th of September. To obtain a ticket
please email rsvp@spruethmagers.com or call the gallery on 020 7408 1613.
Thursday, 24th July 2008 at 7pm
Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers London
7A Grafton Street London, Great Britain
opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 6pm and by appointment