Move at Haus der Kunst

Dedicated to the interaction between art and dance since the 1960s, the exhibition collects works that transform the viewer into an active participant.

Young artists of today need no longer say, I am a painter or a poet or a dancer. They are simply‚ artists. Allan Kaprow

The exhibition originated in works that were created in New York in the 1960s, a time that saw the erosion of the boundary between art and life and during which criticism of the artwork as an object and a ware had reached its climax. As with performances and happenings, dance also offered the possibility of transforming the object character of the artwork and avoiding the art market. The works brought together choreograph the visitor: they guide his or her movements and invite to physical experiences that transform the viewer into an active participant. Some works are also activated by a group of dancers or performers for the exhibition's entire duration.

Christian Jankowski,
<i>Rooftop Routine</i>, 2008.
DVD (4 min 30 sec).
Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery. Above Franz West, <i>Ion</i>, 2010. Performed by Ivo Dimchev
Photo © Hugo Glendinning — Christian Jankowski, *Rooftop Routine*, 2008. DVD (4 min 30 sec). Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery. Above Franz West, *Ion*, 2010. Performed by Ivo Dimchev Photo © Hugo Glendinning

An obvious example of the combination of installation and visitor participation is William Forsythe's The Fact of Matter (2009), a choreographic object composed of 200 gymnastic rings that hang at various heights from the ceiling. The visitor can move across the room using these rings without touching the floor, thereby putting his strength and flexibility to the test.
Forsythe thus provides a structure for a variety of possible movements. Christian Jankowski pursues the same playful approach with his invitation to hula hoop in the exhibition (Rooftop Routine, 2007); and Trisha Brown lines up water-filled pots in such a way that the visitor either consciously steps into the pots or avoids them (The Stream, 1970).

Franz Erhard Walther, <i>Körpergewichte (Nr. 48, 1. Werksatz) (Body Weights [No. 48, First Work Set])</i>, 1966
© the artist
Foto © Hugo Glendinning — Franz Erhard Walther, *Körpergewichte (Nr. 48, 1. Werksatz) (Body Weights [No. 48, First Work Set])*, 1966 © the artist Foto © Hugo Glendinning

The opposite pole of playful experiences with dexterity and capability is embodied in the Green light corridor (1970) by Bruce Nauman, which intentionally and severely limits the visitor's freedom of movement: intense green light, soundproofing and confinement in a narrow corridor enhance the awareness of one's own body.

Today, exhibition visitors' direct participation is a forty-year-old tradition. In 1971, Robert Morris staged a kind of sculptural obstacle-course with his work BodySpaceMotion through which the exhibition visitor was meant to move without the need for any specific directions or rehearsals. The wooden seesaw on which the Haus der Kunst visitor can try to maintain his balance was part of the original course. Some objects only exist in cooperation with the viewer, transforming his or her own body into a sculpture. In Franz Erhard Walther's Für Zwei (Nr. 31, 1. Werksatz) (For Two [No. 31, First Work Set]) from 1967 two people place a piece of fabric around their necks by each putting his head through one of the two holes. Connected to each other in this way, the two participants face each other for a minute looking into each other's eyes.

Simone Forti, <i>Slant</i> Board, 1960/2004. © the artist
Courtesy the artist and The Box, Los Angeles — Simone Forti, *Slant* Board, 1960/2004. © the artist Courtesy the artist and The Box, Los Angeles

During the period in which these works were created, the focus shifted from looking at works without touching them to action and movement. At the same time criticism of the artwork as an object and commodity reached its peak. Like performance and happenings, dance was also a welcome way of dissolving an artwork's object character, thereby evading the art market and, with it, capitalism. Artists of the subsequent generation such as Mike Kelley (b. 1954) and Pablo Bronstein (b. 1977) were able to build on these developments as a precondition. They increasingly shift the focus of choreography to common human actions, whereby their particular interest is in degenerate, artificial and manipulated behaviour.

Mike Kelley's Test Room Containing Multiple Stimuli Known to Elicit Curiosity and Manipulatory Responses (1999/2010) is a kind of playroom furnished with oversized objects that visitors can interact with – either gently or aggressively. Kelley's interest in choreography applies to the manipulated, artificial behaviour that he allows in his Test order.

Mike Kelley, <i>Test Room Containing Multiple Stimuli Known to Elicit Curiosity and Manipulatory Responses (Full Cast)</i>, 2001.
Color photograph 28 x 49 inches
Photo Fredrik Nilsen
Courtesy of Kelley Studio — Mike Kelley, *Test Room Containing Multiple Stimuli Known to Elicit Curiosity and Manipulatory Responses (Full Cast)*, 2001. Color photograph 28 x 49 inches Photo Fredrik Nilsen Courtesy of Kelley Studio

Pablo Bronstein places an architectural arch in the middle of a room; the arch is decorated with ornaments and refers to the design of public squares in the early Baroque period (Magnificent Triumphal Arch in Pompeian Colours, 2010). A performer strides around the arch, alluding to it in a theatrical voice ("Oh, what a beautiful arch! It reminds me of ancient Rome"). These behavioural patterns of courtly elegance seem artificial and stilted to today's observer. The social system that the arch represents and that guides the performer's movements appear like a corset and extremely dated.

The exhibition will also feature works by Janine Antoni, Boris Charmatz, Lygia Clark, Simone Forti, Dan Graham, Isaac Julien, Robert Morris, La Ribot, João Penalva, Xavier Le Roy & Mårten Spångberg, Tino Sehgal.

Pablo Bronstein, <i>Passeggiata</i>, 2008.
Video on DVD, 20 mins
Courtesy of the artist, Herald St, London and Franco Noero, Turin — Pablo Bronstein, *Passeggiata*, 2008. Video on DVD, 20 mins Courtesy of the artist, Herald St, London and Franco Noero, Turin

The presentation is rounded off with a digital archive of photographs and films of the most important performance works from the past 50 years. Following its presentation in the Haus der Kunst, Move will travel to K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (16 July – 25 September 2011).

Until 8 May 2011
Move. Art and dance since the 1960s
Haus der Kunst, Munich

Move at Haus der Kunst

Dedicated to the interaction between art and dance since the 1960s, the exhibition collects works that transform the viewer into an active participant.

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