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.
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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- 21 February 2011
- Munich
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).
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.
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.
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.
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