Sehenswert: March 2008

March 13, 2008

Art Shock: The Human Canvas (2006)

A documentary directed by Andy Lee made for Channel 4 for the Art Shock series in 2006. Looking at various artists who use cutting and bleeding in their performance art.
Explicit content!

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March 9, 2008

Valie Export: »... REMOTE ... REMOTE« (1973)

»Menschliches Verhalten wird im Gegensatz zu Maschinen (Tieren) durch Ereignisse in der Vergangenheit beeinflußt, so sehr diese Erfahrungen auch zurückliegen mögen. Dadurch gibt es eine zur objektiven Zeit parallel laufende seelische Para-Zeit, wo die Gebete der Angst und der Schuld, die Unfähigkeit zu siegen, Deformierungen, die die Haut aufreißen, Sichtbarmachungen ihre konstante Wirkung haben. Ich zeige etwas auf, was Vergangenheit und Gegenwart darstellt.
Valie Export

Die psychologische Erkundung des Körpers, die Externalisierung eines inneren Zustandes, vollzieht Valie Export in dieser Filmaktion in zum Teil schmerzhafter Direktheit. Vor dem Hintergrund eines Polizeifotos von zwei Kindern, die von ihren Eltern mißbraucht wurden, schneidet sie mit einem Messer qualvoll in ihre Fingernagelhaut, bis Blut in eine Schüssel Milch auf ihrem Schoß tropft. Die symbolische Ebene von Blut und Milch wird dabei von der destruktiven Handlung der Selbstverstümmelung überlagert, die auf den Zuschauer eine starke physische Wirkung ausübt.«

Medien Kunst Netz (2004): »Export, Valie: ... REMOTE ... REMOTE«. Rev. 2008-04-10.

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A Game of Chess with Marcel Duchamp (1964)

French TV documentary directed by Jean-Marie Drot, 1964
(interview, 1963)
(English subtitles)

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Joseph Beuys: Filz TV (1970)

Für Gerry Schums TV-Sendung »Identifications« führt Beuys eine nur für die Kamera inszenierte Version der Aktion »Filz-TV« auf, die 1966 in Kopenhagen vor Publikum im Rahmen eines Happening-Festivals stattfand. Dies ist die einzige Aktion von Beuys, die speziell für die Aufzeichnung auf Film stattfindet. Zu Beginn der Aktion sitzt Beuys vor dem laufenden TV-Gerät, dessen Mattscheibe mit Filz abgedeckt ist. Unter dem Stuhl liegen schon die Boxhandschuhe bereit, die dann in der Akltion verwendet werden.

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John Cage-Merce Cunningham: Variations V

John Cage made "Variations V" in 1965 for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. He and David Tudor settled on two systems for the sound to be affected by movement. For the first, Billy Klüver and his colleagues set up a system of directional photocells aimed at the stage lights, so that the dancers triggered sounds as they cut the light beams with their movements. A second system used a series of antennas. When a dancer came within four feet of an antenna a sound would result. Ten photocells were wired to activate tape-recorders and short-wave radios. Cecil Coker designed a control circuit, which was built by my assistant Witt Wittnebert. Film footage by Stan VanDerBeek and Nam June Paik's manipulated television images were projected on screens behind the dancers.
The score was created by flipping coins to determine each element and consisted of thirty-five «remarks» outlining the structure, components, and methodology. The specific sound score would change at each performance as it was created by radio antennas responding to the dancers' movements.
In this photograph «Variations V» is performed for a television taping session in Hamburg. The photocells were located at the base of the five-foot antennas placed around the stage. Cage, Tudor, and Gordon Mumma operate equipment to modify and determine the final sounds.
The project was also presented at the Philharmonic Hall in New York, 1965.

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Philip Glass Documentary

Documentary about the composer Philip Glass and his works/performances. Directed by Peter Greenaway, part of the "Four American Composers" series (1983).

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Meredith Monk Documentary

Documentary about the composer Meredith Monk and her works/performances. Directed by Peter Greenaway, part of the "Four American Composers" series (1983).

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John Cage Documentary

Documentary about the composer John Cage and his works/performances. Directed by Peter Greenaway, part of the "Four American Composers" series (1983).

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John Cage: 4'33''

On January 16, 2004, at the Barbican in London, the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave the UK's first orchestral performance of this work. The performance was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and one of the main challenges was that the station's emergency backup systems are designed to switch on whenever apparent silence (dead air) is detected. They had to be switched off for the sole purpose of this performance.
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