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The Art of Participation at SF MOMA
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Image: SF MOMA
The Art of Participation at SF MOMA
Some deem art to be an elitist practice with success reserved to those who are fortunate enough to have leisure time, money, or friends in high places. Art based upon the concept of participation, which flourished in the late 50's through the sixties (and remains popular to this day), challenges this notion by making art an experience that relies on the engagement of other people--thus, making these works difficult if not impossible to profit from. For instance in the sixties, the Fluxus group, among others, staged "happenings" that were concept-driven, performance like events that produced responses dependent upon the people involved and the environment in which it took place. In addition, the beat artists/writers of North Beach fame, notably staged poetry readings, conducted experimental music "recitals," and engaged viewers with performanced-based art. Before still, the dadaists, who were vehemently anti authority, anti rhetoric, and anti elitism held poetry performances centered around the concept of chance. More recently, Miranda July (known best for her performance in Me, You, and Everyone We Know) adapted performance art for the tech age through a project (Learning to Love You More) that invited participants to perform certain tasks and post the documented task on the project website. The various tasks have since been compilated into a book (by the same name).
The SF MOMA's latest exhibit explores the history of performance and participatory art in,The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now, opening next Saturday, November 8th. The exhibition features John Cage, Lygia Clark, Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, Jochen Gerz, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Lynn Hershman Leeson, and many more. Naturally, the participation themed exhibit comes with some excellent public programming, including a staging of John Cage's 4' 33".
Public Programs:
| Opening Day Exhibition Spotlight Panel Discussion: Open Works Lynn Hershman Leeson, artist Jon Rubin, artist Rudolf Frieling, curator, media arts, SFMOMA Frank Smigiel, associate curator, public programs, SFMOMA November 08, 2008 1:00 p.m. Phyllis Wattis Theater The Art of Participation proposes that participatory art stems from a notion of indeterminacy — an openness to chance or change. A concept introduced by John Cage in the early 1950s, indeterminacy refers to projects that cannot be completed by the artist's intention or the art object's form alone. Frieling explores this premise in relation to the exhibition. Hershman Leeson and Rubin talk about their own work and how open practices remake histories of performance, video, and mass media. $10 general; $7 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Tickets are available at the Museum (with no surcharge) or online. ........... D-Space Production Project Lessons: A D-Space Preview Lauren Crahan, Freecell John Hartmann, Freecell MTAA (M.River & T.Whid Art Associates) Brian Connolly, artist Sarah Curran, arts programmer Dominic Willsdon, Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Programs, SFMOMA November 08, 2008 3:00 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Join artists, scholars, and SFMOMA staff to preview some of the interactive projects featured in D-Space. A reception follows in The Schwab Room. Program and reception are free with museum admission; seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. ........... Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture RoseLee Goldberg on Visual Performance Art RoseLee Goldberg, curator and art historian Peggy Phelan, Ann O'Day Maples Chair in the Arts and Professor of Drama and English, Stanford University November 20, 2008 6:30 p.m. Phyllis Wattis Theater Founded in 1995 through the generosity of Phyllis Wattis, this lecture series brings innovative thinkers to SFMOMA. Goldberg is the founder and director of PERFORMA, an interdisciplinary arts organization that researches, develops, and presents performance work by visual artists from around the world. Goldberg pioneered the study of performance art with her now seminal text, Performance Art from Futurism to the Present. In this lecture, she discusses the often hidden history of performance work in 20th century visual art and describes how this history influences new types of culture. Phelan joins her in conversation. $10 general; $7 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Tickets are available at the Museum (with no surcharge) or online. ........... The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends Is the Highest Form of Art Tom Marioni with Guest Bartenders Thursdays, November 13, 2008 - February 05, 2009 (except November 27, December 25, and January 01) 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Drink beer, meet people, and hang out with friends at this weekly informal gathering hosted by Marioni, a pioneering Bay Area conceptual artist who has been regularly staging free beer salons as social artworks at his studio, in museums, and in alternative spaces since 1970. A sculptural installation related to Marioni's 1979 salon at SFMOMA is also on view on the fourth-floor in The Art of Participation. Free with museum admission; space is limited and entry is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Must be 21 or over with valid ID. ........... Performance 4'33" by John Cage Guest performers November 08, 2008 through February 08, 2009 Daily (except Wednesdays), noon Fourth-floor galleries Guest performers execute Cage's famous "silent" musical score 4'33" daily at a piano. Without instrumentation for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, the piece shifts attention to the audience and ambient sounds. Free with museum admission. ........... FILM AND VIDEO SCREENINGS West Coast Premiere Film Screening Seven Easy Pieces Babette Mangolte, 2007, 93 min. November 08, 2008 7:00 p.m. Phyllis Wattis Theater In her 2005 performance Seven Easy Pieces, Marina Abramovi? reenacted five seminal 1960s and 1970s performance works by her peers and one by herself, while introducing a new work (the seventh "easy piece"). The seven works were performed for seven hours each, over the course of seven consecutive days, and included pieces by Vito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, and Bruce Nauman. This documentary reflects on Abramovi?'s work and the possibilities of representing and preserving an ephemeral art form. Mangolte introduces the film and joins us for a postscreening Q&A. $10 general; $7 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Tickets are available at the Museum (with no surcharge) or online. ........... Daily Video Screenings Ant Farm: Early Underground Adventures with Space, Land, and Time Elizabeth Federici and Laura Harrison, 2008, 30 min. Beginning November 08, 2008 Daily (except Wednesdays), 1:30 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Free with museum admission; drop-ins welcome. Sunday screenings take place in the Phyllis Wattis Theater. ........... Daily Video Screenings The World of Lygia Clark Eduardo Clark, 1973, 27 min. Beginning November 08, 2008 Daily (except Wednesdays), 2:00 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Free with museum admission; drop-ins welcome. Sunday screenings take place in the Phyllis Wattis Theater. ........... Daily Video Screenings A Tribute to John Cage Nam June Paik, 1976, 29 min. Beginning November 08, 2008 Daily (except Wednesdays), 2:30 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Free with museum admission; drop-ins welcome. Sunday screenings take place in the Phyllis Wattis Theater. ........... Daily Video Screenings The Misfits: 30 Years of Fluxus Lars Movin, 1993, 76 min. Beginning November 09, 2008 Daily (except Wednesdays), 3:00 p.m. D-Space in the Koret Visitor Education Center Free with museum admission; drop-ins welcome. Sunday screenings take place in the Phyllis Wattis Theater. | ||
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