Exercise 4: Action!
Gutai Art does not alter matter. Gutai Art imparts life to matter. Gutai Art does not distort matter. - Gutai Art Manifesto
Choose a simple action and pick apart it's physicality, media, & message.
For example, if you choose "running out the door" as your action, this action can be broken down into the "how", the "why", the "how much" or "how far", the "who", the clothes, the place, the reason(s), how we are too see the action (media), the intended message, etc.
In the manner of the actionists & performance artists of the 60's avant-garde, re-contextualize this action into a 5-10 minute performance for today's world. The action should include one aspect which bridges the gap between physical & virtual. The performance should not include the use of dialog or spoken word, but may utilize audio & video projection.
The name of your performance should be a single verb.
Readings
Read the following:
- Gutai: The First Happenings Were Japanese!
- Viennese Actionism: Between Experiment And Destruction
- Chris Burden, a Conceptualist With Scars, Dies at 69
And watch:
- Kazuo Shiraga painting with his feet 1959
- Action of Vienna Actionist artist Günter Brus 1965
- Shoot - Chris Burden 1971
Inspiration:
- Gutai group (wikipedia)
- Anthropometry Performance - Yves Klein 1960
- The Artist's Shit - Piero Manzoni 1961
- Viennese Actionism (wikipedia)
- Chris Burden (wikipedia)
- Roman Signer
- Two Sculptures with Helicopter 1999
- Hay Fever
- Punkt 2006
- Cloaca - Wim Delvoye 2000-2007
- Golan Levin, et al.
- Between A Hard Place - Kate Gilmore 2008
- Ars Electronica Festival 2009: Lawrence Malstaf - Shrink
- Maria Abramovic
- kinect studies #2 - Johannes Kreidler 2011
- Learn to Write in Different Fonts - Jesse England
Due dates
- 4/19: In progress presentation (ideas, inspiration, work you've done so far, examples) for critique
- 4/21: Technical requirements for the performance (send via email)
- 4/22: Setup & execution of the performance
- 4/26: 1 page creative statement (concept, intention, choices made, influences, what worked/what didn't)