The Drawing
ING PAPE,
S e L e c t io n s
F RI T Z
t rjin t e r
2006
UJ E L CH
E L E NA B E E L A E RT s JOVI
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Room TheDrawing ry 2006 Januar7y- Febru all,
FRITZ
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Performances RUD0LF
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ALASTA IR
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ANDRE STITT
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6,zoo6 C RANK STURGE0N - January
Program EdwardHallamTuckPublication
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A0ilAL0C0tjLT ACtlTH 0UTEt fromtheconvergence thathavearisen of in a trilogyof exploratory exhibitions AcuteZonal)ccult1uteristhefinalinstallment Welch. Initially theproject asa solitary exhibit of Beelaerts, andFritz conceiving thework ofthree artists: Elena Jovi Schnell, program intoa complex withanelastic structure have anddeveloped theidea walldrawings, theartists expanded site-specific intheprogram hastaken andrisktaking. Each oftheexhibitions forspontaneity, variation, addition, subtraction, thatallows geographic place ashost. They have been abletotakeon-anddrop location, withtheartists taking turnsserving ina different forsecuring responsible astheyhave moved fromonevenue tothenext, thehostartistbeing off-different themes andforms guiding Robert lrwin's working-in-response title and subjects. In the tradition of venue and the choice of the exhibition's the practices realm art,"the within thecatchall of"relational Asher's circumstance-based art,andrecent approach toart,Michael project. prominently physical withinthe Atthesame intheworkmade andsocialconditions ofeachexhibithavefigured overall vital theworkprocess have been between themcanied onthrough time, thesensibility oftheartists, theirart,andthedialogue "action isdrawing." inthefinalexhibition, inwhich andforms thatwillcoalesce totheideas group. Thispattern changes butnever asa trulycollaborative Theartistshaveworked ontheprogram sidebysideandincollision, gambit Acute Zonal0ccult1uter.lna curatorial encouraged bythe hosted byFritzWelch, inthefinalmanifestation oftheendeavor, (b. 1967; rigorously art installation that Welch artists have composed a single, collaborative staffofTheDrawing Center, thethree mash-up." Theamalgamation oftheindiNewYork) as"a massive walldrawing/sculpture American, livingin Brooklyn, describes guidance, Room. Welch's if irregular, theentireDrawing Under vidualartists'workcreates a unified, structure, onethattransforms interforperformances byrenowned or,asthecasemaybe,notorious willactasboththeorigino{andtheplatform theinstallation (b.1992;American, living including Crank Sturgeon Endurance, andNoise, national artistswhoworkinthefieldsofNeo-Actionism, (b.1967; living in0saka, a.k.a. Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock), Anderson), Rudolf Eb.er Swiss, Japan; inPortland, Maine; a.k.a. Matt (b.1979; (b.1944; living inNew York City), Alastair inNew York Ryoga Katsuma Japanese, KimJones American, living City), (b.1943; lrish, living inCardiff, Wales). Through lreland), andAndre Stitt(b.1958; living inBelfast, Northern Maclennan Scottish, which results multi-layered, cutaneous formation on the ofthe matter andforms,Welch hopes to create a theexhibition's subject pool, andstaining it. Working separately thesource ofthekauma-can degrading release ofcathartic activity-without disclosing in freereinto modify thespace lenghsoftime,theinvited artistswillbegiven andsequentially, ondifferent datesandfordistinct Welch iscreating animpulsive and intheexhibition, theirvarious activities. Byinviting themto participate order toaccommodate liveart-making anddrawing. relationship between astute, anxious andpersuasive is andunpredictable liveactivities mixofshifting, visually dynamic staticconfigurations Whatcouldemerge inthiscategory-defying intensify, with evidence of what could open up, and diffuse, andformsthatallows themtosimultaneously atreatment ofbehavior post-Freudian intheprocess. Theprogram andreaction formation occurring symbiosis, transJerence, beviewed asself-conscious guestartiststo meldtheresults withtheconditional ofself-directed investigations compels thecollaborating artistsandtheinvited withinsucha multifaceted situation. andtheintrinsic benefits andcomplications ofworking andliberties ofthevenue constraints rattle,lurch,anddriftthroughout theduration layer, sever, rupture, deteriorate, Thusthemental andphysical workwillaccumulate, oftheexhibition. (b.l97l; Dutch), previous wasthefirst a resident ofAmsterdam, haveappeared intwovenues. Beelaerts Theprogram's exhibitions (Happy Museum Bureau Amsterdam in thespring Meltdown Sadness) attheStedelijk whichopened asEntropic to hosttheseries, inevitable andsteady detethematically totheseemingly Beelaerts directed theartists'worktospeak of2004.Asthetitlesuggests, viewsanda unique interpretaofmicroandmacro Herultimately ambivalent visionincorporated theconcepts rioration ofsystems. wasa liveperforcomponents. Ina kindofpreview olAcuteZonal0ccult0uter,there ofdubbing asimportant tionoftheconcept "livesonic manifestations ofgrief." anelectro/acoustic noise kiothatfeatured mance attheopening bypsi/pee-ess-eye, general andserved toquestion it Beelaerts's thesisofentropy theartcreated withinthisanangement bothreinforced Interestingly, presentation Forexample, a gigantic floatanddisquieting innovations. ofinsidiously cheerful contradictions through thesubversive (Self-Portrait asanAmoeba,2004) inverted theconventions ofscientific byElena Beelaerts ing,colorless, undulating amoeba generated it alsoamusByreferencing self-portraiture, livemiceintoanartificially single-cell structure. byinjecting experimentation andmorecomplex cellular thesystems ofa single-celled creature viewers oftheintrinsic commonalities between inglyreminded structures, such ashuman beings. (b.l97l; Rocfrs, washosted byJoviSchnell Moving Mountains byKicking Thesecond incarnation oftheprogram's exhibition, inthefallof2004.Theexhibition wasintended to inSanFrancisco American, livinginSanFrancisco) attheLugage Store Gallery
gestures whichhasbothpositive to resultinlargetransformations, inthepotential ofincremental theideaofscaleinherent examine orthe reminiscent ofSisyphus bealigned witha theme itshumorous titlecanreadily However, andnegative consequences. punitive it continues From ofview, futile, toiling. thispoint repetitive, theburden ofinefficient, Danaides, absurdly describing asa towork together andthethree artists' continuing concept Andyetonce again, theexhibition's ofentropy. Beelaerts's theme was inkoduced into the exhigroup incarnation, an aural aspect andfutility.Aswiththefirst theideaofentropy served to undercut Chase that anaudiocomponent byLoren incorporated live,it played continuously. Schnell bition-and,whileit wasnotperformed to sound thatwasintended loop ofambient, subtle works; it consisted ofa recorded ownvisual hadbeen inspired bySchnell's grinding, Theexhibition's rubbed tocreate anauralpattern. being together liketwosmooth stones natural evoke a back-andJorth psychological aswellasa certain ambiguiandphysical intensity audioactivation suggested andthespatial title,itsimplied theme, inthepresent exhibition's titleandform. aim,andform-ideas thatareelaborated tyofscale, labor, hassymprettnopathy-which zonal occult outer eyedisease-acute ofa specific Acute Zonal 0ccutt 1uteris partofthename with of the seltdescripsyndrome andisalsoassociatedthesymptoms idiopathic blind-spot enlargement toms similar toacute patients andpoetic useof recover. Welch's ambiguous, esoteric, many fromwhich white-dot syndrome, tivemultiple evanescent (a ledtohisconception of goes thatultimately art dichotomy non-retinal artvs.retinal Marcel Duchamp's thephrase beyond where with0partintoa place andpastpotential associations byarttheorists, hasbeen methodically explored non-art), which intoanartistic linguistic stateretinal function istransformed a depressed thatinvolves name ofaneyedisease thetruncated Apropos ofthe anddecentralization, immediacy, tenitoriality, otherworldliness, Zonal 1ccult0uter-thatimplies menl-Acute program further by exploring taking the live art and drawing, tissues that connect highlights the sometimes unseen title,Welch possibilities. interrelated andcontemplation ofcontrolled, forthearticulation ina shared artarena created thisrelationship instalandcollaborative above, theexhibition space artists'work,asindicated totheagregation ofthethreeprimary Appropriate platform thoughts, artists canplug theiractions, intowhich theguest anda literal willdevelop intobotha metaphorical lation point-forthe productions. a stage setandstarting andhousing-as artwork willprovide thecontext Thiscohesive, single and/or installation andprogram artists' withtheoriginal three Their activities-engaging bytheinvited artists. ofperformances series installation, andsound between action, drawing, relate totheassociations anddirectly addtotheart'smeanings context-will "performers" maintains an active drawing concurrently of the chosen isthefactthateach theme art.Crucial totheexhibition's feedback-loop closure ofthis practice, furthernanowing the intheexhibition, asanelement whichmayormaynotbeintroduced partof workbytheartistswillbeanintegral oftheonsite interaction withandexamination Nevertheless, multipronged exhibition. withthe workwillintermingle leftbya two-day-long endurance Forinstance, theresidue actionanddrawing. between thedialogue "akshun," ofexperience tobeexcaforhisartactions, leaving a patina Stitt's term asinAndre during a hardcore fluids spewed guest performers. artists wills,andwhims oftheinvited Astheaccretions oftheactivities, andsubsequent vated bybothviewers grow, andcollective authorship. their individual artists intend toyield thethree original whichis oftena solitary act,pushperformance-a relationship to drawing, frequently collaborative undertaking-in Positioning between art, theongoing conflicts Acute Zonal )ccult0uterstresses tectonic strata. theclash ofthese estotheforefront Center, theonly arenaofTheDrawing process, andcontext withinthespecific spectatorship, matter, content, authorship, subject Theinstitution reflects thisbattleground ofdrawings. ontheexhibition institution intheUnited States thatfocuses not-for-orofit artsphere that vital, if commercial, SoHo remains ofa once thedecomposing values, situated asit iswithin relational ofshifting, thefinalinstallAgainst thisbackdrop andinthislocale, district. boutique-industry intoa well-established hasbeen transformed program diverse, artistic construction toa subversive, effort ofstatic subjects thecollaborative inthethree-part exhibition ment performance/action artists in international invited local and encounters by relationship within a series ofunpredictable dynamic flux, and operthesettingintoa stateof everything-within throwanything-and whichtheycanquestion thelimitsofcontext, andamplification, analysis, redaction, exacerbation, erasure, include unusual actsofunburdening, thatwillcertainly ateinways isdrawing. Action concept oftheexhibition: thecentral decisively demonstrating
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This is number58 ofthe DrawingPapers,a seriesof publicationsdocumentingThe DrawingCentert exhibitionsand publicprogramsand providinga forum for the study of drawing. The zoo5-zoo6 seasonof the DrawingPapersis made possiblethrough contributionsto the EdwardHallamTuck PublicationProgramfrom FrancesBeattyAdter,Mary and RobertCarswell,RobertDuke,EtizabethFondaras,Kathy Fuld,EllenGallagher, Mr. and Mrs.JamesR. Houghton,WernerH. Kramarsky, JoanneLyman,MichaelLynne,JohnJ. Inc.,Shearman TheFelixand Elizabeth RohatynFoundation, & SterlingLLBand LityTuck. Madden,GeorgeNegroponte, AcuteZonol OccultOuter has been made possible,in part, with the support of The Andy WarholFoundationfor the VisualArts andTheGreenwa[[ Foundation. Individualartistsupporthas beenprovidedby Arts Councilof Northernlreland,BritishCouncilNorthernlreland,and CardiffSchoolofArt & Design.
Carxenr x e DE ZEG HER ExecutiveDirector GEoR G ENgenopor r e President Board of Directors Fn rrc es BEATTyADLER,Chair m an,En r c C . R u D r N ,V i c e - C h a i r m a nD,r r n A m o n y , J E A NM A G N A t t oB o t t t r e en , D r r r M E R ,C o r - r r ,Er r s l e n , E L T z A B E TFHA c r o R , Melvr Buc x s anul , Sr epx er S. Dnr r e l , F R A N c E S H . K n e r i t a n s x y *,A e B Y L e t e t *, Bnu ce W . Feneus oH, BARRyM . Fox , J r r r i r e sR . H E D G E s l,V , WE R N E R Ho x l t y t t *, J n r r D n e s r e n S l o n r n , MtcHA ELLy r ne, lRr s M ARDEN,CATHE R T NOEn e r r n e r c x , E L T z A B E TR C . T x n y e n *, A N D R E AWo o D N E R AL LENLEESes s olr s , M r c x ael Sr et Ne e n e , J E A N N E * Eme r it i
DrawlngCenter Publications ADAM LEHNER,ExecutiveEditol L u c D ERYcKE, Designer JoAililA BERflAx, Coordinatol
The Drawing Center 35 woost€r Street New York, NY 1oor3 fe|: 272-2ag-2166 Fa* 212-966-2976 www.drawingcent€r.org @ 2 0 0 6 The Dr awingCenter
Cover:ElenaBeelaerts, JoviSchnetl,and FritzWelch,Untitled,zoo5,digitatcollageand ink on paper
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