Dara Friedman b. 1968, Bim Bam, 1999,16mm film installation with two slot-loading projectors, metal armature, CD player, and speakers, Dimensions variable, photo courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Painting and Sculpture Committee 2000.147
The second floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is hosting Off the Wall: Part 1-Thirty Performative Actions from now through September 19, 2010. Most of the works are from the museum’s permanent collection, but all are either live or videoed performances, implied in photographic images, or enacted by the audience. The concept for the show came to fruition in the sixties as artists realized the need for audience participation and reaction. Today, the works from that time and later still actively engage the viewer. Yoko Ono’s A Painting (Work) To Be Stepped On (1961) is being trodden on by contemporary viewers today as it rests in the middle of an exhibition room while other patrons attempt to recreate Andy Warhol’s Dance Diagram, 5 (Fox Trot: “The Right Turn—Man”) (1962) next to the piece’s horizontal display. By taking these works from the untouchable, white walls of the museum and placing them on the ground, the artists remove art from its grand status establishing a more relatable connection.
Another mutation of traditional art is John Baldessari’s I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art (1971). He uses the white wall as his canvas, instead of a place to hang a canvas. On the wall, vertical scribbles, likened to a grade school punishment, reads the mantra of his piece’s name.
Part One of Off the Wall is filled with countless other performative art works that transform the silent museum into an interactive playground for the visitor.
Laurie Simmons b. 1949, Walking Camera II (Jimmy the Camera), (1987), Gelatin silver print, Overall: 82 13/16 x 47 1/2in. (210.3 x 120.7cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee 94.107
Robert Longo b. 1953, Body of a Comic, 1984, Painted steel drums with motor, timer, and photograph, Overall 120 x 114 x 48 in. (304.8 x 289.56 x 121.92 cm),Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Raymond J. Learsy, by exchange 91.59.2a-o
