Judson Memorial Church and the intersections between happening and dancing

The article examines a short excerpt from the New York scene, namely the period around 1959–1963 in the context of the environment, happening, dance pieces and draws attention to the leading influences of Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, and Merce Cunningham. We are focusing on the gravitating artists’ circles around the Judson Memorial Church and some of their distinct practices and centers. Among the many, we consider the Reuben Gallery, Judson Gallery, Judson Dance Theater, and artists such as Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Morris, Simon Forti, Carolee Schneemann, Robert Rauschenberg. The text does not aim to provide a complete overview of Judson Dance Theater or the artists` practices, but rather to consider some of their common influences in their period of formation. We will bring the environment and the happening under their contradictions and variability and will consider the first generation of dance reformers at Judson Dance Theater as an influential force for involving visual artists in intermediate zones.

Events: entre la práctica artística y la práctica curatorial

Las colaboraciones de Merce Cunningham con artistas innovadores de todas las disciplinas han redefinido la manera de experimentar las artes visuales y del espectáculo, al proponer una gran cantidad de desvíos respecto de otras prácticas escénicas e incluso desarrollando novedosos dispositivos de presentación de su propio material. Me propongo abordar el formato denominado Event (Evento) cuyo surgimiento se encuentra ligado a una peculiar forma de presentar su trabajo fuera del espacio escénico tradicional. Abordaré los planteos sobre género y estilo realizados por Oscar Steimberg para reflexionar sobre el estatuto de este formato poniendo en paralelo la serie Beacon Events y el Park Avenue Armory Event. La primera propuesta fue realizada por Cunningham y la segunda estuvo a cargo de Robert Swinston, factor que nos permitiría abordar dos posibilidades con relación al mismo formato: sus particularidades como práctica artística y las implicancias de analizarlo como práctica curatorial. A partir de la confrontación de estos casos, desarrollaré los posibles cruces entre los aspectos curatoriales de una práctica artística (en el caso de las creaciones de Cunningham) y los aspectos artísticos de una práctica curatorial (con relación al uso de esta modalidad por parte del Merce Cunningham Trust).

Natural Objects

Tudor claimed that in his seminal work Untitled, electronic components were discovered as “natural objects” as they were patched in a feedback loop creating a giant oscillator which generated sounds without exterior input. But his description of the piece as “part of a never-ending series of discovered works” calls into question its very status as a standalone “work.” Turning to its performance history appears to only complicate the puzzle. Despite his aim to perform everything live, the proliferation of modular instruments forced Tudor to record the output of his setup in advance and use this recording as input source in subsequent performances. He would later create Toneburst, which realized the no-input principle without the aid of pre-recorded sources. Shortly before his death, Tudor revived Toneburst for other musicians of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company to perform. A close examination of recordings reveals that the same three source tapes were used not only in all performances of Untitled, but also in all performances of Toneburst after its revival. This surprising discovery, along with Tudor’s use of the linguistic indeterminacy inherent in the title of Untitled to solve a conundrum he faced in the revival, is used to depict the complex oscillation between work and performance in Tudor’s live-electronic music.