Frieze New York 2015 | Booth B49: Spotlight: Carolee Schneemann

Carolee Schneemann: Water Light/Water Needle

CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN, Water Light/Water Needle, 1966, vintage gelatin silver prints

Frieze New York 2015 will see the return to New York of Carolee Schneemann's seminal 1966 performance Water Light/Water Nee- dle. Originally performed in St. Mark's Church in 1966, the performance was thoroughly documented and now exists in form of vintage photographs, diagrams and film as well as a series of recent painted photographs made by Schneemann for her first solo exhibition in the UK (February-March 2014, Hales Gallery, London). Hales Gallery's presentation of Water Light/Water Needle in the Spotlight section of Frieze New York will mark the first time this material is shown in the US.

Conceived in 1964 through drawings and notes as an aerial work comprised of ropes and pulleys rigged across the canal at San Marco in Ven- ice (Italy), Water Light/Water Needle was realized for the first time in March 1966 at St. Mark's Church, New York. Following the premier, the concept was resituated and performed once again in May of the same year on the Havemayer Estate in Mahwah, New Jersey. The Hales Gal- lery booth in 'Spotlight' will feature the film edited by Schneemann from original performance footage, diagrams made in 1965/1966 used to conceive the work, vintage photographs from 1966 documenting the performances, as well as recent paintings made from enlarged, revisited photographs. This presentation will approach the pioneering artist's work through a variety of media, showcasing not just the performance itself, but also the different stages in which it was made: conception, performance, contemporary response.

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About Water Light/Water Needle

Following the success of the provocative performance, Meat Joy (1964), Schneemann received a ticket to attend the 1964 Venice Biennale. Venice dazzlingly situated the reversible figure and ground, water and sky, light and shadow, solidity and transparency. "This mirroring of water and sky introduced my visual concept of bodies moving within an anti-gravitational frame." A sensation of floating and suspension provoked Schneemann's imagery of layered ropes on which performers seemed to be 'rising out of' rather than 'being upon' actual space. Writing on these experiences in Venice, Schneemann noted "If Illinois had been an 'empty stage,' Venice was full, a constant performance arena of operatic proportions. In Illinois my own verticality and frontal vision centered as a hub in a wheel, or plumb-line positioned in the unvarying expanse; only the details of forms close to the body shifted scale. If Venice's water is 'ground,' duplicating, reflecting the repeated upright rhythms - whatever is above the horizon line is also below the horizon line mirrored in water."1 Although there were suggestions for numerous locations for the performance (L'Opera de Lyon were interested in supporting the work) Schneemann would first get to enact the piece 2 years later in New York City.

Inspired by these thoughts and images Schneemann initiated the St. Mark's Church premier of Water Light/Water Needle which featured 8 participants: dancers, painters, actors and writers. The actions were positioned within layers of 3/4 inch manila rope attached to the walls with steel supports and specially designed pulleys. The work's intention was not to be acrobatic but rather demonstrate a unique physicality of each body within very particular, orchestrated parameters. Performers skillfully and rhythmically moved within the ropes until encountering one another where they then maintained physical contact. This interaction caused suspension of time, pulse and movement. Schneemann saw the ropes as "flesh extensions" and encouraged the participants to feel physical connectedness to one another. This connectedness was exemplified in a series of rules: when participants came up behind one another they had to combine their intentions to sustain coordination to adjust position. As with much of Schneemann's work, the body is the surface on which a discussion between 'body as subject' and 'body as object' takes place.

An architect offered structural advice, a sculptor built the metal work systems and a local shipyard donated the rope. Suspended above the audience, the arrangement of the ropes still mirrored that of Schneemanns visions in Venice, and on adjoining pulleys, were 'clouds'; large orbs of paper and plastic filled with lights, used by the artist to signify the beginning and end of movement sequences. The performances in St. Marks were held in near darkness (all but a soft green and blue lighting) and began with performers bursting from cupboards situated at the sides of the room. Crowds were ushered in by the female guides or "Sherpardesses" and sat underneath the activity on piles of crumpled newspaper, watching the performance above. As well as kinetics, sound has always been important to Schneemann. The sounds layered over the Water Light/Water Needle video are those of the moving 'clouds' on pullies and bodies shifting over taught ropes. Fragments of Bach-Vivaldi in A minor also echoed in the background of the Church. The success of this kinetic theater piece at St. Mark's Church encouraged Schnee- mann to take the work outdoors to reflect on the original Venetian concept. A grotto of trees and lake were located in MahWah (New Jersey) through the help of an assistant whose father, a psychiatrist from Venice, was building an office on land originally belonging to the abandoned Havemeyer Estate. The Havemeyer art collection of impressionist works is central to the Metropolitan Museum Collection. These works were purchased by Louise Havemeyer, daughter of the sugar baron and best friend of Mary Cassatt who advised her on the investment.