Page 23 - Studio International - July August 1970

A Soviet view théâtre quoted above, the author, Genrikh expressed the revolutionary qualities of our
Borovik, describes his attempts to interview time far better than the sound of an omelette
Miss Moorman about her work. At first he
of Charlotte gets a note telling him to go to a 'Festival of being fried ( part of her performance—M.S.),
but she interrupted me unexpectedly:
Avant garde Art' on Ward's Island in the "Do you know how to crawl on your belly ?" '
Moorman and East River. Upon arrival he finds a man Charlotte Moorman then describes her next
exhibiting a still life of empty beer and wine performance to him, in which she crawls on
the avant garde bottles and milk cartons. Another hands him her belly down the aisle of a church with a
an envelope with a dead herring inside it and
rifle and helmet, and with her cello strapped
instructs him to throw it into the sea; he will thus to her back.
be performing the 'Fish Liberation Sonata'. "It's my protest against the war."
A third man is having his head shaved by a "It sounds like a good idea. But why the
woman with a cut-throat razor — 'Dangerous cello ?"
Music No. 2'. And at last he finds Charlotte "Because I'm a cellist," she said, "and I must
Moorman in the basket of a balloon with her always bear that in mind."'
`Miss Moorman vibrated. The vibration cello. The balloon fails to rise, however, and Later in the interview she returns to the theme
ended with her smashing the pane of glass Charlotte disappears before he can corner her. of protest :
with a hammer. Splinters of it showered on to This part of the article is full of jokes, told with "Surely the beauty of a woman's body is in
the sheet of tin. In the split-second pause that gusto by Borovik. When he asks the beerbottle itself a protest against war."
followed, this energetic young lady managed man if his work is an improvisation the man `"Judging by today's screen and stage per-
to call out: "Insure your automobile with replies : `No, it's a reproduction. The original's formances the whole of the American theatre
Allstate!" and followed it up immediately by in a private collection.' When he objects to and cinema industry is occupied from morn-
firing a shot from the revolver that had the fish sonata man that the herring is dead ing till night with protests against the horrors
magically appeared in her hand ... Then two and can't therefore be liberated, the artist of war."
more bottles of Coca-Cola were drunk and the replies: 'It's the thought that counts'. And `"I've often been accused of exploiting sex,"
contents of one slop pail were poured into when Borovik asks, why 'sonata', the answer she said without annoyance, "but it's not
another. The tape recorder transmitted the is : 'Concision of form and richness of feeling.' true ... I undress only when my art demands
piercing wails of a baby and an ambulance As he leaves the island, some Puerto Rican it, when it's part of the composer's intention.
siren... The "construction" ended on a totally boys are playing football with one of the cans In New York there was a female quartet of
unexpected note. In total silence Miss Moor- from the still life and he comments that this traditionalists and just imagine, they played
man started zipping and unzipping the front may even be an improvement in the composi- Debussy without any bras on! That's what I
of what appeared to be a pair of men's grey tion, since the artist has said that he welcomes call exploitation of sex. Utterly tasteless !" '
worsted trousers. The amplifiers made it `the modifications introduced into his art by Later she adds :
sound like the deafening roar of a locomotive. life'. The artist, however, announces that he is `Unfortunately it's impossible to shock the
Then, tapping out several beats with her foot going to call the police. public now. The first time I played the cello
and still not taking her eyes from the score, In his second article Borovik describes how he partly undressed two years ago in New York
Miss Moorman suddenly unzipped her dress finally manages to meet Charlotte Moorman they came and arrested me. But now you can
and exposed her naked breasts to the audi- in a bar off Broadway: see it everywhere. And not only partly but the
ence.' `Charlotte was wearing a shabby short over- whole way."'
This description of Charlotte Moorman comes coat out of some coarse material and a plain Borovik then turns the conversation towards
at the close of a 500-word description, pub- dress. Close up she looked older than on Fifth the avant garde in general and asks her how
lished in the Soviet Literary Gazette, Moscow, Avenue and in the balloon on Ward's Island many members it has in New York.
in February, of a performance she gave of and her unmade-up face looked tired. `About two hundred," answers Charlotte,
`Construction number 26 minutes 11499' by " Let's drink to Beethoven," she suggested, "no more. And no more than fifty who are
John Cage on Fifth Avenue, New York. The when we had sat down. "It's his 199th anni- active like me. The rest don't make any
description is only part of a lengthy two- versary today. He wasn't recognised either." advances at all."
instalment 6000-word article devoted to Miss "Do you like him?" I asked. `"Have you made any advances, do you
Moorman and her performance of avant ' "I adore him." think?"
garde musical works. It is not often that any `"Because he failed to get recognition ?" "Of course ! Otherwise people wouldn't talk
Western artist is accorded this amount of "No, because he's a wonderful museum. One about us so much. Who do you think began
space in any journal, and its appearance in of the best." the naked theatre? Shakespeare? No, it was
the mass-circulation Literary Gazette is indica- `And are 'Construction 26' and all those the avant garde."'
tive of the ambivalence that seems to attend other things what you call modern?" Borovik quotes Charlotte Moorman as saying
Soviet efforts to treat of Western art. "Of course it is, if only because it expresses that compared with the avant garde, mere
After the long and detailed description of the the revolutionary essence of our time." musical 'progressives' were hopelessly back-
performance, which ends with the coup de `I wanted to say that in my view Beethoven ward and reactionary, while modernists were

DAVID ANTIN, linguist, poet and art critic, teaches at the GERMANO CELANT, art critic for Casabella, recently edited Corrections No. 23 of On Exhibition in March
University of. California, at La Jolla, and lives in Art Povera, which is published in this country by Studio was Les Deux Amoureux from the recent exhibition
Solana Beach, California. Vista. He recently organized a major exhibition for the at the Albert White Gallery, Toronto, and not, as
Museum of Modern Art in Turin. He lives in Genoa.
MICHEL CLAURA, a lawyer and art critic, organized a stated, Composition I from the exhibition at the
major exhibition of current art in Paris entitled SETH SIEGELAUB, organizer and publisher of art exhibi- Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montreal. -
`18 Paris IV.70.' He lives in Paris. tions, is organizing an international conference of We regret that John Donat's article was incor-
artists in Nova Scotia, October 1970, after which he rectly titled in last month's issue. It should
HANS STRELOW is the chief art critic for Frankfurter intends to retire to California. He has organized the have been called `Buckminster Fuller and the
Allgemeine Zeitung. He is a frequent contributor to production of 'The Xerox Book', 'March exhibition',
European art magazines, and organized 'Prospect 1969' human equation'.
and the 'July, August, September 1969' exhibition.
at the Kunsthalle, Düsseldorl, in association with
[Notes on Book Supplement contributors appear on p.
Konrad Fischer. He lives in Dusseldorf and New York.
63.]