ART-TRIBUTE:Performer /Audience/Mirror

In 1977, American artist Dan Graham placed a large mirror in a room of at De Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. In front of it, he placed rows of chairs. When the audience took their seats, Graham began describing himself, the audience, his own reflection, and the audience’s reflection, in various stages of continuous commentary. He filmed the entire thing, and called it “Performance/Artist/Mirror”.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Lisson Gallery Archive

Almost 40 years later, this legendary performance served as an inspiration for creating a comprehensive exhibition of moving image artworks by 18 artists. The exhibition “Performer/Audience/Mirror” at Lisson Gallery borrows its title from Dan Graham’s Performance and features memorable video artworks that explore the relevance of the moving image as a tool for experimentation and documentation. The exhibition draws from Lisson Gallery’s extensive archive, organized in three complementing segments: “Performer”, “Audience”, and “Mirror” program, with each section showing a looped showreel of films, presenting works by: Marina Abramović, John Akomfrah, Allora & Calzadilla, Francis Alÿs, Cory Arcangel, Art & Language, Gerard Byrne, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Ceal Floyer, Ryan Gander, Dan Graham, Rodney Graham, Christian Jankowski, John Latham, Jonathan Monk, Wael Shawky, Santiago Sierra and Sean Snyder. The first part “Performer” explores the intricate bond between performance and film as two separate yet closely connected arts. Through an array of this segment deals with people’s notion of performance in both genres but also the act of performing in the broader segment that includes theater, comedy, and storytelling. The “Audience” programme takes place within Dan Graham’s pavilion, “Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shoji Screen Version” (2001). The pavilion creates an intimate sculptural environment to explore the significance of architecture and space in film and allows the audience to more actively engage with the works on view. These works will also be visible from the outside through a griddled shoji screen and reflections in the pavilion’s two-way reflective glass. The final segment of the exhibition entitled “Mirror” is dedicated to film’s unique ability to act as a mirror of a certain time and the society as a whole. A selection of films featured in the exhibition will be screened online through Lisson Gallery’s website, allowing users to virtually experience the wealth of moving image on display while calling into question the accessibility of video art.

Info: Lisson Gallery, 52 Bell Street, London, Duration: 15/7-27/8/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, www.lissongallery.com