Keith Sonnier

In mostra una serie di 6 corti realizzati negli anni Settanta e mai presentati in Italia.

Comunicato stampa

A selection of performance based video works from the 1970s.

6 VIDEOS is a solo show by Keith Sonnier and opens on Thursday January 10 at 6PM at Torre Velasca.

6 VIDEOS is the opening event of ART TALES. It was born thanks to the collaboration of CONVERSO_OFFSITE and Urban Up | Unipol Projects Cities in the larger context of TOWER TALES: DESIGN ART & SOUND IN TORRE VELASCA and thanks to The National Exemplar Gallery, NY.

The show is on view every night from 5PM to 6AM. This activation is the first of its kind in the iconic BBPR tower, owned by Gruppo Unipol.
6 VIDEOS offers a selection of short films based on performances from the 1970s, shown for the first time in Italy on this very occasion.

PAINTED FOOT: BLACK LIGHT
1970 / 16min
The performer enters the activated space and arranges the props- a jar of luminous paint and a two foot length of wood- in full camera view.
The activity suggests a ritualistic manipulation of elements- he slowly applies pigment to his foot, working his way up the knee, the strobe light setting up a rhythmical cadence. He moves his foot repeatedly from the paint-splattered floor area to the wooden prop in a slowed-down stamping rhythm, flexing his ankle, holding his foot in different positions, and shifts the prop around with it. The activity ends with the head of the performer placed against the length of wood, now covered with imprints of his foot.

NEGATIVE
1971 / 11min
A stationary camera focuses on a leg from the knee down, center frame, as it moves heel-toe to the beat of a metronome. The zoom lens of the camera is opened and closed at the same beat.

POSITIVE-NEGATIVE
1970 / 12min
The dual cameras frame the performer’s head rotating full circle so that complementary views of it are seen simultaneously on each half of the split screen, one in positive, the other one in negative. As the performer turns, the cameras independently pick up her face and the back of her head, or her left and right profiles, so that a constant binary relationship is maintained.

RUBDOWN
1970 / 11min
Filling one half of the frame is the torso of a male lying on his back. In the other half one hand rubs a foam rubber mat.

LIGHTBULB AND FIRE
1971 / 21min
A trick lightbulb is turned on and off by hand or foot leaving imprints of silver paint. A flammable powder is sprinkled on the floor, encircling the activity, and then ignited as the light bulb is removed.

DIS-PLAY
1969 / 11min
The set consisted of two six-foot square mirrors propped against opposite walls so that the performers could relate directly to what they were doing in real time. A slide projector projected white light at half-second intervals. (occasionally slides where inserted of activities from previous sessions)
A theatrical scrim hung from the ceiling between projection wall and projector creating a floating screen.
The performers cue their activity to the reflections in the mirrors and their enlarged shadows on the scrim.

Opening: Jan 10, 2019, 6 PM
TORRE VELASCA, PIAZZA VELASCA 3-5, 20122 MILANO

MONDAY-SUNDAY 5PM - 6AM
GUIDED TOURS: THURSDAY - SATURDAY 7PM / 7.30 PM

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Keith Sonnier (b. 1941, USA) lives and works in New York. He is known for his pioneering light sculptures. Employing materials such as latex, neon, and found objects, Sonnier achieves a drawing-like quality with his sculptures. During the 1970s Sonnier worked on performance and video as well. His works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, among others.

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Sponsored by
Urban Up | Unipol Projects Cities