A Short History of Performance Part IV
The Whitechapel's acclaimed performance art series latest
installment showcases artists going behind the camera to take on the role of directors.
The season focuses on artists who, rather than using their own bodies for performance, direct, script and choreograph others in live action that plays for the camera. For one day only, each artist takes centre stage with screenings of their films followed by evening talks with the artists and leading cultural figures.
In the 1960s and early 70s film was exploited by performance artists for its documentary potential, but then rapidly emerged as a vehicle for performance, used to explore the traditions of theatre, cinema and television. A Short History of Performance - Part IV sees artists using the formats of trailers, interviews, rehearsals, reality TV or narrative film as places for illusion and fantasy, disjointed dreams or
fragmented memory.
The programme spans over 20 years of work with screenings alternating between the Whitechapel and adjacent former library building, which the Gallery is acquiring to expand it's current facilities. With artists tackling film as the dominant medium of the 20th century this exciting performance season promises to be essential viewing.
