CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN: SELECTED PERFORMANCES AND VIDEO ART (1964-2010)
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1960s-2000s
USA, 100 min
In English
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9 – 7:30 PM
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 – 10 PM
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 – 7:30 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 – 5 PM
Spectacle Theater x Carolee Schneemann Foundation are pleased to present Carolee Schneemann: Selected Performances and Video Art (1964-2010); a program featuring 9 films spanning her entire career. Theater goers will get to see a very rare overview of the iconic video art and performances she produced from the 1960s to the 2000s.
It is said that by 1964, Schneemann “took control of the means of production and did not turn back.” She used all types of materials, objects, mediums, and modes of flesh to develop her work. Known for visceral and taboo performances during the late 20th century, Carolee’s art paved the way for generations of feminist artists across all mediums. As a member of the Judson Dance Theater, an experimental avant-guard collective located in Greenwich Village, Carolee documented her performances using film, created kinetic painting-sculptures and video art on topics such as gender, the body, desire, political disasters, and war. She often felt a hyper-sense of inspiration from everyday life, world events, and objects outside her studio.
Her art has been exhibited in the following institutions and galleries: Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, and MoMA PS1, New York (2017); The Merchant House, Amsterdam (2015); Artist’s Institute at Hunter College, New York (2015); G Gallery, Kunstverein Toronto (2014); Musée departemental d’art contemporain Rochechouart (2014); MUSAC, Léon, Spain (2014); Carolee Schneemann: Body Politics—the first major exhibition since her weather in 2019—is at the Barbican Art Gallery, London until January 2023.
Program includes the following works:
MEAT JOY
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1964
USA, 11 min
In English
Comprised of three performances, “Meat Joy” is one of Carolee’s most notable performances during the 1960s wave of feminist performance art. It is a kinetic theater performance; she uses the body and skin as material to communicate and revel in sacred erotic energy.
BODY COLLAGE
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1967
USA, 4 min
Silent
Using the body and array of paper as material, this performance is a “movement event” in which Schneemann transforms and emboldens her nude self as a living, moving collage.
SOUVENIR OF LEBANON
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1983
USA, 6 min
In English
An experimental video art piece about the geopolitics of Lebanon’s Civil War in the 1980s.
FRESH BLOOD
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1983
USA, 11 min
In English
A video compiled of various performances about the nexus between menstruation, unconscious drives, and body politics.
CATSCAN
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1988
USA, 13 min
In English
A lingering, haunting-like performance which evokes ancient Egyptian rituals surrounding the death of a cat which Schneemann uses to affect the spectators’ perception of grief, mourning, and communication via dreams.
ASK THE GODDESS
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1991
USA, 8 min
In English
A performance that incorporates audience participation in which she answers questions related to the body, sexuality, and the psyche.
INTERIOR SCROLL — THE CAVE
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1995
USA, 8 min
In English
The body, in this performance, functions as a source of knowledge. In this work, a powerful piece of text emerges from the vulva and is read out loud in a ritual set in a cave.
VULVA SCHOOL
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 1995
USA, 7 min
In English
Schneemann performs with puppets in a dialogue about post-modernism, feminism, and Marx.
AMERICANA I CHING APPLE PIE
Dir. Carolee Schneemann, 2007
USA, 17 min
In English
A timed-based performance essay that deconstructs the apple and apple pie, paired with a lecture about paganism, patriarchy, and gendered advertising using non- conventional cooking tools.