Rules of the Game

Park Avenue Armory, New York
Curated by Fionn Meade and Wendy Vogel
February 21—February 25, 2008

Carolee Schneemann, still from Meat Joy, 1964, 16 mm film, 6 minutes, color, sound

Rules of the Game brings together five early works from EAI that rely to varying degrees upon a score-based approach. The artists included in the program abandon the rigid flow of a traditional script in favor of instructions and improvisational performances from participants. Deceptively simple at first glance, gesture repeatedly acts as a catalyst for both critique and experimentation within prescribed boundaries. While Lynda Benglis and Carolee Schneemann reveal their authorial hand—intoning explicit and disruptive instructions—Joan Jonas and Dennis Oppenheim pursue more ambiguous and enigmatic strategies to capture drawings in space. Each, however, elevates the immediate physicality of play as a form of release and renewal.

Lynda Benglis, Now, 1973, 12 min, color, sound
Joan Jonas, Songdelay, 1973, 18:35 min, b&w, sound, 16 mm film
Dennis Oppenheim, A Feedback Situation, 1971, 3:02 min, color, silent, Super 8 mm film
Dennis Oppenheim, Objectified Counterforce, 1971, 2:06 min, color, silent, Super 8 mm film
Carolee Schneemann, Meat Joy, 1964, 6 min, color, sound, 16 mm film