Burlap 1

Paul Halupka
Burlap 1 -- 1.24.07
Collaboration with Amos Wright and Adam Stoves
Vocalization performed by Jenna Lyle
One hour performance, edited to 5:20 on DVD

This performance takes place within an installation space, which suggests the entombment of birds by suspending feathers in cavities sealed with plexiglass, creating a context of death, entombment, and resurrection. The piece functions in phases of two minutes. Each of these movements begins with a unique vocal motive to which the performers react. Throughout the course of the hour-long piece, there is a sense of rhythm and consistency in action and process which speaks to the consistent rhythms of human life... and simultaneous rhythms in death.

The materials used in the piece are fiber-based; the figures are draped or wrapped in burlap, the wooden beams are suspended by jute twine, and the same twine is used to tie off the space. The natural organic materials suggest simplicity and a sense of interconnectedness between life and death, growth and decomposition.

With the passage of time, the artist continues to draw vigorously, despite the distractions in the space around him and the persistent wrapping of his body. The antagonists represent the persistent encroachment of artistic precedent and the cyclical nature of movements in art. (It is no coincidence that the resurrected character periodically takes the form of a Joseph Beuys figure.) This characterization of the artist in his studio, working endlessly against forces from the past and from his future, demonstrates the futility of the creative mind struggling to communicate its ideas until it is totally incapacitated. Finally, the forces that have entrapped and entombed the artist remove him from the creative space in the same mummified form as his predecessor. As all of the figures leave the space, the audience is left to contemplate the emptiness of the studio and the perpetuation of this cycle.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• paul
• halupka
• adam
• stoves
• amos
• wright
• burlap

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