- Daniel Mason
Open Score Variations is an exploration of “event notation” and its differentiation in art from the postwar era to the present. Through a precise examination of this distinct form of artistic practice in works by artists ranging from John Cage to Sanford Biggers, this exhibition provides a unique perspective on the ways in which modern and contemporary artists have used language, objects, and images to forge social contracts with their publics. The exhibition investigates this area of artistic practice by considering a variety of linguistic, conceptual, and sculptural approaches that artists have employed for scoring action. Works include a graphic score and inscribed Buddhist singing bowls by Biggers; process notations and studio ephemera by Lee Boroson; two edible drawings, a musical score, and instruments for preparing a piano by Cage; three instructional certificates of authenticity by Felix Gonzalez-Torres; an agreement for a living artwork by Paula Hayes; a reanimation of Lucy Lippard’s reference materials from the exhibition catalogue for 955,000; a book of instructions by Yoko Ono; five artists books by Edward Ruscha; a photograph by Xaviera Simmons; a muster contract, field desk, Zouave rifle, and muster roll by Allison Smith; a recipe by Rirkrit Tiravanija; eight compositions by La Monte Young; and a realization of George Brecht’s event score Motor Vehicle Sundown (Event) with Xaviera Simmons and members of The Surrealist Training Circus.
Performance:
Sunday, February 7, 3 p.m.
CCS Bard Galleries and parking area
A curator’s tour of Open Score Variations followed by a realization of George Brecht’s event score Motor Vehicle Sundown (Event)in the CCS Bard parking area with artist Xaviera Simmons (Bard ’04) and members of the Bard College student organization, The Surrealist Training Circus.
Open Score Variations is curated by Daniel Mason as part of the requirements for the master of arts degree in curatorial studies.
Student-curated projects at CCS Bard are made possible with support from the Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg Student Exhibition Fund; the Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg Family Foundation; the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation; the Board of Governors of the Center for Curatorial Studies, and by the Center’s Patrons, Supporters, and Friends. Special thanks to the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.
