By Grace Schwindt
Clik here to view.
Catherine Sullivan, The Chittendens, 2005, 16mm film still. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels
In a new series, frieze invites artists to present a series of images that are important to them
Catherine Sullivan, The Chittendens, 2005
Video and performance artist Catherine Sullivan creates worlds that are both deeply embedded in existing social structures, and deeply questioning of them: rather than present her audience with a discernable moral consensus of values and identification, she asks them to take responsibility for their own understanding of her work. She does not shy away from her own authorship, and she asks the audience to do the same.
As I understand it, Sullivan adopts strict composing methods and scoring strategies (like numerical sequencing) in order to generate the behaviour and the relationships within her scripts. She creates patterns of tension and release between her actors, asking them to operate within a structure that is both rhythmical and inclusive of the whole body, but nevertheless they remain perpetually human. Their bodies become signifiers, but are never fully abstract.
Theatre has always played a crucial role in my practice, and Sullivan makes me think about that complex relationship between theatre and cinema. How do we understand movement, repetition, rhythm, space, duration, objects, even our own gaze, on the stage as opposed to on the screen?
The second part of Grace Schwindt’s ‘Portfolio’ will be available tomorrow.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
