Speakeasy Performances, 1996
Performance with Stuart Dempster (on trombone and didjeridu), Elaine DiFalco (on accordion), Suzie Kozawa, Herb Levy, Ezra Mark, Bryant Mason, Robert Mittenthal, John Olson, and Roberta Olson
Video camera, video projector, video monitor, projection screen, ¾-inch U-matic tape player for reverse play, microphones, sound system with mixer, speakers, assorted musical instrument; approx. 60 min.
This series of performances consisted of various adaptations and improvisations derived from earlier works. In one segment entitled Touching, the artist manipulated a speaker with his hands (creating a variety of audio distortions) while reading a text derived from the single-channel video Soundings, 1979. In a collaborative improvisation incorporating instruments and live video feedback, eight performers recited the text from the single-channel video Black/White/Text, 1980. In addition, the artist read textual excerpts from Site Recite, 1989, Processual Video, 1980, and Withershins, 1995. The series concluded with the artist naming physical objects and reciting words and phrases backwards; his ‘speech’ was then projected in reverse to reveal a coherent and recognizable text.
Broeker, Holger, ed. Gary Hill: Selected Works and catalogue raisonné. Wolfsburg: Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2002, GHCR 104, p. 209.
Speakeasy Café, Seattle, Washington, September 19, 1996.
Fredericksen, Eric. “Perf Shorts.” The Stranger (September 26, 1996).
Gary Hill: Selected Works and catalogue raisonné. Wolfsburg: Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2002, GHCR 104, p. 209.