Crux, 1983-87
Five-channel video/sound installation
Five 20-inch color video monitors, four monitor-mounting brackets, five speakers, five-channel synchronizer, five laserdisc players and five laserdiscs (color; mono sound)
Dimensions: as installed, approx. 144 x 144 in. (365 x 365 cm.)
Edition of two and one artist’s proof
Crux, originally conceived as a kind of performance piece, was recorded in Beacon, New York, on Bannerman’s Island. When installed, the “performer” (the artist) is seen as a composite image on five monitors which are mounted to a wall and positioned to suggest the configuration of a cross. Recordings were made by strapping four small cameras with microphones to the artist’s wrists and ankles so that his hands and feet are centrally framed on the screen. A fifth camera/microphone—aimed at his head—was fastened to a brace that positioned the camera out in front of his body so that the camera is looking back, imaging his face. The cameras record the movements and sounds of the “performer” (labored breathing, the rustle of leaves) as he walks through the ruins and grounds of a castle and finally down to the shoreline. The virtually unedited results, lasting approximately 26 minutes, are played back synchronously on the five color monitors and five speakers.
Note: A proposal/drawing for this work was exhibited at the Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, New York, from November 4 – December 2, 1983 with the title “It’s Time to turn the Record Over.”
An example of this work was first exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California, January 20 – March 15, 1987. Note: The work was installed in an auditorium with a stage equipped with a black curtain. The work was presented as a performance with the curtain opening and closing at the beginning and end of the piece.
Japan 87 – The First Video Television Festival: “Private Visions and Media Crossover,” Spiral, Tokyo, Japan, July 29 – August 11, 1987.
“Video-Skulptur retrospektiv und aktuell 1963 – 1989,” Kölnischer Künstverein, Cologne, Germany, March 18 – April 23, 1989; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany (as “25 Jahre Video-Skulptur” part of the 39 Berliner Festwochen 1989), August 27 – September 24, 1989; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, October 13 - November 12, 1989.
“Vidéoformes 89: Festival de la Création Vidéo,” Clermont-Ferrand, France, April 20 – 29, 1989.
“Les Cent jours d’art contemporain de Montréal 1989,” Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal, Quebec, Canada, September 1 – December 3, 1989.
“OTHERWORDSANDIMAGES,” Video Galleriet, Huset, Denmark and Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 20 – May 13, 1990.
“Gary Hill,” (travelling exhibition organized by the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France), Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, November 25, 1992 – January 24, 1993; Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM), Centre del Carme,Valencia, Spain, February 26 – May 2, 1993; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 28 – October 10, 1993; Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria, November 17, 1993 – January 9, 1994.
“Anonymity & Identity,” Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, September 3 – October 10, 1993; The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, November 3 – December 23, 1993.
“Gary Hill,” (travelling exhibition organized by the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., February 17 – May 8, 1994; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, June 10 – August 14, 1994; Museum of Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois, September 24 – November 27, 1994; Museum of Contemporary, Los Angeles, California, December 19, 1994 – March 12, 1995; Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York, New York, May 11 – August 20, 1995; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, Missouri, October 14, 1995 – January 14, 1996.
“Bienal Internacionale de São Paulo,” São Paulo, Brazil, October 12 – December 11, 1994.
“NowHere,” Louisana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark, May 15 – September 8, 1996.
Museo Caraffa, Córdoba, Argentina, July 7 – 30, 2000.
“Interventionen: Stadt-Raum-Kirche,” Alte Neuendorfer Kirche, Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, May 23 – August 30, 2005.
“Wrestle,” Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, November 12, 2006 – May 27, 2007.
“On History,” Fundación Santander Central Hispano, Madrid, Spain, February 6 – Spring 2007.
“Gary Hill: Strange Trajectories,” NRW-Forum / IMAI (Inter Media Art Institute), Dusseldorf, Germany, September 15 – October 28, 2007.
"The Problem of God," K21 Ständehaus, Düsseldorf, Germany, September 26, 2015 — January 24, 2016.
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