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For Example: Decorated

Lawrence Weiner

1977 00:23:00 United StatesEnglishColor
Tags:
Performance, Video History

Description

For Example: Decorated is a talk show featuring art world personalities Britte Le Va, Peter Gordon, and James Sarkis. The show begins with Le Va reciting the credits; then she introduces herself, Soviet style — as in Do You Believe in Water? — by saying her name, then clapping. The other guests follow, and as the three converse about the role of art in life, they build little structures with the Lego blocks that cover the coffee table. The soundtrack is composed of three different audio channels: Le Va and Weiner reading artist “conditions” (“The artist may construct the work; the work may be fabricated; the work need not be built …”); Le Va speaking generally about how to make friends with transvestites (their likes and dislikes, etc.); and Le Va singing a version of Marlene Dietrich’s "Falling in Love Again".

Video Photography and Direction: Michael H. Shamberg
First Production Consultant: Carlota Schoolman
The Players: Britta Le Va, Peter Gordon, James Sarkis

About Lawrence Weiner

Working in a wide variety of media, including video, film, books, audio tapes, sculpture, performance, installation, and graphic art, Lawrence Weiner consistently invokes social situations that elicit responses to issues of language, philosophy, theater, and art. Identified with conceptual art, Weiner is notable for his fervent desire to invent new forms and transformations. Unlike some conceptualists, Weiner does not shy away from materializing the art object—instead he tries to work across artistic conventions. A commitment to a democratic art, an art that adapts and changes form in response to cultural and social changes, is fundamental to all of his work. His videos stem from his preoccupation with the process or act of making art, with discourse surrounding art objects and the changing context of materials as they are used.