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Rachel Lois Clapham is a curator and a writer, formerly of Live Art UK's Writing From Live Art, who now writes as part of Open Dialogues. http://www.opendialogues.com/
rachelloisclapham@gmail.com | www.opendialogues.com
SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS AT NRLA. YOU’RE SHUTTLING FROM ONE PERFORMANCE TO ANOTHER, DIVING IN AND OUT OF QUEUES, NOT HAVING TIME TO EAT AND BEING CAUGHT UP IN THE MADNESS. THEN YOU STUMBLE ACROSS SOMETHING PERFECT, SOMETHING JUST FOR YOU AND JUST Read on…
Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
9 February - 9 May 2008
This review was written as part of the Writing From Live Art publication project ’We Need to Talk About Live Art’ at the National Review of Live Art, Tramway, Glasgow Feb 6-11, 2008. Excerpts from We Need to Talk About Live Art are Read on…
Tramway, Glasgow
6 February 2008
This review was written as part of the Writing From Live Art publication project ’We Need to Talk About Live Art’ at the National Review of Live Art, Tramway, Glasgow Feb 6-11, 2008. Excerpts from We Need to Talk About Live Art are Read on…
Tramway, Glasgow
8 February 2008
This review was written as part of the Writing From Live Art publication project ’We Need to Talk About Live Art’ at the National Review of Live Art, Tramway, Glasgow Feb 6-11, 2008. Excerpts from We Need to Talk About Live Art are Read on…
Tramway, Glasgow
7 February 2008
The Mind is a Muscle is the latest in the One Work publication series by Afterall Books. Each book in the series is an in-depth look, by one author, at a single artwork that has shaped the landscape of contemporary art as we know it today. For Read on…
,
2 October 2007 - 21 February 2008
As the title suggests, Aaron Head’s solo show ‘What do I know About Bedford Anyway?’ takes an openly interrogative look at the once-thriving industrial and market town of Bedford. Bedford serves a dual function for Head. It is the Read on…
Aaron Head: What do I know About Bedford Anyway?
BCA Gallery, Bedford
8 December – 2 February
My Father’s Grace was devised and performed by Joe Moran and represented the finale of Dance Art, a short season of dance co-produced by Intimate Contenders and Falling Wide in London gallery spaces from October 07 – January 08. The Read on…
Wilkinson Gallery, London
8-9 January 2008
For Flagrante Delicto the artist Claire refuses to use her surname and by this employs a deliberate strategy of anonymity. Claire’s anonymity is re-enforced in various texts accompanying the performance- in booklets, business cards and Read on…
Tramway, Glasgow
9 February 2007
Long March projects for Performa 2007 included; Nov 7-10: Long March- Xu Zhen, In Just a Blink of an Eye (2007), Nov 10 - Qiu Zhijie, The Thunderstorm Is Slowly Approaching (2007), Nov 11: Long March- Avant-Garde (2007), Nov 14: Long March- Zhao Read on…
Performa 07 (Various Venues), New York
7-14 November 2007
'There is a Failing Man' is a digital print on aluminium made specifically by artist Micheál O'Connell to sell to an anonymous collector. The image itself is taken from a computer simulated animation of an upside-down Read on…
C-Type Digital Print, 1 x 2 metres
11 September 2007 - 11 September 2008
Vital 07 – The Essence of Performance Chinese Arts Centre Manchester 20 and 21 November China. Chinese. Chinese Live Art. Chinese Artists. Where to begin when critiquing the work at Vital, the Manchester based International Chinese Read on…
Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester
20-23 November 2007
Pablo Bronstein Ballet Park Avenue Presented by PERFORMA and Curated by Catherine Wood Last night I was one of the three people to be invited to a private patron's Park Avenue apartment to witness Pablo Bronstein's Ballet Park Avenue. We Read on…
a private upper east side residence., New York
16 November 2007
Christian Jankowski Rooftop RoutinePresented By PERFORMA It’s 10am on November 3rd and a small, tired looking crowd stand on the rooftop of Ming Tower on Division Street, Chinatown. We have been invited here, to the roof of the artist Read on…
The Artist's House, New York
3 November 2007
‘Haircuts by Children’ by Darren O’DonnellProduced with children studying at MS131, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Middle School in Chinatown by Art In General for PERFORMA07 Hair is not as external, shallow or simple as it may seem. Since Read on…
2 in 1 Hair Salon, New York
3 November 2007
Mahjong, 2007 by artist He Yun Chang Presented by Chambers Fine Art for PERFORMA07. I went to Judson Church on Washington South yesterday to meet He Yun Chang whilst he prepared for his performance of Mahjong, 2007. Mahjong is a traditional Read on…
Washington Square Park, New York
9 November 2007
BYOF (Bring Your Own Flowers) by Ei Arakawa and Amy Sillman Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging, or Kadō (the ‘way of flowers’), the traditional practise of which involves great skill and accomplished Read on…
Japan Society Lobby , New York
2 November 2007
TM Sisters Things Will End Before They Start at Artists Space Two women in matching retro dresses fly through the air. They soar through a pale blue sky, arms straight out in front of them, their gaze fixed intently elsewhere: somewhere Read on…
Artists Space, New York
2 November 2007
‘Stapelung (Stack)’ 2007 A Five Channel Video Sculpture by John Bock P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre 28 October – 19 November 2007 Thursday thru Monday, 12 – 6pm FREE with museum admission Best known for his 1990’s Read on…
PS1 Moma, New York
28 October - 19 November 2007
November 1st 3-6 pm. Artist Dave McKenzie ‘I’ll Be There (2007)’ at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building Plaza. On Thursday 1st November from 1-3 a black man in a leather jacket sits on a bench in Adam Clayton Powell Read on…
On a Bench, in New York
1 November 2007
Francesco Vezzolli Right You Are ( If You Think you Are) by Luigi Pirandello, 1917 is a Performa 07 Commission produced by the Gagosian Gallery in collaboration with Performa and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation ‘It has truly been a Read on…
Guggenheim Museum, New York
27 October 2007
Last Thursday I had a one-night stand with Japanese artist Heartbeat Drawing Sasaki. It was a wonderfully slow and strange physical encounter that lasted for several hours, throughout which I could hear - and feel - the pounding of Heartbeat Read on…
VINEspace , London
11 October 2007
'Three songs - The Devil is Afraid of Music, What have they done to my song, Ma and How does it Feel to Feel? - were performed and filmed in the exhibition space of Matt’s Gallery, creating an open recording session and film set for three Read on…
Matts Gallery, London
19 September - 18 November 2007
Part of Artsadmin Summer Season Question: why is a pub quiz Art? Answer: Because the quiz mistress says it is, and the quiz mistress is always right. This is how sometime stand-up comedienne and live art artist Yara El-Sherbini holds fort in Read on…
Artsdadmin, Toynbee studios, Arts Bar and Caf?,
6 June 2007 to 6 June 2007
Durational Performance as part of the Artsadmin summer Season Written and directed by La RibotPerformed by Marie-Caroline Hominal, La Ribot, Delphine RosaySound Design and Performance Clive Jenkins For more info see Read on…
Toynbee studios, Artsadmin
6 June 2007 to 6 June 2007
Shown as part of Brunel University's MA Contemporary Performance Making Showcase Festival Like millions of women across the UK, Ellen Duckenfield has an unhealthy obsession with food. However, her obsession does not stem from a modern concern Read on…
Battersea Arts Centre
6 June 2007 to 6 June 2007
The Artsadmin summer season launched on the 5th June with Screenings 1 and Monitors Programme 1. The two programmes were presented in different areas of Toynbee Studios with Screenings 1 in the Steve Whitson Studio and Monitors Programme 1 in Read on…
Artsadmin
6 June 2007 to 6 June 2007
Forced Entertainment: after last nights' performance at Soho Theatre this experimental theatre groups name has never made more sense. Twin the name with the title of the show, 'Exquisite Pain', and you have some idea of what is at stake Read on…
Soho Theatre
4 April 2007 to 4 April 2007
'Covet Me, Care For Me' is Sheila Ghelani's two room live installation situated inside the underground maze of Shunt Vaults. In comparison to the dirty industrial installation or performance spaces that surround it, Sheila's space Read on…
Shunt Vaults, Under London Bridge station
4 April 2007 to 4 April 2007
I'm happy to report I had a great time at last nights Feast and, contrary to my initial worry, there were no irregular or performative interventions hidden amongst unsuspecting diners' food. It was simply good old fashioned eating and Read on…
Toynbee Studios
4 April 2007 to 4 April 2007
From the far end of a row of old railway arches underneath London Bridge station a white shape looms slowly out of the darkness. It slowly moves towards us. We strain to see more clearly but the shape is only glimpsed occasionally when shafts of Read on…
Shunt Vaults, Under London Bridge station
4 April 2007 to 4 April 2007
*I: a singular character. I is bold and sticks out between the lines on the page. A long stem with a blob on top-or a curve- as I write it. The smallest word there is for the most complex thing. I is theories, reflection, thought itself reduced to a Read on…
Shunt Vaults, Under London Bridge Station
4 April 2007 to 4 April 2007
At first glance there is something odd about Ben Zuhlckes' photographs. His images depict ordinary people in and around Liverpool whose presence and gestures are extra-ordinarily out of synch with their everyday surroundings. The exhibition Read on…
International Gallery
3 March 2007 to 3 March 2007
‘Until My Pencil Runs Out' is a highly self-reflexive durational performance piece in which the artist Ginny Reed holds a pencil and walks around four walls of a studio whilst drawing a continuous line. The performance ends only when the Read on…
Tramway
2 February 2007 to 2 February 2007
Written and performed by Leslie Hill and Helen Paris. The lights go up on Lesley playing electric guitar. It is an excellent rendition of a well-known blues classic. After a few bars she stops playing, moves closer to the microphone and begins her Read on…
Tramway,
2 February 2007 to 2 February 2007
Written during The National Review of Live Art. I put my name down on the list and got a date with you. As simple as that. You and I one to one from 2.50 to 3pm. At 2.48 I was asked to leave my bags outside, take my scarf off. Evidently there was Read on…
Tramway.
2 February 2007 to 2 February 2007
Inside a blacked out Associates, Gallery Manager Rebecca May Marston bends over backwards into a sharp crab shape, her hands and feet awkwardly face the same direction on the floor. A slide projector balances precariously on top of her stomach. She Read on…
Associates
12 December 2006 to 1 January 2007
Fresh off the train at Liverpool I'm looking for Marcus Young's performative action 'Pacific Avenue' on Church Street. It's wet, its windy, I've got very un-sensible shoes on, no brolly and I'm trying hard not to look too Read on…
the street.
10 October 2006 to 10 October 2006
In 1865, Victorian spiritualists the Davenport Brothers performed a public séance in Liverpool’s spectacular St George’s Hall in front of an audience eager to commune with the dead. Fast-forward 141 years and artists Iain Forsyth and Read on…
St. George’s Hall, Liverpool
14 September
Greenland St, Liverpool
16 September – 26 November
Imagine an 'open studio' event. The artist has generously opened the doors to his private workspace to let you peek inside at him and the various unfinished works in progress. But once inside the studio you are forced to sit down and be quiet. Read on…
Matt's Gallery
10 October 2006 to 10 October 2006
Tickets for ‘Destricted: Art and Sex’ were sold out to an eager over 18’s audience weeks ago. Its popularity was no doubt due to the warnings of ‘real sex’ and ‘highly explicit’ pornographic content. The Read on…
Tate modern
9 September 2005 to 9 September 2006
For a start Gasworks was shut when I arrived. 15 minutes later the gallery staff turned up to unlock the building weighed down with newly bought crates of booze. OK, not too bad. But I had been standing outside, freezing, on the day of the Ovals Read on…
Gasworks
9 September 2006 to 10 October 2006
Inside the empty Konsthall C I search for any visible signs of artwork by Swedish artist Annalivia Lowendahl Atomic. However, the only items I can find are twenty-one copies of the same paper press release stuck to the wall. Thoughts that this Read on…
Centrifug, Konsthall C, Sweden
10 October 2005 to 12 December 2005
Liverpool Live was commissioned by Bluecoat Arts Centre and The Live Art Development Agency as part of the Liverpool Biennial 2006 and took the context of the city of Liverpool as its focus. The festivals specific subject matter of Liverpool's Read on…
Liverpool City Centre
10 October 2006 to 10 October 2006
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