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Anne Bean, Robin Klassnik and Richard Wilson
TAPS: Improvisations with Paul Burwell
17 – 19 September 2010
Dilston Grove
Friday: Continuous film screening 2-7pm. Performances by Melissa Castagnetto 7pm, Oren Marshall & Steve Noble 8pm, Yol 9pm.
Saturday: Continuous film screening 2-7pm. Performances by Shaun Caton 2–7pm, William Cobbing 7pm, Kaffe Matthews 8pm, Juneau Projects 9pm.
Sunday: Continuous film screening 2-7pm. Intermittent performance by Ryuzo Fukuhara 2–7pm. Sunday closing view with final event including performance by Ansuman Biswas 6–8pm.
Paul Burwell was infamous for his exuberant fusions of fine-art installation, percussion and explosive performance. He was a staunch advocate of, and passionate participant in, all forms of experimental art. TAPS: Improvisations with Paul Burwell, realised by Anne Bean, Robin Klassnik and Richard Wilson embodies his prolific practice.
Over the course of three days TAPS will combine film, installation and performance, portraying layers of interpretation from more than 80 invited collaborators, in response to Burwell’s poem 'Adventures in the House of Memory'. The poem arose from improvisations by Anne Bean and Paul Burwell in preparation for William Burroughs's Final Academy at Ritzy, London in 1982, where improvised words were written on huge sheets of flash paper which were ignited as they were sung. The poem was the last recorded Burwell work two months before he died in 2007. The body of collaborators, including Stephen Berkoff, Evan Parker, Rose English and Paul McCarthy, have responded to the poem by each creating a short film or audio work as a new collaboration for, about, or 'with' Burwell.
Fragments of each collaborator's film or audio work, now make a collective totem in a two screen, one hour composite film interpreted and edited by Anne Bean and Chris Bishop. This resulting work resonates with the poem’s innate episodic chronicles, as slivers interleaf together, and runs continuously throughout each day. The film is shown as part of a screen installation constructed by Richard Wilson. By adding its own sounds and actions, this structure becomes a part player in the final act of the last evening, during a performance by Ansuman Biswas.
Live performances (1) form another layer of exploration, echoing the sense of inter-connectivity created by the installation. Each performer encompasses a practice that reflects the context and ethos in which Burwell worked, improvising within the framework of the poem, film, installation and space at Dilston Grove. The performances will take place at various times during the event. The last entry to Southwark Park and Dilston Grove is at 6·45pm.
Each collaborator’s original film or audio work (2) is now available in full online through Matt's Gallery Vimeo page.
A publication with an essay by David Toop and drawings by Paul McCarthy, published by Matt’s Gallery will be available free to visitors throughout the event.
TAPS is supported by a Legacy: Thinker in Residence Award to Anne Bean.
Legacy is a collaboration between the Live Art Development Agency and Tate Research, financially assisted by Arts Council England and the Live Art Development Agency. Legacy acknowledges the outstanding bodies of work of two artists who have influenced the development of the Live Art field by supporting them to think about the legacies of performance in art historical contexts and examine the processes and challenges of archiving live work. The Legacy recipients are Anne Bean and Tim Etchells. Further information http://www.thisisliveart.co.uk
Artist profiles
Further exhibitions at Matt’s Gallery
Anne Bean, Angus Braithwaite, Nina Davies, Benedict Drew, Lucy Gunning, Lawrence Lek, Zein Majali, Hardeep Pandhal, Paul Tarragó, Carolyn Thompson, Alison Turnbull and Joseph Walsh
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Nine Elms, Etc Space
Naomi Pearce and Robin Klassnik
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Outset Archive on the Mezzanine at Matt’s Gallery
Anne Bean
Autobituary
15 March – 7 May 2006
Copperfield Road
Anne Bean
Radiant Fields
11 – 27 August 2000
Copperfield Road
Robin Klassnik
Yellow Postal Sculpture
27 – 31 January 1999
Copperfield Road
Robin Klassnik and Tom Clark
Five Pheromones: The Incomplete Documentation
8 – 16 March 1980
Martello Street
Richard Wilson
watertable
16 March – 15 May 1994
Copperfield Road
Richard Wilson
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
13 – 23 April 1989
Martello Street
Richard Wilson
20:50
7 – 22 February 1987
Martello Street
Richard Wilson
Sheer Fluke
19 – 27 January 1985
Martello Street