High Line Art Performance: Alison Knowles, Make a Salad
Sunday, April 22, 2012, from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
On the High Line at West 16th Street
High Line Art, presented by Friends of the High Line, is pleased to announce that Alison Knowles will re-stage her iconic Fluxus event score Make a Salad to launch HIGH LINE ART PERFORMANCES, a new series that transforms the park into an open-air theater with performances on and around the High Line. Make a Salad will take place on the High Line at West 16th Street on Sunday, April 22, 2012 (Earth Day) between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM.
Alison Knowles is known for her performances, installations, sound works, and her association with Fluxus, the international art movement that emphasizes the fusion of art and life through actions marked by playfulness, simplicity, and chance. In the 1960s, Knowles was an active participant in the New York City downtown artist community, working amongst artists such as Marcel Duchamp and John Cage. It was at that time that she started producing “event scores,” or everyday activities transformed into performances with a musical accompaniment.
Originally performed in London, UK at the Institute of Contemporary Art in 1962, her iconic event score Make a Salad has been re-staged several times in cities around the world, including in London at Tate Modern in 2008. The event starts with live music, played by Joshua Selman, while the artist and her daughter Jessica Higgins prepare the salad ingredients by chopping them to the musical beat. The music continues while the artists mix the salad by tossing it in the air in a grandiose gesture. After the mixing is complete, the artists serve the salad to the audience as the live music continues.
Make a Salad will be performed on the High Line in the Chelsea Market Passage, the semi-enclosed passageway on the High Line at West 16th Street. At 10:00 AM, the artists will begin preparing the salad ingredients on the upper-level of the passageway. (Salad ingredients will include enough locally-sourced escarole, romaine, frisée, carrots, cucumbers, onions, celery, and mushrooms for up to 1,000 people.) At 12:00 PM, the artists will toss the salad from the upper-level to the lower-level of the passageway, and then begin serving it to the audience at 12:15 PM. Make a Salad is free and open to the public.
“Alison Knowles is an influential figure in contemporary art and in the world of performance,” said Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Curator and Director of High Line Art. “I look forward to re-staging her legendary work for the first time in a public space in New York City. The performance will unite the playfulness of a great artist with the joy of sharing a communal meal at a breathtaking location on the High Line.”
Alison Knowles’ Make a Salad launches HIGH LINE ART PERFORMANCES, a series of open-air performances on and around the High Line. Upcoming HIGH LINE ART PERFORMANCES include two works by other acclaimed female artists: Poem Opera / The Divided Person by Channa Horwitz (May 17) and Huddle by Simone Forti (May 24).
About Alison Knowles
Alison Knowles was born in New York City in 1933. She is a visual artist known for her sound works, installation, performances, publications, and her collaborations with John Cage and Dick Higgins. Knowles has been the recipient of a numerous grants and awards, including a Documenta Professorships at the Kunstakaedmie Kassel, and the College Art Association Lifetime Achievement Award. Her work has been shown at the Whitney Museum, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; the 1983 Venice Biennale, Venice, IT; and the Guggenheim Museum, NY. She has performed at the Dia Foundation, NY; Museum of Modern Art, Strasbourg, DE; Museum of Modern Art, Marseilles, FR; and the Whitney Museum, NY.
About Jessica Higgins
Jessica Higgins is an improvisational dancer, performance artist, and visual artist. She lives and works in New York City and Massachusetts. She is the daughter of Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles. She has direct experiential knowledge of Fluxus, having spent her early years emerged in the culture by way of the original members and by participating in historic Fluxus events. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York, and she has attended Art Students League and Parsons School of Design. She had major exhibitions at Ryerson Theater, Toronto, Canada (2010); Scandinavia House, New York (2010); Emily Harvey Foundation and Gallery, New York (2010, 1999); Lance Fung Gallery, New York (2002, 1998); and J+J Donguy Gallery, Paris, France (1997).
About Joshua Selman
Joshua Selman practices public space intervention, large-scale installation, cultural-strategy, critical journalism, and applied new media. He has made major sound works including several with Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne, Germany, as well as performance and objects. Selman has worked extensively with Alison Knowles and Dick Higgins. He has served as Executive Director of The International Artists Museum, New York Center, Inc. He is the Founder of Artist Organized Art, the parent company of New Observations.
Support
This High Line Art Performance is presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art is made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr., additional support from Vital Projects Fund, Inc. This program is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties.
