Audio Arts: Volume 15 No 4

00:00:01 Simon Patterson in conversation with Mel Gooding. Simon Patterson is recorded in conversation with writer Mel Gooding at his exhibition at the Lisson Gallery on 23 March 1996. Their discussion covers four of the main exhibits, beginning with Sister Ships, created originally for the Customs House Gallery at South Shields on Tyneside. While in certain respects reflecting Patterson's concerns with specific geographical and historical contexts, this four-piece work, fabricated mainly in steel, constitutes his first major essay in transportable object sculpture. Maintaining the nautical theme, so to speak, the next work considered is Untitled, a large three-part installation of yacht sails floor-mounted on cross beams, which dominates the lower gallery. As the discussion proceeds to take account of Words Fly Up, an installation of silk-sailed box kites, and of a series of silkscreen-printed paintings based on a systematic ringing of colour changes on the periodic table, it becomes clear that the thematic coherence of Patterson's presentation is not without its elements of wayward visual and intellectual play, and that the closely considered relation of one work to another does not deprive any of them of either visual or conceptual autonomy'. 00:29:11 Lecture by Rose Finn-Kelcey. Early on in her career, Rose Finn-Kelcey painted her bedroom International Klein Blue. Subsequently she discovered a number of connections between her own biography and interests and those of Yves Klein. During the exhibition of Klein's work at the Hayward Gallery in 1995, Finn-Kelcey gave a talk during which these links were explored. The lecture centred on an analysis of Klein's Leap Into the Void the image in which he apparently launches himself from the roof of a building in a Paris suburb. Finn-Kelcey takes the image as a jumping-off point for a discussion of some of her own work, as well as considering its genesis and construction, and the importance it had for Klein. The poster advertising the exhibition also used the montage, which has become almost emblematic of Klein and his attitude to art in the years since his death. Before giving the talk, Finn-Kelcey spent some time in front of a poster in the underground, stopping passengers and asking what significance the image had for them. Here, an edited version of Finn-Kelcey's talk is accompanied by several of the responses she received from the public. (Production edited by Michael Archer). 00:44:18 Miroslaw Balka interviewed by Andrew Brighton. In the first part of this discussion recorded at the Tate Gallery, London, Miroslaw Balka talks to Andrew Brighton, Head of Events at the Tate Gallery, about his large architecturally scaled sculptural works titled Dawn presented there in 1995. The surfaces of one of these pieces, '250 x 120 x 5,250 x 120 x 5' (cm) consisting of 'room-like' spaces, evoked a haunting and archetypal sense of the familiar. This was created by a patina on the metal surfaces which evoked the residue of previous human presences, and of various undisclosed uses associated with occupancy with the passing of time. Brighton starts by asking a series of questions about the materiality of the sculptures as a way of gaining an intimacy with the works prior to a more interpretive and analytical discussion. In responding, Balka speaks about his use of steel and its discoloration through natural weathering and through applying acids to achieve similar effects artificially. Other materials used by the artist in his works and referred to here, include ash, soap, salt and linoleum. The artist then discusses the floating effect achieved as a result of raising the sculpture slightly off the ground and the relationships of the works with his own bodily scale. Finally, architectural references are discussed as well as another piece which comprised a strip of steel attached high up around the wall of the gallery which, like most of his sculpture, the artist believes could have many functions and interpretations, and he adds: 'l wanted to keep the order of things which are under this line, so it is rather repressive.'

00:00:01 Tony Oursler interviewed by Michael Archer. Tony Oursler's effigies are unsettling presences. Limp collections of clothing are brought to life through the projection of videoed faces onto their blank, white heads. He likes to call them dummies since that implies that they do not speak, but of course they do. The onlooker is unable to escape the sensation that he or she is being directly addressed by these strange and very human creatures. For his exhibition at the Lisson Gallery in early 1996 Oursler continued his exploration of media culture. The show calls up many parallels between the apparently senseless mutterings of those wandering the streets talking to imaginary companions, and the normal behavior of us all when we interact and converse with telephones and other items of communication technology. Oursler here discusses the various works in the show, all recent, and the thematic connections between them. Inversion, Flower Wall, Satan's Daughter, and Early Deprivation of Empathic Care - in which a large heart and a small brain engage each other in conversation - are among those referred to. Some of the sources for his scripts are examined, as is the importance of conceptualism as a resource and reference point, particularly the work of Dan Graham. Ultimately Oursler stresses that his art makes its meanings within the everyday media flow that surrounds and saturates us all. 00:18:42 Annie Sprinkle interviewed by Gray Watson. Annie Sprinkle, who has described herself as a 'post-porn modernist', was born Ellen Steinberg in 1954 in Philadelphia. Discovering her enthusiasm for sex at the age of seventeen, she was soon working as a prostitute and porn star, experiences she regards as crucially valuable. She played a leading part in P.O.N.Y.(Prostitute of New York), an offshoot of the San Francisco prostitutes' group C.O.Y.O.T.E.(Call Off Your Tired Old Ethics), and campaigned for more open-minded moral attitudes. Her work in the context of the sex industry shaded gradually into her work in the context of art, where she found a new freedom, making her own films, videos and photographs as well as conceptual works and performances, on several occasions collaborating with other artists including Veronica Vera and especially Linda Montano. Amongst her most famous performance actions was the invitation to audience members to look inside her vagina with the help of a flashlight and a speculum. Her work is typically both informative and humorous, using material which might be expected to be profoundly shocking in such a way that it becomes perfectly normal and acceptable. More recently, she has developed a new persona: from the raunchy, extrovert Annie has come the more mature, caring Anya who seeks awareness and wants a spiritual connection. In March 1996 she was in London, to take part in the I.C.A's Rapture season, accompanied by the young woman with whom she enjoys a loving - and monogamous - relationship. Over tea and biscuits she talked to Gray Watson, critic and writer, about, amongst other things, sex and sensuality, feminism, her new persona, the dangers of female-to-male transsexual surgery, and why she loves art audiences. 00:34:38 Patrick Wright soundwork. 00:41:09 Ian Breakwell soundwork. 00:47:01 Helen Chadwick interview and soundwork. Helen Chadwick, who died in 1996, was a friend and contributor to AUDIO ARTS on a number of occasions. Here in tribute are extracts from two of her recordings.