Dan Graham
Performer/Audience/Mirror, 1975
Documentation of the performance
at Video Free America in San Francisco
Video, black and white, sound, 22 min 52 sec
Recorded at Video Free America in San Francisco, this work is a phenomenological
inquiry into the audience/performer relationship and the
notion of subjectivity/objectivity. Graham stands in front of a mirrored
wall facing a seated audience; he describes the audience’s movements
and what they signify. He then turns and describes himself and the
audience in the mirror. Graham writes: “Through the use of the mirror
the audience is able to instantaneously perceive itself as a public mass
(as a unity), offsetting its definition by the performer(’s discourse). The
audience sees itself reflected by the mirror instantly while the performer’s
comments are slightly delayed. First, a person in the audience sees
himself ‘objectively’ (‘subjectively’) perceived by himself, next he hears
himself described ‘objectively’ (‘subjectively’) in terms of the performer’s
perception.” (SR-KA)
GF0001910.00.0-1999
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