To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desperation

Berlin artists Boudry / Lorenz present a video adaptation of the piece To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desperation, which the composer Pauline Oliveros wrote in 1970 after reading the text Scum Manifesto by Valerie Solanas (who is also known for shooting Andy Warhol).

The piece To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desperation values the unpredictable and unknowable possibilities that might be activated by not specifying pitches and rhythms. Nothing is known in advance of making the music. The instructions are chosen in order to insist on “a continuous circulation of power“ (Oliveros) between listening and sounding - a give and take that requires, as Oliveros says, an unusual attention to the relationship between oneself and others. The film introduces the 16mm-camera as an additional performer, who constantly moves and interacts with individuals or groups of performers.

The work poses the question of the possibilities and limits of a politics of musical and filmic forms. Can sounds, rhythms and light produce queer relations?

Can they become revolutionary?

Exhibition from April 29th to May 27th, 2016
Opening Friday April 29th, 6pm to 9pm
Artist Talk 7pm