“Recuperating Performance”
Publication information:
Lambert-Beatty C. “Recuperating Performance.” In: Friedman L, editor. Allora & Calzadilla: Gloria. U.S. Pavilion, 54th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale Di Venezia. Prestell; 2011.
Abstract
On the aesthetics and politics of recuperation. Dances are listened to, pianists play upside-down and backwards, and audiences re-tune their senses in Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla's inventive works of "delegated performance" (Bishop). I articulate the reparative dimensions of their practice, and its provocative resonances: between physical and mental recovery from war's violence; the desire to restore the meaning of politically-appropriated works of art; and the transformative potential of art itself.