A Three Piece Suite by Wendy Perron, and: Swell by Susan Rethorst, and: How Long Will it Take You To Pack by Christina Svane (review)

somebody acted upon, identified from without-but shadow-like, with a painful idea of-a self different from the one projected. The narration focused on the mutilation of self (womon) by social (uncontrollable?) forces in an accusatory fashion-thus rendering that self (womon) passive, alienated and seemingly with no chance to break the distortion of imposed self/image. The self as projected image never aligned itself to its inner dialogue that could lift the veil from the very private sphere so that the Medusa's face (the seemingly external enemies?) could be turnedand seen as/for what it is-Ms. Hartnett's own! para (as a form the that or d man (pas artis with prov ble Art i sym of o lecti AI Carolee Schneemann's performance piece Dirty Pictures, Dirty Pictures, was a more in- myri tricate piece. Characteristically, Ms. Schee- We mann used her own body (self) as the myr converging as well as diverging vantage We point of observation; objects such as myr flashlights used for their defined purpose, to see better, and clothing used to cover or uncover were part of the performance. Various "dirty" pictures as well as not-so-dirty ones were projected on three screens behind a white-clothed table on which Ms. Schneemann at one point framed parts of her body with a neon-lit cylindrical object-thus connecting the picture of a girl looking through a keyhole mentioned earlier with an audience looking through a "keyhole onto areas of bodily (erotic) taboos. The piece invariably deals with prejudices-such as the language of sex (eroticism) being masculine, or such as sex being dirty. By the way of the keyhole concept-looking at someoneisomething without being seen-she seems to be placing the audience in a position of voyeurism. The keyhole is also related to the vagina-looking from one side it is from where we emerge- looking (peeping); from the other side it is where men gaze into a mysterious ("dark," "dirty," and "dangerous") cave! Ms., Schneemann seems to be one of the few womyn artists attempting to break through pornography by creating womon erotica that often makes womyn-and men(?) laugh. All of the performances used art as a digmior womon's inquiry into womon verb); the inquiry in most of these perances remained fragmented. Basically node was descriptive which is not to say one could not detect specific attitudes irections but simply that the perforces stayed in a realm of hesitant sive) search. Obviously the womyn i's personal/private experiences aligned her art have the power to affect change iding the private is translated into tangiand comprehensible imagery/language. s/becomes a method or a ground forlof bolic interraction, communicating truth bserver and observed-dialogue of diac between self and image. aren't simply painting one painting, but ad paintings aren't simply writing one monologue, but lad dialogues aren't simply singing one song, but lad choral works. Ingid Nyeboe Wendy Perron, A Three Piece Suite. SusanRethorst, Swell. Cunningham Studio (February). Christina Svane, How Long Willit Take You To Pack. St. Mark's Parish Hall (March). Susan Rethorst seems Interested In logginghours in a studio, exploring and discovering ways to move which are uniquely hers, ways which are not necessarily comfortable or pretty or exciting. She Is not concerned with collecting as many kinds of movement material as possible nor with presenting visions . This Is to her credit because now her work appears Inimitable, totally focused on its own kinetic possibilities. Rethorst emphatically uses the mass of her own weight. She refuses to set up harmonious phrases of shapes and often picks the least direct and most physically taxing way to get from one place to another. In classical modern dance terms, her movement is limited because it uses only the mediumto -low levels of space; she rarely stands up straight. Because Rethorst's work Is original, i.e., recognizable, It has become a style. In Swell, a large group piece using nine women, the kinetic Impulses which appear so Inevitable on Rethorst seem to be just shapes when performed by other dancers. When a movement style is transferred from the maker onto a group it...