'Performer/Audience/Mirror' at London's Lisson Gallery

Installation view of Greek Meander Pavilion, room with slate grey floor, white walls, suspended white ceiling with skylights and spotlights around the edge, wooden frame construction with blue glass panel dividers and white floor

'Performer/Audience/Mirror' at Lisson Gallery London directly draws on the 1977 performance of the same name by artist Dan Graham; but it comprises a comprehensive history of artistic films since the 1960s. Pictured: installation view of Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shōji Screen Version, by Dan Graham, 2001

(Image credit: Ken Adlard. © Dan Graham. Courtesy Lisson Gallery)

By Elly Parsons

last updated 23 August 2022

in Features

Finding interesting ways of presenting video-art is never easy. Lisson Gallery's summer exhibition, 'Performance/Audience/Mirror', aims to step away from the 'uncomfortable chairs in a dark screening room' concept by reaching outside the walls of the London gallery through a programme of live, online screenings designed to provoke world-wide debate. This virtual element 'not only allows global access to the exhibition but also highlights the democratic nature of film while calling into question issues facing artists who work in this discipline', explains curator Emma Gifford-Mead.

The show's title is drawn from Dan Graham’s 1977 performance of the same name, at De Appel Arts Centre in Amsterdam. Contrasting the web screenings, the exhibition also makes use of an intensely intimate, gallery-bound viewing installation, in the form of Graham's 2001 work, Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shōji Screen Version, where the 'audience' third of the exhibition is held. The pavilion shows a range of films from the 1960s to the present day on a screen encased between two-way mirrors and Japanese-inspired shōji panels. Films can be viewed from inside or outside of the pavilion, along with any gallery-goers who might be exploring inside – so audience members become an integral part of the viewing experience, as opposed to those who might be watching at home on their laptops.

The latter two sections, 'performance' and 'mirror' are more traditional in layout, but they feature some of the exhibition's real gems. These include the UK debut of a darkly comic claymation, Worship (2016), by Swedish duo Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg, and the rarely seen SPEAK. by British conceptualist John Latham – a psychedelic, ten-minute snapshot of the 1960s.

The show contributes to London's recent love-affair with technological, performative art (think of Whitechapel Gallery's 'Techtonic Superhighway' or 'Performing for the Camera' at Tate Modern), but also follows an increasing number of exhibitions that include a virtual element, like Bruno Ceschel's app-based photography interactions, and The Supermarket's online gallery space. The result is a winning mix of personal, intimate performances and web-friendly progression.

Close up of Installation view of Greek Meander Pavilion, room with slate grey floor, white walls, suspended white ceiling with skylights and spotlights around the edge, wooden frame construction with blue glass panel dividers and white floor — Graham's pavilion creates an intimate sculptural environment to explore the significance of architecture and space in film, while allowing the audience to more actively engage with the works on view. It is here that the 'audience' section of the show is based. Pictured: installation view of *Greek Meander Pavilion, Open Shōji Screen Version*, by Dan Graham, 2001

Black and white image, wooden floor, mirrored wall reflectinb the room of a seated small audience, a bearded male performer in shirt and jeans, with hands in pockets stood next to a microphone stand — Pictured: a still from Performer/Audience/Mirror

White darkened room, grey floor, two stool seats centre, projection screen on the wall of a beach, blue sky, sand, man lay under a palm tree, grass verge, blue sea — The latter two sections, 'performance' and 'mirror' are more traditional in layout, with darkened screening rooms favoured over two-way mirrors and pavilions. Pictured: installation view of *Vexation Island*, by Rodney Graham, 1997

White darkened room, grey floor, two stool seats centre, projection screen on the wall of a caricature female in a bikini, jacket, socks and shoes, long wavy black hair, model banana on the ground against a blue background — One of the exhibition's real gems is the UK debut of a darkly comic claymation, *Worship* (2016), by Swedish duo Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg

White darkened room, grey floor, two stool seats centre, projection screen on the wall, man in a supermarket, holding a bow aiming an arrow into an open frozen compartment in the middle of a shopping aisle, surrounded by stacked shelves of food items — Installation view of *The Hunt*, Christian Jankowski's 1992 performance video piece.

White darkened room, grey floor, two stool seats centre, projection screen on the wall of a German shepherd type dog with a KFC bucket on its head, stood on sandy ground — Installation view of *How to Appear Invisible*, by Allora & Calzadilla, 2008

White darkened room, grey floor, two stool seats centre, projection screen on the wall of a desert, rock mound with a doorway and a line of four people in desert clothing walking out into the surroundings, blue hazy sky — The result of the show's keen curation is winning mix of intensely personal performances in a web-friendly setting. Pictured: installation view of *Telematch shelter*, by Wael Shawky, 2008

INFORMATION

'Performer/Audience/Mirror' is on view until 27 August. For more information, visit the Lisson Gallery website

ADDRESS

Lisson Gallery
52 Bell Street
London, NW1 5DA

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Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.