Neil Armstrong "A marriage of sorts"
12.12.1979
de Appel, Brouwersgracht 196, Amsterdam
de Appel, Brouwersgracht 196, Amsterdam
A marriage of sorts I
A marriage of sorts II
A marriage of sorts I
A marriage of sorts II
‘In this work I concentrated on physical gestures. I followed the movements of the participants [David and Lynne] with a video camera, zooming in and out to emphasize some of the aspects. Visual rhetoric, so to speak. In the first part of the video (the conversation) I wanted to make sure this visual emphasis could clearly be seen, because what was spoken during the live performance would not be heard from the mouth of the person who had originally said it. I – the performer – repeated what was spoken by the two conversational partners in the form of a monologue. The video was not to be a static repetition, but was to emphasize certain aspects. Through this manipulation I became closely drawn into the conversation, albeit non-verbally. What it boils down to is that I enter into a ‘marriage’ with the situation, as it were; that’s why the topic of the conversation is fixed beforehand. This restructuring is the creative act.’ (Neil Armstrong, invitation De Appel, december 1979.)