BURNAWAY » Video: Shana Robbins’s Supernatural Conductor

Video: Shana Robbins’s Supernatural Conductor

Written By Kombo Chapfika on July 7, 2010 in Events, Photo Tours

Click the video above to see excerpts of Shana Robbins’s performance of Supernatural Conductor from Friday’s opening at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

My favorite moment is near the beginning when she first enters the space; the men right in front of her look absolutely terrified.

The Contemporary will host a curator talk with Stuart Horodner this Thursday, July 15, 6:30-7:30PM, and an artist talk with Shana Robbins this Saturday, July 17, 11AM–12PM.

Share and Enjoy:

Category: Events, Photo Tours |
Tags: eco feminism, live art exhibitions, location and the public sphere, performance art, ReModernism, Shana Robbins, Supernatural Conductor, VIDEO, you can do magic

http://www.ktauches.com ktauches

well, I give shana credit for being so ambitious. performance art in a large space is a multi-faceted challenge. I rather enjoyed walking in to discover the coffin, with shana in it, burried in the far window. . . real lightening flashing outside (how’d she do that?). . . the crowd was really amped up in magical anticipation. . .but it kind of fell apart from there.

this show is a perfect example of how big crowds can actually detract from a fine art experience. it was hot and difficult to see and hear, nuances were lost. . . the audience was clearly frustrated. . . a lesson for all of us artists.
Anya

Karen, could you explain more what you mean about the audience being frustrated…for thos eof us who weren’t there….i would be interested to hear more about the experience…would it have been better if it was on a stage…if the audience was seated? interested to hear what you experienced…
Yasdzro

Interesting experience….to happen upon a buried performing artist while at a gallery. The video left out the gravedigger exhuming the body…anticipated her falling through the ceiling instead of walking through the door. The artist clearly has an interest in the macabre, doilies, pop culture, nature, simplicity, trees, herself…..just not sure how they all fit together. I had a bad dream later that night. Maybe that was the point?
http://andyimm.com Andy Imm

Both in death and resurrection, Shana creates a beautiful array of intricate patterns. She begins with a wonderful display of mesmerizing motionlessness. Beyond the grave, she is a bit lost in the crowd but hey; get out of the way, because she’s spinning an elegantly woven web.

Shana’s sculptures succeed and it would be nice to see them better blended with her use of lights. In areas, without the gritty and raw aesthetics, her symbolism fell short. I get the sense that a lot of dollars were spent on these “natural” objects, i.e. geodes and other crystals. It reminds me of that one store, what’s it called?… anthrop-ol-ogy.

Her self-portraits are camouflaged in meaning. They unnecessarily reinforce her videos and paragraphs. I wish that she would elaborate more on her magical visions and myths.

She used a wide range of mediums: performance, sculpture, drawing, video, painting, textiles and lights. Her passion is obvious in each piece. Only the future knows what will happen next.
http://www.throwsheet.com robin bernat

First off, I want to say that it was a joy to see The Contemporary presenting work by a local artist and to have so many people in attendance. I hope that will resonate with curators and administrators that our community values the work of our colleagues and we are eager to see it presented alongside other nationally-visible artists without the label “Georgia artist” or “regional artist” that has become a kind of pejorative remark. Interesting, nationally-significant work is being made right here and the public deserves to see and to hear more about it.

That said, it is a pity that Shana’s exhibition and performance fell short of expectations but I attribute it less to the worthiness of her work and more to poor planning. “Supernatural Conductor” seems to have disregarded the presence of an audience. It is helpful to see the 4 min video because, despite being in attendance for the whole if it, I saw nothing except for the last minute of her movement around the gallery. It is especially a pity that so many people were in attendance and left feeling either bewildered or frustrated.

Many interesting objects were on view; however, their arrangement around the gallery did not reinforce their visual power. I could not help but look around the room and imagine entirely new arrangements into media families of sorts – costumed mannequins in one section, works on paper arranged salon-style, and the video perhaps in the small adjacent gallery where one might be afforded more of an opportunity for reflection – to intensify their presence, craftsmanship and meaningfulness. Likewise, I would have much preferred that the “main action,” aside from the view into the coffin, occur on a not-so-tall platform as to become a stage but high enough and centrally placed so that the audience could actually experience whatever it was Shana had in mind.
I even imagined her beautiful curtain of doilies situated more theatrically and appropriately moveable to reveal her repertoire of movement.

The pianist was a nice touch…but even this component of the performance was undermined by the unwieldy audience who were not given a physical or psychic space to experience this prelude and the potentially magical transformation that was predicted to occur.

I give Shana enormous credit for undertaking such a ambitious project! I wonder what sort of support she had at her disposal for realizing her vision in the most effective way.
http://www.ktauches.com ktauches

anya– I’m glad you brought up the question as to why she didn’t use a stage. elevation of the performance could have been helpful. but there might have been other solutions as well.

being a performance artist yourself, I wonder how you feel about the use of a conventional stage in the context of fine art. there’s a certain ghettoization that happens when the stage is rolled in. shana probably wants to distinguish her work from that of an actor in theatre. but on the other hand. . .what she presented is very much like a theatre piece: props, narrative, entertainment, and costume playing prominent roles (pun intended : ) .

. . .perhaps sound, live-feed video or lighting of the entire space could have been better used to distribute the experience for all the audience. or perhaps the piece should have been simplified to suit the needs of a crowd.

either way, it is impressive that local performance art is that popular.
Jeremy Abernathy

Update: The Contemporary reports in an email Monday that the performance was approximately 40 minutes long. The performance begins with piano playing, and then the piano player unearths the performer. Our camera picks up there: The performer enters the gallery and goes behind the title installation Supernatural Conductor, emerges as a transformed figure, and moves through the crowd.

The still artworks accompanying the performance included large sculptural installation, three photographs, six mixed-media works on paper, four mannequins with costumes and additional natural elements, and two videos, a projection and on flat screen.

The music was a compilation put together by the artist which included early techno music samples, field recordings, Inuit voice recordings, and “You Can Do Magic” by America.
http://shanarobbins.com Shana Robbins

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful remarks. In retrospect, if I had known that so many people were coming, I would have extended the doily pathway (post-coffin) around the room and through the crowd, as I did in the dance at the end of the performance. A stage would not have suited my purposes simply because of the type of intimacy and interaction with the audience I was striving for, especially in the final Monstrous Feminine dance (breaking the “4th wall” so to speak). Karen, there are types of theater that I definitely have an affinity with: Grotowski’s Poor theatre, Artaud, etc., so that reference suits me fine relative to my intentions for each specific performance. To be honest with you, I had no earthly idea that 500 people would attend the performance. I was expecting maybe 200! (Live and learn!) On one hand, I am excited and flattered. On the other, I view this as a learning experience in “crowd control” and organizing a performance space. There were two different layers unfolding and overlapping in gallery that had to be considered: the performance and the “exhibition”. There was also the challenge of creating “vignettes” within a large open space and interacting with an installation placed intentionally around the room as well as in a corner “webspace.” A question is evoked in my mind now: Where does an artist draw the line between accommodating an audience within a performance art piece and successfully realizing a specific conceptual/emotional vision within the confines of a particular space, place, or circumstance? How much of that is beyond the artist’s control? How much “planning” should one do within performance art?
As far as the installation, including the costumes, objects, videos, and paintings, I must say I am very happy with the layout, especially seeing the exhibition now, post-performance.
I do regret that many people were not able to see the live performance because of overcrowding. We will be having a video screening at the Contemporary at some point soon.
Thanks again for your feedback!
SR
http://www.kombochapfika.com Kombo

The hungry crowd made it a bit of an adventure to get a good view and shoot footage. I was bemused by the almost fearful reverence some people displayed when SR first entered the space, it was in sharp contrast to the social buzz prior to the commencement of the performance. I palpably felt the crowd’s diffuse attention shift and focus sharply.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pressstarttobegin Ashley Anderson

Shana’s first form was plenty terrifying, Kombo. She was right in front of me and the gaze she was putting down was ferocious and steely. It was also weird because, having never seen a performance piece before, I had a weird conflict regarding whether I should look her in the eye or not. I guess it was a little like theater that way for me, not wanting to intrude on her mental (or aesthetic?) “space”. She was in the zone, though. It was a good first exposure for me, definitely. Plus the objects were awesome in their own right. Definitely going to the artist talk this Saturday.