From the press release, 2004: This is the first exhibition in room 1 presenting works from or in relation to the collection during the spring 2004. Janine Antoni's video work "Touch" is a development of her installation "Moor", made for the 2001 exhibition "Free Port". It consists of objects given to the artist by friends and acquaintances which she tied together to form a 78 metre long rope.
After having learnt rope making, Antoni has continued to work with challenges relating to ropes. She has mastered the skill of tightrope walking, which she uses in her video "Touch". When she balances near the sea, the rope is difficult to discern. At times it seems as if she is walking on the horizon. Janine Antoni's friends and acquaintances who provided material for "Moor" also wrote short stories relating to their contributions.
The stories were not part of the 2001 exhibition, but are now presented together with the rope in a book published by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and SITE Santa Fe.
Janine Antoni. Born 1964, Freeport, Bahamas. Lives and works in New York City.
This is the first exhibition in Room 1 presenting works from or in relation to the collection during the spring 2004. The exhibitions will run for a shorter time than the other exhibitions. One or a few works, by a single artist, will be shown at each time.
Janine Antoni's video work "Touch" is a development of her installation "Moor", which is part of Collection Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall. "Moor" was made for the 2001 exhibition "Free Port". It consists of objects given to the artist by friends and acquaintances which she tied together to form a 78 metre long rope. The rope, with its memories and narratives, meandered through the exhibition spaces. Half of it continued outside the building and was moored to a lifeboat in the port. "Moor" is a work that develops. For an exhibition at SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, the rope was extended with six metres of new contributions, adding new narratives.
After having learnt rope making, Antoni has continued to work with challenges relating to ropes. She has mastered the skill of tightrope walking, which she uses in her video "Touch". When she balances near the sea, the rope is difficult to discern. At times it seems as if she is walking on the horizon. Despite the fact that it is not a physical place, Antoni sees the horizon as a space of desire and wishes. She writes, "...if I could walk anywhere, where would I walk? And that brought me to the horizon line... Just to be able to balance there for a second was a way of bringing you to the point of desire."
Janine Antoni's friends and acquaintances who provided material for "Moor" also wrote short stories relating to their contributions. The stories were not part of the 2001 exhibition, but are now presented together with the rope in a book published by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and SITE Santa Fe.
CONTENTS:
A collection of stories connected to the materials of the work "Moor" - a 78 meter long rope made of objects and materials given to the artist by her friends and family.
Artist's book, limited edition. ISBN 91-974236-2-9
52 pages. Color. Hard cover. Texts in English.
Published by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall and SITE Santa Fe, 2004.
Price: 300 SEK (approx. 31 EUR)
MOOR by Janine Antoni
(...) and Paul's shirt is entwined with Melissa's skirt accidentally acquired when she left a house sitting situation which did not end on the best of terms and she did not stay in contact with them, nor did she return the skirt and Melissa's skirt is entwined with an Oscar the Grouch scarf that was a gift from her sister and she never favored the color or the length or the style and in fact, it is more like something her sister would buy for herself than something Melissa would actually wear and Melissa's scarf is entwined with leftover gray fabric from Danielle's sculpture The Pet and she loves this sculpture despite all of its problems and it looks like a big rock and has a camera that films itself and a little of what is behind it, and it has also a leash so you can take it for a walk and, although it doesn't need pet food, it is very high maintenance and Danielle's fabric is entwined with Doug's industrial power cord from 1992 when he moved into the studio above mine on Warren Street and Doug's cord is entwined with my brother Brian's favorite shirt that reminds him of (...)
(Excerpt from the book "Moor" by Janine Antoni, 2003.)
WORK IN THE EXHIBITION
"Touch", 2002
Video installation with audio, 9.37 mins.
