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Art, Performance, Media
31 Interviews
Nicholas Zurbrugg, editor
$25.95 Paper
ISBN: 0-8166-3833-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-3833-8$78.00 Cloth
ISBN: 0-8166-3832-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-3832-1
Avant-garde artists discuss their work, their lives, the art world—and each other.
Over the course of fifteen years, Nicholas Zurbrugg interviewed the avant-garde poets, filmmakers, dancers, writers, composers, and performance artists who were defying tradition, crossing genres, and forever changing how art would be created, performed, and interpreted. These conversations with thirty-one of the leading multimedia artists in the United States now form a comprehensive record, from the insiders’ perspectives, of the most vital component of the postmodern American art world.
Passionate about postmodernism and committed to innovative creativity, Zurbrugg asks these artists probing and insightful questions. How did their work evolve? Who most influenced them? How did they assess changes in contemporary art, and what did they think of each other’s work? Which of their experiences had the most powerful effects on their creative development? What could lie ahead for American art? As these questions are answered by individual artists, the interviews also cumulatively address larger issues of artistic expression, including the idea of the avant-garde itself.
The book features interviews with Kathy Acker, Charles Amirkhanian, Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley, Beth B, David Blair, William S. Burroughs, Warren Burt, John Cage, Richard Foreman, Kenneth Gaburo, Diamanda Galás, John Giorno, Philip Glass, Brion Gysin, Dick Higgins, Jenny Holzer, Mike Kuchar, Robert Lax, Jackson Mac Low, Meredith Monk, Nam June Paik, Yvonne Rainer, Steve Reich, Rachel Rosenthal, Bill Viola, Larry Wendt, Emmett Williams, Robert Wilson, Nick Zedd, and Ellen Zweig. Introductory notes to each interview provide context and connect the work and experiences of various artists, and photographs of these artists contribute a significant visual element to the book.
“Thanks to the perseverance, dynamic personality, knowledge and understanding, Zurbrugg has given us a mirror of those cutting-edge artists who emerged from the 1960s onward, who wrote, made videos, performed, danced, made music and so much more, all ephemeral, all fleeting except for people like Zurbrugg who captured their thoughts on paper through conversation. This is a must!” —Umbrella
Nicholas Zurbrugg (1947–2001) was professor of English and cultural studies, as well as director of the Centre of Contemporary Arts, at De Montfort University in Leicester, England. He is the author of The Parameters of Postmodernism and Critical Vices: The Myths of Postmodern Theory.
384 pages | 65 halftones | 7 x 10 | 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction1. Kathy Acker
2. Charles Amirkhanian
3. Laurie Anderson
4. Robert Ashley
5. Beth B
6. David Blair
7. William S. Burroughs
8. Warren Burt
9. John Cage
10. Richard Foreman
11. Kenneth Gaburo
12. Diamanda Galás
13. John Giorno
14. Philip Glass
15. Brion Gysin
16. Dick Higgins
17. Jenny Holzer
18. Mike Kuchar
19. Robert Lax
20. Jackson Mac Low
21. Meredith Monk
22. Nam June Paik
23. Yvonne Rainer
24. Steve Reich
25. Rachel Rosenthal
26. Bill Viola
27. Larry Wendt
28. Emmett Williams
29. Robert Wilson
30. Nick Zedd
31. Ellen ZweigBiographies