You are on page 1of 20

The

Museal Turn
Edited by
SABINE COELSCH-FOISNER
and
DOUGLAS BROWN

Assistant Editors
CHRISTOPHER HERZOG
and
ANDREA OBERNDORFER

Universitàtsverlag
WINTER
Heidelberg

vt r t
Nationalbihlnf hek
fuJblosràfi sche lnlotuatior dei Deutschen
diesc PuhìikaÎion
Dì. ù:ùtsche Natioùdbihliolhek rezeichnet
,n Jèr Deúbchtn Ndlionrlhibliogrchc
.ler,nUrrle hibh.srcfi{be Darcn sind im Inl<rner
ijbet hr\Idnb d'nbrle abtnlbnr'

MLt LlnrcbÌúuung
ì!'À'iiì ,o*" * *''"rnis r) ors('cnr' o'd RP"'rch\'
d.rstadt SatburP" '
;".1rnde\ saLhurs xnd der UnÙcbitàr sdlzburg

NH-H*F' sr6or , sl-zrune


ffi
il UI{IVERS|TAT
La.nd Salzlrurg SALZBURG

liegcr bei den Autoren


Dic Reprodùktionsr4hb der Abbildùngen

mr rrcúndlrher r-'enehmrguog
"' "=,X

rssN 9?8 3'8253 6097 9

n "-rè'Lèin{nltÚ|,bxl'er\rÚer leleFrLrh b< rechr li h Escbùtn


r{
Je'le

;:::.,;;J:;.;;:*;:;""'eî ..,,"o/en,re' I rhebene'hr'gP<vs ohoe


in'besonder rù
urd iÉrbdr' DN urr
);:;;ffs';.:.ì6,-u'n"is vLk o\erlìlroÙnPcn und Jic ciNpeichetuP
i
"^",it.'-"*-,, t '.'^dscn
und Vcrarb;nùng in elekforischen
Svslenen'

2 Universnàtverlag winler GnbH


tleidelberg
O 2or
lmDriùe en Al!cdagne Pnnttd in Cemanv
ìr'L.^. M.mi0Acr Vcd'rnr err'1tr 8'7 V"mmÚgPn

gcbleichlen
Cedruckt aulùúweltfreundlichcn chlorfrei
und allcrungsbeslàndigeÚ PaPìcr

Den verlag ereichen Sie im hreflcl Ùnler:


Contents

i SABINE COELSCH FOISNER


The Museal Tum: Inlroduction to a New Concept in Cùltural Studjes I L

. Section I: Museum Pe$Pectives

JoAOtrM ScHwEl\D
- The Museum A Siteof Memoryin Consumer Cullures -" " 19

t Gmr Punsclolo
Museums dnal ihe Historical Anthology of English Verse '- 35

MARLÀ'ANA TUPAN
' Postmodemist Energetics and Pefer Ackroyd's Museum Space "" - 47

PL rtR AssvAr.N |P
Nole\ on the Poliúcal. Economic and Commurucative Dimen'ions
of the Museal Tum ............. 61

Section II: Museum Visiting '


INCRTD KuczYNsKr
hivate Space and Public Access A Paficular Museal Tum - 69

INGRID VON ROSFNBERG


The Musealisation of Everyday Life:
Examples fíom Bdtrain and Germany ... .. .... .. ... " " 8l

INcRtD KuczYNsKl
"A Vast Collection of Marbles" English Tourists ()1'
-
the Eighte€nth Century Coping with Treasures of Italy ..- "" - - 101

JoACHIM ScHwÈl\D
The Queenstown Story Heritage Centre in the Republic of ireland:
A Sense of Place .......-... lr5

"t ú r
I y,
cF'oRoNA GooDLANDER
Altemate Realities: The Art Museum as a Game Platfonn .-......... . . . . .... 127

Section m: Museum NaÍatives

SYLUA KARASTATU
Museum Coing and Art Writing
in A. S. Bvatt'sFiclion.......... . .. .. . .;- .. .. . .. 147

EvA PÉrurz
Robef Hanis's Erigr@ ( 1995) and the Bletchley Park Museum ..-.-.... . .. . 16l

JULIA Nr1'z
The Remn\1ru(lion of lhe Pa\t in \,luseum\:
AViewfromNaratology................-.... .. ............ .. ....... ..... 173

NrNA J(lRcENs
Telling Reprcsentations: The Postmodefiì./Postcolonial Museum
inMuray Bail's Hrr,"ricÀnerr......-.... .....- .. .. ... ..... ... ... ... 189
l\cRtD voN RosL\tsERc -rt
NimriverofslavervinBritr'hMureumJ.ì..................................2Úl

ANDREA Zrrn-AU
The NaÍative Entanglements of the Feejee Mermaid
Dìsplayed at Phineas Taylor Bamum's Amencan Museum
from I il42 ùntil 1856...........................................-...... . . ................ ... .......221

ANNA KÉRCdY
Recycling Waste a-s a Means to Cure Culfiral Trauma
intheArtMuseum........ ......................'.....235

Section IV: Performing the Museum

JoE GRL"
Colnmodiryjng Museums and Classical Artworks
thrcughPopulaÌFictionandFilrns............... .. ... ........ ... ...........49
CLAUDIA JEsc]]I<E
1' Dance Performances as 'Imagined Museums' .. ......,'......,..................263

cHRIsroPHm sÀ{.flr
A Fal(e in a G(u)ilt Frame:
Afan Bennett's A Srsrdon of Attribution ..............................................2'71

CrilARA BTSCELLA
The Museum as Playwright:
ANewStageforCon|emporaryDrama.........................................281

MARTACRTSTINA CA\,EccHr
The New Art Galleries on the Contemporary Bdtish Stage .............. ... 299

Section V: Museum Practice

JL'I-IE BECXER'PROFJOL AND RAPEÀÈL CHANAY


Have Museums Lost Th€ir Voice? .............................-................................ 317

PETER ASSMANN
Alfred Kubin s Poim o$ùiew:
n Possible NanaLrri SLateg) loi Vu'eurns.....................................lll

JwrE BEC(ER-PRoRIoL
Negotiating Naratives:
An Epic Tale of Contemponry Elhibition Making .................................... 339

SEGRTD SCEMTDT
The Educational Museal Tum:
ChangingVisitorsandMuseumTeaching.......-...............................351

MARcn Zuc(xrEc]-
The Crisis of Collectingi
A Statement Regarding aMuseum's Precarious Task. .. .... ...- ...... .. 359

Lrsr oF CoNTR$t'roRs . 363

vt ù {
I

l\'l^RrAcRrsrNA CAvEccHt

The New Art Ga.lleries on the Contemporary British Stage

Summary

From Tom Stoppdrd's pLr! "AIer Magitte" of the earl! 1970s to the current
''Engtand: A PI|J for Gdlleries" bf Tím Crouch, Briîish pLqwríghts ol the last
thirqi rears hare often tumed their attention to existing cDllectio j, museal
\puces or curutorship. Thit paper analyses sereml Plar-s whích erPlore ihe
vo d of contemporarJ Britìsh art galLeries alter îhe suùlen success of the
vaung British A,1isîs and v,íIl retled on the culîural and political role of
gúlleies in co temporary culture and in Britìsh drama in patîìculaL On the one
hand, the pld!*-rights put on stage gaLLeries, such as ín lal Joplìng's "Whiîe
Cuhe": on the other hand, îhe drumu mows directlj ínto the gallety Thit í\ îhe
. o,c nl Lntltù: 4 Pta\'.lor Cdllt,.i, i. a pteee oÎ,ire,p(ì1. thî,|l/r r hirh
'rcrJ in )oo7 ar Edinburth t lTuimork4 ú,11t?r| and notrJ tu 1t'nrinn',
lrtitp.happt I'atl?ry. In Ihc i,aI. !h, auth'4. Iìn Crou.h. plúrt\ thF d\nanl(\
of yisu(ll aú and îheutrc against edch úhe\ quesîions the spatihl Posítion and
pe\pective oÍ audíence nembers antl perforners, ol'feîing dialoSues vlíth
eletnents of the past, prcsent dtu1 lature, and thus contributing îo a lresh
nùetstandinR of the naturc and roLe of the gallery.

Since the 1970s, British playwrights have frequently locused their dramas on
museum spaces, collections and questions of curatorship. As a matter of fàct,
followjng in Samuel Beckett's foofsteps,r quite a numbcr of
playwrights
appropriate the mofif of the museum in order to question
issues such as
spectacularisation, authenticityl,and idenlity in Margaret Thatchefs era and in
Tony Blair's'Cool Britannia. The muscum hoìds the minor up to the theatre
which. in tum, thrcugh the mùseum, questjons the sfatus of art and analyses ils
relationships, both with the viewers and with the instifutions. One could speak of

I See Mdi.rrisîiúa Cavccchi. "Fron Playwriiing îo CnratoshiP: Investigalion inlo the


Sratùs of Bcckett\ StaSe Objccts , in Caroìine Pltey aid Laura ^n
Scunltd, ed. ?lre Alirtt
in rhe îetL me MwrbsitLl Prdcîi.es of lretutute \Bem; Peler Lang. 2009), pp 16l
112

,t
3001 I f. MARla.RrsrrNA CavB:cH1

a kind of iìnpoftirg' of museunì ìnotifs and sites on the British stage and, even
more interesting, ol an jntercharge belween theatdcàl space and museum ol
gàllery spàce - an intcrchange which seems to have intensilìed over the last two

Sometimes there iìave been surprising co ventures betrîeen playwrights and


gallery managers. ln Tinrberlake WertenbakeCs Three Bir^ AliShîing on a
j.irld, a wì!!y and sophisiicated play which opened at London's Royal Court
Theatre jn September 1991, the playwright collaborated with the Bemard
Jacobson callery, a dcaler in modern and contemporary British and inlemational
alt. Wetenbaler borowed a painting tìom thcm. anr abstruct laldscape by
Williarn Tillyer, which in the pìay ìs shown in scene nine as a work by rhe main
ch.rracter, Stephen-
On other occasions, playwrighh have oonccived their pìays in the wake of
great exhibitions. This is tbe case of Tom Stoppard's AJiet Magritte, à play
written in the early 1970s inspircd by dìe great success of the René Magritie
exhibition at the London Tarc Galiery in I 969, where the playwright explores iÌ
a 1àrcical and sureal way the consequenceron the Harris family of a visit to the
Magrille exhibition. More recentìy, in his successful pìay Àed (2m8), Johl
Logan impoled Mark Rothko's chamcter lìom ihe rooms of the Tate Modern.
which lasl yeal dedjcated an importanl reffospective to this abstract altist
.\epremocr 2008 Fehrurr) 2lOq,. ro rhc Donmrl Warrhou.e .rage. lt is.
mo;eovcr. -cmcrt.rble thrt rh( pla) develop. a-rounJ-Jb J, dxr.rr" Ml?.4/î whi, h
de paÍ of the Tdte's peÌîancnt collection, thus establíshing a strong connection
between the play and the museum and possibly a consequent exchange of
visilors/spectators.
lntdgùingly, if the stage impofs museum and gallery jssues, the revetse is
equally true as Tim Crouch has shown with I'ts play Èngland: A PIaj fbr
Galleries (20011, conceived as a site-specilìc piccc to be peúbmed in an art
gallery. Crouch is well known lbr innovating dramatic convention and for
pedo.ming jn m seum spaces. Remarkably, his previous play Ml Atn opened at
Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum a An oak Tree (19'73), inspired by the
British arist Michaei Craig-Mal1in's work oI thc same title, e:ìjoyed lhe museum
space of the East Room al the Tate Modem.
Fufhemlore, British theat.e seems to be parlicularly receptive lo the changes
in lÌìe grammar ol museums and contemporary art galieries. As Nicholas Serota.
director of the London Tate Modem. obse es. untiì the l9tl0s, museums of
modem alt used to display collections aimjng at a complete exhibition of the
major ardstic movements in a chronological sequence, whcreas in the course of
the lggtls it became corùnon to give total relevance to lhe single anists'and to

2 Nichohs Scrota, t?e/i.rre ot húeryreî.ti)n (Londan:Thamcs & Hudso4 1996).


THL NEW ART GAI-LERJES ON THT CONTI]MPORARY BRfilSH STAGI] 30 I

pay more attention to presenlation rather than to analysjs. In mùseùms and


galleries viewers have'to expericnce the work of arl'; more and more they have
beromc a plcce or úislic aîrjvilie' rnd irlcra(lion\ bel\ een xri\1./pelomer'
rn'l .olle.donJexhrhirion\.' In Lhe \ear\ betwecn \\erenbúcf. Thrcc Bidr
Alíghîinx on a Field àr thebegirning of the 1990s and Crcuch's Er8ld,?d (2007),
the aÌchitectural features and function of modem arl gaileîies dnd museums have
changed. Besides, the nature of the contemporary arl market has also changed
This essay will assess the nature of this way of imporling' a gaììery into the
iheatre in the two plays mentioned above. It wiìì aÌso chart the differences in the
way they rcflecf the ìnajor transfoflnations in both gramllar and concept of
colfemponry art galleries. lt will investigate the way the tvr'o playwrights
establish a conneclion between theatrjcal space and gallery space. 11 will suggesl
that, twenty years taleî, since EngLanrl is à site-specific piece wrilÉn for two
actors in a gallery space, Crouch iakes Wertenbakels interest in art galleries a
step further. Crouch seems to shàre thc increasing tendency to use the Ùàditional
museum or gallery space as a sile of artjsts' intervenlions. From its premiere at
Edinburgh's Fruitmarket G.rllery, E gldr?d has been pcrfotmed ìn many galleries
all over the world. Whereas Wertenb:ker rcpresented onstage the space of the
gallery, Crouch makes the space of his perfbrmance literally coincide wifh the
galìery spacc with many inevitablc consequences.

A Qùesrion oî Legilimation

Ore of the most intercfing playwrights in contemporary British dlama,


Timberlake Wertenbaker sets her story of passion, money and grecd in a
contemporary art gallery, namely "The Gallery", which she imagined to be in
Mayfair, London, not far from the Bernard Jacobson gallery in Cork Sreel ln a
play wdtten in 1991 and just at the beginning of what would become the
impressive Young Bdtish Aú lnovcment, Weìlenbaker scems to capturc the late
Eighties' alebafe about the need to re-define a British aÍ idenlity, until then
subordinaled to the New York market. Sbe explorcs the creation aÍd promotion
of a 'branded' artist invesligates the quesfion of legitimation in the
rnd
contemporary aÍ wo d jn a bid to ùnmask'the dynamics of {lle contemporary
art market. Wefenbaker's central concem seems to be the "prccess of
endonement"a that complex process of eslablishjng what works are to be

I See Jdcs PuLnam. AÍ ond Aì1zJact: The Mts. tu as M.diùd Gondon: Thancs &
Hudson. 2UOl, repr. 20091.
r Loùisa Buck, Materur rie Dvanics ofthe Cùkteraorary Arî Market (\5 Octobet 200l).
<http/www.artscoùrcil.org.uk/pùblìcrtion atchivei/ndkct maÍe6 the dvnamcaoÈlhe-
contemporary ar-ùaîket> (19 June 2012).
302 lvfANACRrS lr,\^ c^vECCHl

consideredwofhy ofa potentialplace in an history;a process whereby works of


aÌt "are written about by critics, boughl and sold in the market-place, and
selecled fbrexhibitions by museum land gallery] curators'.5
In Three Bìrds Alighting .)n d Fieff the future of Bdtish art and the need to
find new altemative paths, other than the New York art scene, aÌe under
discussion in ihe galÌery owned by Jeremy, one of the play's main characters.
Accordjng to the art dealer Alex, it is time 1() lorget minimalìsm, coÍceptualism
ù1d even abstract expressionismt jt js lime to forget Rothko. whose retrospective
opening at the Tate Gaìlery jn 1978 dccply impressed Jeremy: "I rcmember the
American shows at the Tate, we we.e dazzled. Thc scale. the daring. Rotbtok
colours" (J Bir.d.r, p. 5). It is aìso time to forget the kind of American art recently
cclebrated by the exhibition New yoúArt Noú, at the Saalchi Gallery in 1987,8:

This stuff is New York. And ùis i$ nco Ncw York. Nev York is lidsbed. Mary B@re
is in trouble. Càstellil showing Old Mlstcrs. Basically Ncw York is closine down. My
company ùdr too late to sale Now Yolk, bùt wc can savc Englùd. Do you wanl to save
England or don r you? f...1 now what you vc gotr do is gel rid of New Yort. iJ B;/r.
p. 5)

The chancter Aìex pushes the manager of the gallery to embrace a new course
and lo look back at the Bdtish îraditiont "find some English landsctpe. Trces, a
dark picce ol water. a windmill, but new, now" (J Birls. p. 7). lt is just a
question oi 1ìnding rhe right artisr, ,ì labeì and eventually an aÍ cdtic capable of
launching the 'producf' and making it attractive:

Thc schooÌ ol new English lèndscapc. ùo, thc lnglish cdden School. yoù'll think of
somethjng. Bcttcr. jrvic Moris [ù ad c.irìcl, helÌ rhink of somerhing. I don r rhink he
ùndeNtands art. bùt he sùre has a way sith vord!. (J lttldr. p. 7)

Thc action of the play starts ftom these consideralions and then the attempt to
promote lhe prcmising painter Stephen Ryle. who in the past has exhibited his
works at tbe Seryenline Gallery (3 Bird.î, p. 29), taught at the Slade School of
Fine Arts and then fell into disgrace when he refùsed to bow to the demands of
the an markel by continuing to painl landscapes when the request was for more
conceptuàl and abstrilct alt. As one of the characters reminds him and us, "It was
the beginning of the Ejghfies, Thatcher, no one wanted to look at watercolours"
(.ì Birds, p.3?). Stephen's artistic and coÌnmercial success was inevitably
doomed by'Charles's'condemnation ofhis alt (3 Btrdr, p. 34): 'Ch.ìrles'standing
1òr Charles Saatchi, the centlal but controversjal figure in contemporary art, "the

' tbtd.
' tlmlertate Werîcùbakcr lrle? Ail& A lighîins on u k ìcttl (t-ondon: Fàber & Flber,
1992). Subscqùcnlly abbrevìated to J dl'.|.
TIIENlWARTGA -ERMS ON'$IF CONTEMIOR.\RY BRT'TISH STA(ìE 303
?
prototype oI the modem branded colleci{ns" The l,ct is that- as onc of the
iharacters suggests, "these days il's not enough to have talent" (3 Binls' p.l7)
More than len years later, on the stage oI Andrew Bridgmont's Àed t'? Bld't
(2003, Hen&Chickens Theatre, Inndon)3 MaIk Rothlo would describe hjmself
as "a lone prophel in a commercial wildemess" (R,?8, p. l8) and denounce the
foily of the alt market: "Fifteen yea$ ago I was lucky lo sell a c,ìnvas for nine
hundre{:l dollaÌs. Today I'm soid at fbrty thousand' maybe more- Tomorro$
maybe four hundred.It's cmzy" (RoB, p. l8).
frefenbaker knows the art world well anal that to be a'bmnded' afist'one
neeJs the simult.rneuu. con.en.u\ ol and supp,'n ol al
(rillc\. mu\eLlr or
qallery curarors and direclorc ll r\ ol-\iou'l) nrf by chànce lhal !'ne "l lhe
In"ruirers i' àn an cntic, Jeln, ironi(lrlll depicteo hy rhe pla)qrighl I'
egoceÍtdc and perfectly conscious of playing a key tole in the process of
e;dorsemeÍt of ihe afworks a figure lvho was perhaps crcated when thinking
of Tom \ryolfe's alcnunciation of the petence and tyranny of,lrt cdtics ;n his
hilarious volume IÀ. Pd inted Wonl (19'7 9 ) -\o

Everybody rcads ny naSlzine l dcìcnnine sryÌc l tell people whall inponanl l " l lr s
not mough to look wjth modcm art. You have to ùnd€.stand Cood nodern ùusL be
'l1
djfficùÌr And so it needs ùs úe lnterprelon. Art crincism is undervaìùel in this
country. thc English arc N àmateur nboùt everything ln America vou ÌÌ soon be abÌe lo
gct a degree in iL. [...] The fact is the ùitìc thcse davs is the eqÙal ol the ùl]st lnd
;iúoùt ihe crìtic to point oùt signìficancc dnd deconslruct it. the Ùtisrs qo'k is
inconplete. Every anist needs a good cnric and ìf voù don i have orc' vou aÈ nothiry'
(J Bildr. p. 35)

As the plot alevebps it becomes clear that the gallery spacc plays a crucial role
in the piocess ofendorsement- ln fact the gailery is,Í{] space of legiimation By
opening her play with an auction when a canvas, which is presented as "tota1ly
flat, authcntically white" (-l BirL!, p 1) is sold fbr a fortune. Wefenbaker shows
froú the beginning that the gallery is the space where mcaning can develop and
the price of m art wotk increase The playwdght shows how the gaìlery can
jts 'void' into
îher;fore transform the flatness and empliness of à canvas and turn
moÍcy. Tt is not by chance that thc second art work at auction is an illuminated
js
billboard whosc lights say: "Art is sexy, arl is money, art is money-sexy' alt
money sexy-social-climbing-fantasúc" (3 Bíruls' p 2) a quote froìn Thomas
Hovi;g. director of the Metrcpolitan Muscum of Art fiom 1967 to 1977' which

1 Donat.l Thompson. The $12 tt'titlion Sruî?.l Shatk: Tha Curious tilnofti.s of
Cnrîenpotur- Atî (Basingstoke: Prìlgrave Macmiìlan, 2008), p 85'
3 Andrew Bridgmonl, RedonBlack lunpùblished nanuscript. 2003)
q
Thompson. Iie 6./2 ltilli, Sruif..t Shdrk.pp 9 6t)
\r îonwolfc.The Paikîe.J ward (Ne{ York BentanBooks, 1975)
304 MaRracRrsrrNA C^w-ccHI

reminds us that art patronage in general. and museum and gallery pafonage in
padcular, have become a pathway fo lhe purchase of social distilìction jn recert
decades.
W;th herplay, Wertenbaker questions the naturc of the space of contemporary
art galleries anil asks questions which very soon would become topical and
urgenl, just as Damien Hirst's figer shark immersed in fotmaldehyde in a vitdne
entitled Iúe Phrsical ImpossibiliU oÎ Deaîh i the Mi ll ol Someone Lí'ing
(i992) became the iconic work of British art in the 1990s and the symbol of
Britaf worldwide. In twenty or thifiy years'time will Hirst's shark, odghally
commissione{ì in 1991 by Charles Saatchi. who sold it in 20M to Steven A.
Cohen for twelve million doìlars,rì still be reìevant lbr the art world? In Zhrce
Bll"ls these questions about the real value of art and the nature of great art ale
asked by Jeremy, a cynjcal but exp€rt ar1 deale.:

Great alt . . . grcat ar happers two or tlucc times a centùry. Bùt there's a fair amoùnt oI
beaùty aoù.d. \4'hy should beauty be chclp? I know, peopÌc come and bùy paintings
becaùse they want status, buL they get beaùty rhruwn in. Thal\ a Sood deal, at any pricc.
(J BtrÀ, m.40-41)

Iread yestcrday aboul an Italian clcrk who had saved 8rcar llali.ìn paintinSs tìom the
Nazis. He knew cuctly ùhich ones to save, well, il wa$r difficull, he saved ihe
Ralrhaels, thè Leoù!dos... Il we had rn invasion here. wlFt ùould Ì save? Woùld I
srle thi! painlirg? Would I save il becalse Ìt is worh halfa nillion. or was. vesterdav,
or would I save ìt becausc I was convìnced hùmaniÌv úoùld be thc poorer wìthoùt it?
Would hunarìry be thc poorcr wiLhoùr lt? (-i Birdr. p. 20)

Wefenbaker inviles her spectato$ to question the role of contemporuy art


galleries ard fheir power to influence the rcceptìon, the assessment and the value
of an aúwork. She also pushes them to think about the too narrow ties befween
arl (whalever form of af, îrom fine arts to theatre) and economics, and to
iÌnagine possible alternatives.

White Cuhes

More than lwenty yeals later lhings are similìr bu! d;ffèrent Whereas
weflenbaler rmdgrned rn,l rÈcreJled a conlempordl} an galler) on her 'ldge. ìn
Crouchs ÉiÌf/.rlÌ,/ 'rhcre r. a coincidence hel$een lhe \pace t,l lhe lhealre anJ
the space of the gallery. and a symbolic ìnterchange between the two. Therc is
also an overìapping of situetions with ihe two actors (a woman and a man

tt Thompsol, The $12 Miuìòh Slullèd Shdrk,w. 2-3.


r2
Th Crouch. E sladr A Lar fú Ga eries lLotuloî,. Oberon B@ks. 2007). SlbseqùentÌy
"
nrÉ Nlw ARTGaLLERTESoN rHE CoNrEr\{poRARy BRrrsH SrAcr 105

oí1en acted by Tim Crouch himself who take turns speaking, even thoueù they
share the same narrative vojce) cast as guides, leading the audience through à
gallery tour and the audience cast as the gallery public, standing, watchjng and
walking as the pelformers move around the space- Not only do tlÌe two
interlocutors become blurred, since, even though they tîle tums speaking, they
shale the same narrative voice, but also theatre and gallery merge- as lheatrical
pedonnance aÍd gàllery situation overlap and come to coincide in ttÌree ways.
Fj$t of all, the dialogue between ihe lwo aclols guides the vìsitors through the
space of the gallery that hosls that palliculff perfbrmance explaining the
hisfory of the space and introducing the adst exhibifing in the occasion of tbat
particular peÌJormance (8, pp. 32 33). At its debut at ihe Edinburgh Fruitmarket
Gallery they explained:

wolcome b rhe FruitMket Cdllory her€ in Edinbùrgh. / Wodd clas contemporarl àl


aL Lheherr olthe.ily. / 1...l As the ndúè suggesrs, lbc buiìdirg we arc in was bùilt as r
fnjr and vegelable narket in 1938. / The Scolúsh AÍs Coùncil convcrted the ùarkel
inlo a visual è.ts space in 1974./ This is lhe spdcc rcrc in Dow./ Look-/ Ils beauriluÌ.
(E, !p. l3-14)

Secondly, theìr dialogue guides the sp€ctaton through the space oî the
intemational aÍ by means of frequent references to the paintings the couple
possess, such as the works of Young British Artjsts or a study by Wi[em de
Kooning that is woÍh one million dollars. Thirdty, drc two actors guide thc
specfators through the characters' lives as they speak about lhemselves and their
fantastic life in London. where the lead character lives wifh her boyfriend, an aÍ
dealer who tells people what al1 to buy and that "good art is art that sclls" (8, p.
29) ànd nakes a lot of money in the prccess. Audience membeG also discover
that ihe lead character is very sick and needs a heart transplant.
DiffereÍdy from what happens in Weúenbaker's play, in Èngldrl ihe space of
the theatre is destined to be linked inextricably to the space of the galieries in
which tho pefformance takes place. since each paficulaÌ locaiion gives rise to an
iimediate dìalogue with the galleries'collections alld displays, and also
modifies the dynamics of the performance by affecting the speclator's
perception. Setting the play in a gallery also means that the audience aÌe
encouraged to question the possible links between the performiìnce and ihe art
works exhibited in the gallery space- For example, at the play's premier al the
FruitmaÌket Gallery in front of îhe afworks by Alex HaÍley, 'a leading arlist'
who has complicaled iìnd sometimes contradìctory attiludes towards the
envlrorìment, ihe spectalors at ihose performances might imagine a connectìon
between the characte/s new life, followjng her heart transplant, and the name
Hardey gave to a new Arctic island in Norway he discovercd jn 2004 (t, pp. 32-
33) which means "new world". ln a similar way, at Napìes DonnaREgina
Contemporary Alt Museum (Musco d'Afe Contemporanea DonnaRlgina
306 M^RIACRISTINA CAVECCI II

M.A.D.R.E.), where the play was directed by Carlo Ciercello in 2008, one might
think that Georg Baselitz's paintings on the walls, in which the German arlist
unconventionally disrupls the space and represents his subjects upsidc down,
appropdately hokl a mirrol up to Crouch's unconventional theare (111. l).
Morcover, thc rhythm of the pe bnÌance changes according to ùe space and is
altered when you move between the hùge, monument:ìl sculplures by Arnaldo
Pomodoro. as in rhe Italiù productjon at Mjlan s Fondazione Pomodoro djrected
by Carlo Cerciello ìn 2008 (lll. 2). or through Isa Cenzken's blank frames in
Gallcry Onc at London's Whitechapel G: lery, where frglaal was presented in
collaboration with the National Theatre in 2009 (lll.3). Finally, the show
changcs noticcably cvery njght as the audience "arange themsclvcs ìn disdnct
fluid pattcms which lhe actors rìttempl to contain (drawing lines and sculptlng
space wìth theìr moving bodies)".8

llÌ lrMer.edes Mùrioì ard Paolo CoÌeftainCado CcrcìcÌlo's lroducLion ol rlns/uz"d at


NapÌes DonùeREgim Contenlonry Ail Muscun ìn Júe 2008.
By courl.sy oi CNrlo Ccrcicllo.

Tin Crouch in the frcgmmme tbr the 2009 production oÎ tn8larl at úe Londont
Tsr \rw ARr aìar r rRÌrs oNrar CoMFlrmRARy rlRrrrsr Sr\eF 3(J',7

Ill. 2: Mercedes Matlnìi .rd Paolo Colerta Ìn Carlo CercìeÌlo s production of t sl,,,/ rL
Milan FoidaTjone Pomodoro i. Jùne 2008 By colrtesy ofCarlo Cercie lo.

lll.l: Tìnì Crouch ànd Hanrah Ringham at rhc Whìtcchapcl ai!Ìlery run oftn8lrrd ìn
May/Junc 2009. O KarlJrmes. By.ourtesyolTim Croùch !!d Kad James
108 MARIA.RISI.INA CA\T.CHI

Crouch, moreover, would seem to have engaged in a dìalogue with Brian


O'Dohefty's influentidl essays published in Arforrm between 1976 and 1981
aùd then gathered together und€r the collective titlo l$ide the While Cube: The
IdeokB! of the Gdllery Spuce (1999) where the critic dissecls the absÍact,
$hire. ideal .prce olrhr'WhiLeCube lhat. more lhú an) (inPle pi(lure. hc
coniiderr ar "rhe ÍcberyTal image of L\Àendelh cenlury an" ' Tlu\ iî r
progfaÌfine note lo E g/dftt crouch quoles ffom o'Doherly:

The ideal gallery subtlacts from the anwork all clùes lhat interfere with ihe fact tlur it is
'ú -.. A gallery is constructed alotre laws as.igosùs as those for building a medieval
church. The outsìdc world nusl not coDe iù, so windows ae ùsùaÌly sealed ofi Waìls
are paìnled while .-- ln ihis conlexr a randing ashtmy b@omes alnost a sacred objcct
. . . ModeDisD $ Fanspositìon oî pcrccption trom life to fbmal values is conpleie This.

of coùrsc. is one of modernisnt tàtal diseases ... A.t exists ìn a kind of elemity of
dispÌay ... This ctcmity gìves the 8allery a limbo like strtus; one has to hrve died
alrcady to bc ihere.15

As a matter of fàct, dúough the words of the two actors/guides, Ctouch


describes the space of the contemporary art gallery as a geoúetrical one, which
is o1ìen white, wherc afwork exists "untouched by time and its vicissitudes", "in
a kind of eternity oî display" as if in a limbo (1n de, p. 15.). Galleries, churches
and hospitals are lhe three locatioÍs in the first act of and these tlree
spaces arc dcscribcd using the same acsthetjc terms as ''?8ldtrd,
O'Doherty uses in his
definition of the White Cube: white walls. clean lilìcs. an almost saciìmeltal
silence. Followirg O'Doherty's description of the modern al1 gallery space as
"consructed along laws as ngorcus as those for building a medieval chuîch"
llnsíde, p. l5), lhe lead character establishes a sort of contiSìlity beNveen
Soulhwark cathedral and Tate Modem a contiguity which might peúaps be
due to tlrc iherapeutic nafure of txJih art and religion:

Tlris is Southsark CàLhednl. I Ìikc to conc here rhen I've been to tho doclor's. Herc or
to thc Tatc Modcm gallery, which is oÍly aboùt jùst a stones lhrow fton herc' Fron
SouthwarL Cathcdr.rl. I...1 I enjoy îìe peace. I enjoy the clcan lines and the feeland l@k
of the stone. Everyone talks so qùieny- lls beauriiul. Ith likc hcaven. Look. (8, pp 26
211

Bri^\ OD.ìÀeÍy. Insirlz the Whiîe Cúbe: ne ldealog! oJ îhe Gallery ùrec (Berkeley, t s
Angeles and London: caliîomia UP. 1976. repr. expdded editior 199), p. 14.
Slbsc{Ìuently abbrcvjlted 1o 1,MZ?.
o Doherty, 1rsdc, p. 14. Quoted in the programe for the 2009 prodùction of t Sldd at
THT NEW ARî CAILERrIS ON 1utr CONTEMPORARY BRTTISX STAGE ]Og

It is also interesting that buildjng upon O'Doherty's words, he assjmilates aÌd


even overlaps the space of the gaììery wjth fhe space of the hospital- In a way,
Crouch goes back to, and updates, the early modcm tradilion of fhe dnatomicai
theatre; his hospital is therefore described as an aesthetised and anaesthetised
space, where there are no traces of blood or flesh. Provocatively, in íhe
Pro$amme Crcuch writes:

Sone galle.ies shoùld have antiseptic hùd wÀsh dispense* ourside their entrarces.
Their desthctics @ so clún ùd other woddly that rhey appear to disùin the norraÌ
and infected mayhem of everydar life and this before we ve evon lookcd at the an. I
feeì the saoe àbout churches ... dnd ol courso. hospitals. t. I Tbcatrc is less caprble oI
such cle.ú ilmortal lines. lts raw maieiil is Ìess cortrolled, more prone 1o diseasc. I
never ièel I red lo wash my hands hefore I see atlay.r6

The lead character pays gîeat attention to the aesthelic aspecfs of the various
hospitals she trlkr about. She underlines the silence, cleanness and beaùty ofthe
Berkshirc clidc "lt's so beauliful. ll's so beautiful. It's like being in a church.
Or in a gallery. Everyone talk so quietly. Everything is so clean." (4 p. 43) She
àlso describes the "art trail" in Guy's Hospilal in London:

Tlis is Guy Hospicn i! London. Look. Look. L@k rt the alriùm. Look !r thc cieù
lincs. l'm on lhe aÍ trail. Il comects the works ol ùL ìn the holpìral, wilh inlbrmation
aloùI thc artists and the therapeutlc benefits of ar in heallh (4 p. 29)

It is stàfing from the image of the hospital and from the aseptic and anesthetised
space of the gallery that Crouch questions the space of the theatre itself. As a
matter of fact, he appropriales O'Dohe(y's defence of the rcal life of the world
against the sterilised space of the whìte cube and challenges the myth of the
etemity and transcendence of purc form with his story of disease, decadence and
death.rT

Transplants

It is sigdficant
that Cmuch canies out his dramatic enquiry in the space oî
contemponry art galleries by means of what he calls a "transplant":

'ó crouch quot€d in úc pegr^M nevs îon nowherc, whirechapcÌ GalÌcry ùd Natloral
Theatre prcsent ENGLAND, Writechapel Gdllcry. 8 May 16 June 2009,
<hrlp//sds nrs\tr.mno{her neDr16 20lrl lune
I Cl. Iin ctuu(h rn rhc pùgrffc rù lh( 2004 prluu.ùun r L^1don. wdrechape
GalÌery.
310 MARIACRISfiNA CA\ECT]HI

The inspiranon òr tsngland ihc s1ory of a hear transplatrt


- úoe
Ìt s a pìece of
Imm ùonors of
theltIe tianspiànled
tmnsplantatior that cxisl oD the show\ macro level
inlo ; gallery, one [t Iom ìnside mother. It s interestìlg to spÌore the mnsequeNet
of
*rat tàntptanration, where ! heaJt tiom one cullùre is placed inside a bodv fiom
anorher. l'have lots of quesiions aroùnd thc distinctìors bctÚeen licwing thcatre
md
\reirnE \i u-r aa. rho"c sÒ o)r"mi. ol vr($rr8 hcpnen rn rhe Pdr somcrhing
Lndr n.d. a o.reIal (nnrLrn(r l.r'r\ rded rrd umerhind rhrr r\ more
oni(pruar'

The playwright inte :ls to transplant the molal essence of the theatre into a
gallery. Accòrding to him, by placing a play inside a gallery' the neutrality of
ihose white walls ìs subverted and the work becomes site-spccific in a place that
- according to O'Dohefy is unspecific by definition:
placc úe dymmics of visual aJt ard theatre up agairl eúh other' The
Ir lt slan4 I
madalised worÌd of lisùal ltrl lrgairst thc de-natlriallsed world of theatre l bale not
attemplcd to creale a hlbrld work. Instead I have sinPly laken what I considerto bc th€
nond cssence of rheaire and trmsplant.d it inlo a gdlcry Thc conseqlcnces ftom this
!'!
act of ùesplanraiion are rherc for tÀe aùdìencè Lo Ùrcovèr'

The motjf oî transplant even brings us to think of a contiguity with Young


British Art's concems wilh and its vjolent, aggressive use of the body' Most of
the painters belonging to the lead character's personal collection are painters of
the Young British generation and the sevoal reasons are to be found in the
following quotation from the PlaY:

My boyfriend bùys and *lls art for oùer peoplc He teus then Nhal to bùv Yhatl Ùp
*úars an*n. n t uu"t. the world t i we lile in London t l wc have a duplex-
"nc have white walls. Ìt! like he!ìvèn here! t. .l We dorì't have much herc' but wh't we
lr'e
have is pretty lmazing- We have a Marcùs Tavlor on thc wall Hc s a favoÙriÈ of
oùs
e amúi;g. My boyfiiend belìeves ùat rn shouldt't jur be in gaÌleries- / Ii
His coìoù6
jùst Scis Ùhat
bclongs in poptc s cvtryday lives. /AÍ is lor alÌ! Heh not a colìector' tle
we a MÙk Qúinn
he likis. we hre a cregory Crewdso! !!d à snúlÌ Carv Hume have
rnd Tacìra Deàn. h thtother )m. serÌoùslv, we have a small wlllem de K@tring /
serioùsly. / serioùsly. It\ not a joke (E pp lT lE)

Marc Quinn, Cary Hume, Markus Taylor, Tacita Dean' and even Damien lljrst
and Sarn-Taylor Wood, whose replica works are displayed on the wall of the
Berkshire Clinic. all contribute{:l to the controversial exhibition càlled Se'?rdtion
at lhe Royal Academy in autumn 1997. This inevitably brings to mind the
group's engagement with "melaphors of sensations"' their preoccupatjon with

''Q&A: Tiú Crouch discùsses his prcfèssional deveìopúent'. bv Hilary Fùon. ralt Dali'
M;DJ r28 october 2008). Ouoled jn <hrp://www vdcd.ìiiyrews-com/newvdl-
newv2008/10/28/qarim crouch discusses bis prcfessionaÌ deveìopmcb (lóMdch 2011)'
Tiln Crouch, r.or.;o/.1 1n thc progîamc at London's Whitechapel Gàllerv (8 Mav 16 JÙne
20091.
TIn NFrv ARr GaLLErucs oN Tlrr CoMffrvrPoRARY BRÌ rlsH S r,\cri 3 i 1

the body and its inslabilily. and their images ofphysical suffeting and deformity.
It is wol1h remembe.ing that the aÌtist Marc Quinn úe:àred Ali\on Uqper
Pregnanî a 15 fon narbìe staîue of Alison Lapper, a woman born with no arms
and severely shofened ìegs, which was displayed on the fòufh plinih in
TnfàlgaÌ Square, London fiom September 2005 ùnlil October 2007 and SeU a
sculpture of his hcad made \rjth his own frozen blood. As a matter of fact, jt ìs
impolant to underline thaî below the bcautiful and perfeci lives of n\e ch,Ìracters
in the play and the aseptic surface of the galleries and hospìtals evoked and
dcsc.ibed in ihe play by mcans of aìlusìons to Young British Artjsts, signs of
death and decay creep into the text and into the words and the lives of the two
characters farbeyond lhe main fact oîthe lead characler's heaf disease.
Finally, the thifll and perhaps most intriguing meaning raised by Crouch's
image and metaphor oî transplant relates to prcblems of identity, diversity,
nationality and memory. In the second acl. ihe audience is guided into a sidc
room to sit for the rcst of the pedormance, vhich is more traditionally tbeatrical.
At this poìnt in the play the characfer has had a heaf transplant and goes to visit
and thank the widow of the Indian hùrt donor wilh fhe gift of an expensive
artwork. They speak tfuough a translalor and by means of this mis-translated
diaìogue the playwight poìnts out the clash belwecn a rich West. nufured with
preiudices, and a world, nameìy India, which is shown to be a powerless
counhy, a victim of the rapacity of the West. Accordiùg to Crouch, it is
interesting to explore the consequences of that transplant. Ìvhere a heart from
one culture is placed inside the body of arother. Like all of Croùch's plays,
trgl'd is provocative in the way it explores notjust the nature of theatre and
an art gallery, but the value of human life, Westcrn ecolomics and cultural
imperialism. It also denounces how ihe audience itself mightbe inplicated in all
of it, in à worid where the notion of identity itseu h.ls been
djsrupted/destabilised and where colnmercc knows no boundaries. It is
meaningful that Crouch estabùshes a connection between arf proft and ptoilt
made by trade with human oryans, insomuch as the wjdow clajms that her
husband has been kilied on purpose.
Crouch shares the molifs of the transplanl and oryans trade with Weftenbaler
and in both làrr€ Bird and Ergldnd these motifs entail the {Ìuestion of idenlit},
which is developed throughout the text. Besides lhe urgency to re-de1ìre Bitish
art, WeÍenbaker crcales many characters with unstabìe identities, liom the
Anglo-Indian Jùlia (wiú lndian father and English mother). assaulted by "racial
confusion" (J Bi,.ó, p. 16) to Bìddy who, looking fbr an'jnte.esting'identity
whjch coùld please her second husband. stafs collecting contemporàry af. In
search oî a status, Bjddy gradùally discovers herseli her own nature and desiPs
through art and collecling. The filst time she visits a gallery (even if
accidentally, as she goes in to shadow her tìrst hùsband's lover) she finds henelf
jn fronl of Flancis Bacor's paintings dnd she 'recognises' herself: "Those men
312 M^RIAcl{srrNA cavEccHr

isolated in thei circles, so uncomfofablc and smudged, well, I felr like fhar. lt
was so sad, but I left the exhibition feeling, I don'f know, recognised, better." (.1
Airdr, p. 20) It is equally ironic that her racist creek hùsband, longirg for social
recognitìon ftom the British upper-cìasses and striving hard 1(] obrain it, dies in
the end after a kidney transplant and after his wife had spent a fotune buying
him a kidney belonging to a Turkish man at the organs' black maÌket. "l \ onder
if someone told him i! was a Tirrkish kìdney, or if his body jusr knew" (3 Birds,
p.444) is her last question about hjm.

Both Werîenbaì(er and Crcuch place the contempoÈly art gallery at the centre
of the stage, albeit in very dilferent ways. They tell two fascinating stories
which invite spectators to consider and questjon thc meaning of art and life.
At the beginning of the nineties, WefenbaÌer denounced how, thanÌrs to
Thatcher's politics, art and ethics had also been subjecred to the law of the
marlel: "rhe rn uorld \eemeJ lù ilmboii/c the erAhtre.. with mone) bciog rhe
nnì) recoAni/ed value .' ln her play. ir is Stephen \4ho iho\r5 lhar lhe orìl)
defence against a world that lìnds iLî own legitimxtion in the market is an aÍ
rvhich has the couage to dissociate itself from rhe logics of money and 'brand'
and tries to spedl directly to people, without the mediation oî art dealers or art
critics. One of Stephen's pupils (and lovers), Fìona, who is also truthful to her
own jnspiration, finds in the myth a possible altemative to the disaBgrcgated
("nremporar) \ orld. "$e hcle lo go back lo m)úì bq.au\e lhe world is,o
lraÈmenred tJ 8ir.À. p. a xlr Her temi0r0e tur rimind\ u\ rhat ars
vicissitudes are not excluded from gender politics. lt is therefore significant ihat
at the €nd of the comedy it is a womaÍ, Julia, who exhibits Stephen's paintings
in a new gallery - a gallery far ftom the model of J€remy's The callery ard of F
the White Cube a space "where people don't fèel intimidated fhey're warm, l

people are fhendly, the paintings are therc to be looked at, not àìways sold to
someone rich" (J Bllds, p. 434).

Twenty years later. in the wake of Wefenbaker and yet in a very diffèrent way,
by lor-ating his play in a gallery and by blurring and quesrioning rhe relationshjp
between stage and audience, Crouch displaces and subvefs cettainties about

Timberlake \ryefenbaker. 'linberlake Wetunbak?r: Plar 1 {Lotrdo.: Faber & Fabcr.


1996). p. ix.
Oi the ùse of nyth ìn WcÍenbakers theare sce Sda Sancirì. "me bye .rîNighinsole
(Ì988) di Timberlake Werenbaker La risùitùn del mito alla .icerca di m nuovo
lngùaggio", 49r:l (Sept. Dcc. 1996), pp.271-84.
^CrUE
Tl]E NT\l ART GALLERIES ON TIIE CON'IIMR)RARY RRITISH STAG! 3 13

both theatre and gallery. By holding up a mìnor to the gallery space he invites
audjence members to question the nature of the theatrical space as welÌ as the
gallery space. Thus theatre spectalo$ are invjted to abandon a univocaì and
appaÌently objective viewpoint posited by mimetic drama in the space of a box
set and proscenium arch and prompted to adopt a multiple and shifìing
perspective instead- According to Crouch, his "mission as an actor is to start at
the same place as the audience -
[..-] nor to tlump myself ùp i.ro sone 'pe.lol]ruce srare. Then, Às rbe rranslbrmatuns
of the play take hold, rhey do so in an acknowlcdgement of rheir rhàred prvenance and
construction with rhe audience. Thcy bavcn r come from sone &ìgìc theaire place, or
sone o\er conplicdred sclf ar tr.e. ftù.c rM\ioarJllon\ dl( (refd.)
,nJ aR ro curhored berwer 'cfcrennrl
,he acto6 dnJ rhc dudrence.

ln this way the pìaywright challenges the contemporary vjsual afists on rheir
own grcund by placing at the centre of the 'sacîed whìte cube' dify, pulsating
life. which in his opinion, shouÌd be the stuff of theatle- Iù doing so, Crouch
uses the gallery as a laboratory for experimentation and a crifical vantage point
for asking questions about the nature of art, fheatre and life.

"Q&A: Tin Crouch discus*s his prcfesional developnenl', by Hilùy fdxon, lalu Dail'
Nas (28 Ocrober 2008). Quoted ìn <hnp://www.yaledaiìynews-corì/news/an
newy2008/10/28/qaìim'Ùouch-discusscs his professionrl deveìopúe,b (16 Mdclr 2011).

You might also like