THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC, THE BIG TENT, & MY SPACE

Performance by Los Angeles artist Mike Kelley.

[NOTE: Video documentation of this event is at the Hallwalls archive in the Poetry Collection, a special collection of the State University of New York at Buffalo Libraries; this documentation has been preserved and digitized for limited access by scholars.]

HISTORICAL NOTE: Although not publicized in print in the calendar or on the poster in 1981, our recent first viewing of the restored video documentation of The Monitor and the Merrimac [sic] shows in-person appearances by Mike Kelley's long-time friends and frequent collaborators Tony Oursler (briefly beating a drum in the first of the three performances,The Monitor and the Merrimac) and Tony Conrad, who participates in both of the first two pieces, including playing violin in the first and performing speaking parts in both. Kelley and Oursler were in Buffalo to act in scenes in Conrad's film then in progress, WiP (Women in Prison).

"The [2013 Greene-Naftali Gallery] show's title stands for 'women in prison,' a genre of exploitation film. The title work is an hour-long video, created from excerpts of six hours of 16mm film shot in 1982–83 [sic]. 'I shot it on a prison set that I built in my Buffalo studio, most of the dialogue improvised,' Conrad said. 'I asked artists and musicians to participate. At the time I was friendly with Tony Oursler and Mike Kelley,' he said, both of whom appear in the film" (Brian Boucher, "Tony Conrad Builds a Prison in Chelsea," Art in America, January 17, 2013).

The three separate performances making up this evening—The Monitor and the Merrimac (20 min.), The Big Tent (15 min.), and My Space (6.5 min.)—were performed without pause or intermission in the 4th-floor gallery at 700 Main Street.

"Unfortunately, many of Mike’s early performances are documented only in photo and script form, if at all. He refused to allow them to be filmed, stating that they should exist only in the moment. As far as I know, there are only two videos of these early pieces: The Monitor and the Merrimac…at Hallwalls in Buffalo, and Plato’s Cave, Rothko’s Chapel, Lincoln’s Profile, 1986, shot at Artists Space in New York, a phenomenal performance he backed musically in collaboration with Sonic Youth. I recently saw the Hallwalls video for the first time and was catapulted back in time to April 30, 1981. Before performing, Mike would hang out in a bathroom, pacing, revving up for the event, running through things in his head, hitting a small whiskey flask, and running cold water into the blocked sink. He would splash his face over and over until his T-shirt was soaked, pull his pants away from his belly and shovel icy water onto his genitals, and, for good measure, dunk his head into the sink with the alarming thud of bone bouncing off porcelain. Then he would slick his hair back and be ready to go, perfectly tuned, clearheaded and in the zone. The poetry would flow, drums would beat, Mike would stomp around with some black plastic sacks attached to his feet, hide in a tent, wear a dunce cap, and lie among some cones as a white cloth rose up and down above his crotch in syncopation with a dim bulb."

~ Tony Oursler, "Image of the People: Mike Kelley (1954–2012)," Artforum, May 2012.

Some publications related to this event:
April, 1981 - 1981