Transcript Merce Cunningham and the Politics of Perception”

“Merce Cunningham and the
Politics of Perception”
Roger Copeland
Presented by Liam Julian and Edited By: Laura Pratt and Dr.
Kay Picart
Lavender Mist
Number 1, 1950
Where did Pollock’s paintings get their
inspiration?
What are his paintings about?
Pollock’s paintings were much like Martha
Graham’s dance.
How were they related?
Merce Cunningham
Why did Cunningham leave Martha
Graham?
He sought out __________. They shared an
objection to
_________________________________.
What does Cunningham’s dance have to the
outside world?
What does Cunningham hope to esacpe
from?
Is it possible to be detached?
“I force myself to contradict myself to avoid
conforming to my own taste.”
Uh oh, that is your own taste …
wait, isn’t it?
Is it really possible to
consciously subvert desire, if
the desire to subvert motivates
the eventual subversion?
Why would one want to escape from
emotion in art anyhow?
Isn’t art supposed to be about embracing
and communicating certain emotions and
passions?
Who’s to say that the subconscious is not molded
by outer influences without the individual ever
knowing it? Who’s to say that these “primal
emotions” are not (gasp) social constructs?
Cunningham’s dance is an examination of what
“feels” natural rather than a surrender to it.
Who’s philosophy does he echo?