Artists Space

Artist Friends of Squat Select Films, Videos, Readers and Performers

In conjunction with Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free: The History of Squat Theatre, Artists Space organized a series of screenings, readings and performances by associates of Squat Theatre in the Project Space.

A crowd sits in a semi-circle arrangement of wooden chairs within a gallery space. In front of the audience, a man sits at a white table and reads from a piece of paper while speaking into a microphone. Directly behind the man is a large statue of a baby with glowing blue eyes.
Vito Acconci reads. Event documentation, May 14, 1996, Squat Café at Artists Space. [A crowd sits in a semi-circle arrangement of wooden chairs within a gallery space. In front of the audience, a man sits at a white table and reads from a piece of paper while speaking into a microphone. Directly behind the man is a large statue of a baby with glowing blue eyes.]

Squat Theatre’s building on West 23rd Street served as the home and performance space for the company, and during the 1980s it also became an informal club for downtown New York artists. Musicians such as the Lounge Lizards, Nico, and Peter Gordon and the Love of Life Orchestra played, while artists including Jim Jarmusch, Peggy Ahwesh and Vito Acconci gathered and showed works. Curator Claudia Gould wrote that she wanted to present “new works in the same unpredictable and free spirit” of Squat Theatre in the Project Space. The model that Artists Space was founded on—whereby established artists select other artists to exhibit—was reestablished for this series of programs, in which figures such as Jarmusch and Ahwesh invited emerging performers and musicians such as Ari Marcopoulos and Ikue Mori to participate.

April 30, 1996

Michelle Har Kim reading from her most recent poetry
Reading & Performance
7pm

May 2, 1996

Perry Hoberman selects Cable Xcess, a video by Kristin Lucas (5 min. video)
Screening
7pm

May 7, 1996

Eva Buchmüller selects Bern Nix and his trio
Performance & Screening
7pm

May 9, 1996

Ann Magnuson selects Ferrum 5000, a film by Steve Doughton (15 min., 16mm)
Performance & Screening
7pm

May 14, 1996

Vito Acconci reads
Reading & Performance
7pm

May 16, 1996

Marc Ribot Performs
Performance & Screening
7pm

May 21, 1996

Jim Jarmusch suggests Ari Marcopoulos, short films and videos (30-40 min.)
Screening & Perfomance
7pm

May 23, 1996

Joseph Kosuth and Cornelia Lauf select Aki Fujiyoshi and her made-for t.v. sculptures (30-40 min.)
Screening & Performance
7pm

Artist Friends of Squat Select Films, Videos, Readers and Performers Press Release