Cunningham: Expectation and
Performance
Powerpoint Presentation by Heather Zemeck
Amended by Elizabeth Drake-Boyt 6/15/01
How does Roger Copeland, in his article
“Merce Cunningham and the Politics of
Perception” discuss painting and drama?
What do post-modernist
concepts of painting and
the dramatic forms
developed by Bertolt Brecht
have to do with the dance
art of Merce Cunningham?
Breaking through the mold of automatic
artistic response
. . .even the subconscious
is in danger of becoming
fully “acculturated” amidst
the sensory overload
environments of 20th
century consumer society.
(Copeland: 311).
How does Cunningham
separate “. . .the product
from the process of its
creation?”
Both abstract expressionism and modern
dance
proceeded from Freud’s belief that below the
“cultural” lies the “natural” id. . .In order to
re-establish contact with the natural. . .self,
one must suspend rationality.
What techniques does Cunningham use to
suspend rationality in his dances?
What approach to drama did Brecht
develop in his plays in order to distance
the audience from a pre-arranged
relationship to the narrative?
List some ways in which Cunningham
separates, distorts, or otherwise alters
dance elements which have traditionally
been linked.
Why would these artists want to prevent
passive absorption of their works?
Pollock wanted to express himself (his innermost self) in the most
spontaneous, unmediated manner possible. . .Ultimately, Pollock
discovered the wisdom of Martha Graham’s oft-quoted aphorism,
“Movement does not lie.” (Copeland: 308-9).
If mediation between painter and painting is removed,
how does that affect mediation between painter and viewer?
Does Cunningham also remove or alter mediation between his
dances and their audiences?
How does a severance of meaning between dance and
music reflect a separation of meaning between artist and
audience?
Does the audience create meaning? Why or why not?
Cunningham’s Dance by Chance Approach
The choreography, the score, the settings are all created in isolation and
often don’t encounter one another until the very first performance
(Copeland: 312).Cunningham might toss a coin to determine the number
of dances, the sequence of movement, the spatial pattern, etc. (WD 310)
Discuss how does the resulting dance affects the audience.
If Cunningham “felt that this invoked a wholly
“impersonal”, more objective sense of order” . . .
How would this approach to dance make Cunningham’s work
“perceptual training”? How is this different from art as
entertainment?
Do you feel that Cunningham’s work is successful at detaching
itself from the natural world? Why or why not?
Small Group Discussion:
Examine Post-modernist Expressionism in
these terms:
Continuity of time and space
Audience expectations vs. the artist’s goals
The relationship of the process of creation and its
product
How is meaning negotiated between the artist, the
work, and the viewer of that work?
Who invests the work of art with its meaning?
Does the mass production of images have any
influence on the structure, purposes, or vision of
Post-modernist Expressions?
Works Cited
Roger Copeland, “Merce Cunningham and the Politics of
Perception” from What is Dance? Roger Copeland and Marshall
Cohen, Eds. Oxford University Press, NY: 1983. (p. 307-324).
Michael Katz, photograph (insert) of Rauschenberg’s Monogram,
from the Bride and the Bachelors: Five Masters of the AvanteGarde. Calvin Tompkins, Viking. New York: 1969.
Calvin Tomkins, photograph (insert) of Cunningham in studio
rehearsal, from the Bride and the Bachelors: Five Masters of the
Avante-Garde. Calvin Tompkins, Viking. New York: 1969.
Works Cited
Jack Mitchell, photographs of Merce Cunningham, from American
Dance Portfolio: Photographs by Jack Mitchell. Dodd, Mead &
Co. NY: 1964. (p. 30).
Jackson Pollock: No. 14, 1948. Reproduced in The Story of Art, E.
H. Gombrich, Ed. (13th Ed). Phaidon Press, Ltd. Oxford: 1978.
(p. 479).
Hans Namuth, NY, photographer. “Jackson Pollock at work in his
studio, 1950”, from Arts and Ideas, William Fleming (7th
Ed.)Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY: 1986. (p. 459).
Jackson Pollock: Lucifer (1947) from Arts and Ideas, William
Fleming (7th Ed.)Holt, Rinehart and Winston, NY: 1986. (p.
459).