New Society
Mar 24, 1976
Description:
The audience was seated on the periphery of the Grand Luxe Hall for Willoughby Sharp’s performance work New Society. Hank Bull and Cindy Melon played simultaneous improvisations on baby grand pianos, while two 16mm projectors screened Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much—one playing the first half forward, and the other playing the second half backwards.Meanwhile, Sharp was in a cage in the attic, howling, naked, and high on acid. Multi-cam documentation of his trip was relayed to the audience below as a two-channel video installation in the Grand Luxe Hall.
During the performance, an audience member attempted to sabotage the show by disconnecting cables and had to be restrained.
Video documentation is available upon request.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.