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| Above: Alastair MacLennan at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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Alastair MacLennan
"One Four Six"
The closing performance at
Rapid Pulse, sponsored by the British Council
7:00 PM
June 15, 2014
Cortez Street cul-de-sac at the intersection of Noble Street and Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL
Rapid Pulse
International Performance Art Festival
June 5 - 15, 2014
Headquartered at Defibrillator Gallery
1136 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL
"Rapid Pulse is made possible with support of the British Council, Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Society for Arts, Holiday Jones, Ordinary Projects, Mana Contemporary, Vittum Theater, Nightingale, Peter Grande, Canada Council for The Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council, Video Pool Media Arts Center, Maxwell Colette Gallery, Lovely, Letherbee Distillery, Nhà Sàn Collective, Noi, Chopin Theater, International Beethoven Project, Australia Council for the Arts, Happy Camper, Shawarma Garden, Bedford and Red Square. Defibrillator is partially supported by grants from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, and Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events."
http://rapidpulse.org/
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| Above: A crowd gathers to watch Alastair MacLennan's closing performance at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
June 15, 2014: Shortly before sunset, immediately west of Milwaukee Avenue, a little group grows till it forms a rounded crowd, girdled by the cul-de-sac in which Cortez Street terminates. The stink of decay is thick in the evening's warm, heavy air. Alastair MacLennan is about to begin the public "actuation" which will conclude the international festival of performance art called Rapid Pulse.
MacLennan's now in his seventies. And his physical appearance, combined with the slow gate of his movement and gently-spoken invitation to approach, suggest a benevolent, grandfatherly figure. Not surprisingly, passers-by are draw in from the sidewalk.
It begins, silently. Through his movement, a sort of story begins to unfold. Though it's uncertain where in the narrative MacLennan himself stands.
MacLennan covers his own head with black fabric. And one wonders whether he might be the hooded victim of kidnapping--or himself the masked criminal ready to steal away something or someone. Such ambiguity, readily available in the performative mode of expression, is characteristic of the whole of the event.
Now white fabric is unfurled. On cue, the winds blows. Is it surrender? Romance? A shroud for the dead? Between MacLennan and the audience members who it envelops, the billowing gauze momentarily defines a yet-smaller space.
MacLennan is then, by his own doing, blindfolded. He lurches forward. Props have aforehand been placed in two positions, roughly ten feet apart from one another. Finding one of the poles, he there assumes an awkward burden. Streamers flying, though solitary and sightless, through a great, ridiculous procession he shifts his ungainly load.
At his destination, he finds a metal pail filled with water and dead fish. Raised, it's poured over himself. A baptism? An immolation? Trickery?
And the cycle repeats itself: towards what end, if any, we know not at all...
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| Above: Spectators inspect Alastair MacLennan's installation at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan, amidst crowd, beginning performance at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan, masked, extends billowing shroud at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan, masked, at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan pours metal pail filled with dead fish, text, and water, at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Alastair MacLennan, blindfolded, begins his procession with a burden at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Attendee examines detritus after Alastair MacLennan's closing performance at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
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| Above: Detritus on Cortez Street after Alastair MacLennan's closing performance at Rapid Pulse in Chicago, on June 15, 2014. |
Alastair MacLennan:
Born in Blair Atholl, Perthshire, Scotland, 1943
Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1966-68
"In 1997 Alastair MacLennan (UK/Ireland) represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale, with inter-media work commemorating the names of all those who died as a result of the Political Troubles in Northern Ireland, from 1969 to then date. During the 1970's and ’80's he made (some) long, non-stop durational performances, of up to 144 hours, (neither eating, nor sleeping, throughout). Subject matter dealt with political, social and cultural malfunction. Since 1975 he has been based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and was a founding member of Belfast’s Art and Research Exchange (1978). Since 1975 he taught at Ulster Polytechnic, now the University of Ulster, Belfast, where for eleven years he ran the Master of Arts (MA) Fine Art programme. Currently he travels extensively in Eastern / Western Europe and Asia (also North America and Canada), presenting Actuations (performance/installations). Since 1989 he has been a member of the internationally regarded performance art entity, Black Market International, which performs globally. He is presently an Emeritus Professor of Fine Art from the University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland, an Honorary Fellow of Dartington College of Arts, Devon, England, an Honorary Associate of the National Review of Live Art, Glasgow, Scotland and a founding member of Belfast’s Bbeyond (Performance Art), 2001."
Quotation above from:
http://rapidpulse.org/alastair-maclennan
Read more:
http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article/1088/art-beat-alistair-maclennan
http://www.nival.ie/collections/artists-database/view/artist/name/maclennan-alastair/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastair_MacLennan
http://www.biennial.com/2014/exhibition/artists/alastair-maclennan
Above:
Images (1-17) June 15, 2014;
Copyright Paul E. Germanos.
