Jannis Kounellis, "Da inventare sul posto (To invent on the spot)"
About this video
Jannis Kounellis's 'Da inventare sul posto' (To Invent on the Spot), conceived in 1972, combines a painting of a few measures of Stravinsky's Pulcinella score, a violinist who plays that music, and a ballerina who improvises and then repeats her dance. It was shown at Documenta and Sonnabend Gallery in 1972 and is re-performed at MoMA.
You'll be able to
- describe the three elements of To Invent on the Spot.
- explain how improvisation and repetition work together in the piece.
Key words
- performance
- Art that happens live, carried out by people in front of an audience.
- improvise
- To make something up on the spot rather than planning it in advance.
- score
- The written-down notes of a piece of music.
Transcript
Female: A painting. A ballerina. A violinist. Jannis Kounellis' Da inventare sul posto, which translates as To Invent on the Spot, brings all three together and is on view in the exhibition
Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New. (violin music) The artist conceived of this painting and performance in 1972. The large canvas, partially covered by loose brush strokes of pink paint, depicts several measures of music from Igor Stravinsky's score for the ballet Pulcinella.
(violin music) The violinist repeats the music reproduced on the canvass until he takes a short break, and then begins his repetitions once more. (violin music) A ballerina dances in front of the painting, improvising her choreography during the first cycle and then repeating her movements each time the music starts again.
(violin music) The work was presented in 1972 at Documenta in Kassel, Germany, and then at Kounellis' first solo gallery exhibition in the Unites States, held at Sonnabend Gallery in New York that same year. Throughout the course of the exhibition, it will be performed at MoMA over 40 times.
Come join us in the invention.
Video © Khan Academy, used under CC BY-NC-SA. Watch on Khan Academy. Puzzicle is not affiliated with Khan Academy.