Five Ballerinas in Manhattan

Jonathan Monk is restaging Seven Ballets in Manhattan on its 32nd anniversary, in 2007 it is called Five Ballerinas in Manhattan (pdf).

May 27 - June 2

An interview with the artist, via CreativeTime

The series SIX QUESTIONS FOR SIX ACTIONS continues.

Curators Mark Beasley and David Platzker ask Jonathan Monk:

1. To what extent is your project subject to a "built environment"?

Due to the direct development of the city as an ever changing environment, my piece is subject to this movement and I understand that this development cannot be contained. The work is only altered by external forces.

2. Is your project at all a reaction to work that has come before it? (i.e.: historical interventions in public places)

It is a direct reaction to the ‘Seven Ballets for Manhattan’ piece by Daniel Buren.

3. In terms of audience do you see your work as either 1:1 or 1 to infinite? Or, possibly both?

The audience for my piece is infinite within the context of a New York City street, although whether the audience understands what they are seeing whilst it is being seen is another matter. It will no doubt only be understood as an artwork by very few.

4. Is there an attempt to compete with the city or as a competing spectacle within a city?

I am quite sure it is impossible for the piece to compete with the city. The work will be so unspectacular it will perhaps disappear.

5. Similarly, how does the city frame your project?

The city becomes a stage set for an almost invisible intervention.

6. What's specific about this project in this place - NYC?

The specific context of NYC functions only within the framework provided by Daniel Buren. It would also be possible for the piece to be made somewhere else. This would change the meaning slightly and it would become another piece.


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WHERE AND WHEN
Sunday, May 27, 2-4pm: CHINATOWN beginning at Walker and Centre Streets
Monday, May 28, 2-4pm: EAST VILLAGE beginning near 8th Street and 3rd Avenue
Tuesday, May 29, 2-4pm: GREENWICH VILLAGE beginning near West Houston Street and 6th Avenue
Wednesday, May 30, 11am-12pm and 9-10pm: TIMES SQUARE beginning near 42nd Street and 7th Avenue
Thursday, May 31, 1-4pm: SOHO beginning at 420 West Broadway
Friday, June 1, 2-3pm: CENTRAL PARK beginning near Rockefeller Center @ 5th Ave and 50th Street
Saturday, June 2, 12-2pm: WALL STREET beginning near Greenwich and Fulton Street