Oliver Herring: Areas for Action

Covered in glitter, food dye, foil and other joyfully messy materials, 50 volunteers from all walks of life participated in Oliver Herring’s Areas for Action. This surprising series of daily public performances in a New York City gallery in 2010 is featured in 12 digital videos on view in the first gallery adjacent to the East Entrance.

During Areas for Action, Oliver Herring (1964, German) provides volunteer performers large quantities of common materials and gives these adventuresome individuals the opportunity to immerse themselves in color, texture, and sculptural forms. The activities last hours to provide performers and audiences an understanding of the profound commitment of time and effort that artists bring to their work. Fragments of laughter and conversation between volunteers and audience members are featured throughout the videos, revealing the social exchanges integral to Herring’s work.

The video monitors for this presentation are hung on gallery walls splattered with food dye from an October 1 performance of Areas for Action orchestrated by Oliver Herring.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.