Keith Sonnier | Stock Prop Study C, 2014 | max goelitz

2014

Medium

Corrugated cardboard, paint and flocking

Dimensions

152 × 61 cm

Status

In Gallery Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-155779

Keith Sonnier's Stock Prop Study C (2014) is a sculpture from the Prop series, which the artist began in 2010 as part of a collaboration with choreographer Molissa Fenley for a ballet piece. Coordinated with the music of composer Lainie Fefferman, Sonnier developed several portable sculptures made of polystyrene, corrugated cardboard and flocking paint. Formally the sculptures respond to the human body with holes for arms, legs and head. Standing in the tradition of American modern dance the physically demanding choreography experimented with the movements of the body in space. The props served as an extension of the dancer’s body and at the same time, their movements were restricted by them. Like Merce Cunningham’s frequent collaboration with artists of other disciplines which had a profound impact on avant-garde art beyond the world of dance, the collaboration between Keith Sonnier and Melissa Fenley dissolved the boundaries between genres. n exhibitions, Stock Prop Study C (2014) is installed directly to the wall, thus extending into the gallery space as an architectural intervention while remaining an object in itself to be activated. In the 1960s, Sonnier started to reflect the conventional understanding of sculpture through an unconventional selection and combination of materials - such as neon, latex, wire, satin, cheese cloth and flocking. Novel connections, relationship to the human body, the environment and their arrangement and combination form the basis of Sonnier's early works and a practice that he continues to develop. In the Stock Prop series, the artist opens his sculptural work into the performative space, going beyond the space of meaning of the material.