|
|
Article: MATT MULLICAN
- Article from:
- Artforum
- Article date:
- December 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Artforum Inc. Dec 2004. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
MATT MULLICAN
TRACY WILLIAMS, LTD
Most artists would argue that their work is on some level about consciousness, but few could make the claim as literally as Matt Mullican. Over the past thirty years, Mullican has intermittently created "trance" performances in which he undergoes hypnosis, either self-induced or prompted by a hypnotist. For the next hour or so he experiences (or, depending on your faith in the process, acts out) a range of tasks, emotions, and impulses: pacing, talking to himself, painting, singing, regressing to childish behavior, and occasionally becoming enraged. One particularly notorious incident occurred during a 2002. performance at Anton Kern Gallery in New York, ...