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| © Rudolph Burkhardt |
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| Photo: TAKAYAMA Kozo |
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When Silver Clouds was first shown in 1966, Warhol's psychedelic performances were bringing New Yorkers downtown, but with this work he pulled them in the opposite direction, uptown to a solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery. The front room of the gallery was filled with several dozen helium-filled silver balloons, while the room next to it was wallpapered with repeated images of pink cow heads. The balloons danced 30 to 50 inches off the ground, reflecting distorted images of the surrounding space on their shiny surfaces. They moved constantly according to drafts, changes in room temperature, and static electricity. This endless movement and resistance to gravity recalled the kinetic art of the 1960s and Alexander Calder's mobiles, while the puffy forms and pliancy of the balloons were reminiscent of Claes Oldenberg's soft sculpture. Viewers found touching the clouds and watching them jostle in the air irresistible, which afforded a form of "viewer participation." Captivated by the softly floating, randomly moving clouds Merce Cunningham used them as a floating set for his 1968 piece Rain Forest. The capricious movements of the clouds exceeded all expectations. However, they did have to be tied down to keep them from floating off the stage. (*) [KAMIKANDA Kei]
* -- David Bourdon, Warhol (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989), 229-33.
*See "The Story of E.A.T.#07"in this catalogue for a discussion of the collaboration between Andy Warhol and Kl_ver on this work (p. 28).
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April 11 (Friday) - June 29 (Sunday), 2003 Gallery A, B, 5F Lobby
Symposium "The Activities of E.A.T."
Concert David Tudor "Rainforest IV"