In Lieder, Donegan sets up a series of charged relationships -- between artist and model, art object and artistic "gesture," performer and viewer. The "lieder" of the title (German for "songs") are the amplified squeaks of Donegan's swiveling metal stool as it rotates. Donegan's head is wrapped in plastic and duct-tape, her pregnant body swathed in a black garbage bag. Rendered anonymous, accompanied by the menacing noise of the chair, the artist becomes mechanized and impersonal. Gobs of brightly-colored paint are hurled at her from off-screen, underscoring the aura of threat and violence, which Donegan suggests is implicit in the relationship between performer and spectator.
Assistant: Alison Sall
This title is available for exhibitions, screenings, and institutional use through Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), NY. Please visit the EAI Online Catalogue for further information about this artist and work. The EAI site offers extensive resources for curators, students, artists and educators, including: an in-depth guide to exhibiting, collecting, and preserving media art; A Kinetic History: The EAI Archives Online, a collection of essays, primary documents, and media charting EAI's 40-year history and the early years of the emergent video art scene; and expanded contextual and educational materials.