The Successful Disaster of Bodyspacemotionthings, by Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009s, de Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009 Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2178-0447.ars.2025.222980

Keywords:

Installation, Participatory Art, Performative Turn, Postmodernism, Sculpture

Abstract

This article presents a critical reading of the work Bodyspacemotionthings, part of Robert Morris’s first European exhibition in 1971. The artist’s aspiration to create an artwork that would engage visitors corporeally and kinesthetically is analyzed here as exemplary of the period’s performative turn in art. To analyze the work and its disruptive potential, the article considers Morris’s sculptural production from the 1960s and his involvement with the postmodern dance scene. Finally, it reflects on the 2009 restaging of the work, questioning a potential loss of its original critical force.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Guilherme Meletti Yazbek, University of Pittsburgh

    Guilherme Meletti Yazbek is a PhD student in the Theatre and Performance Studies program at the University of Pittsburgh, in the United States. He has a master's degree in Performing Arts from the University of São Paulo (ECA-USP, 2022), under the guidance of Luiz Fernando Ramos. His interdisciplinary research, which incorporated elements of the performing and visual arts, focused on the theatrical production of São Paulo artist Laura Vinci. He has a bachelor's degree in Performing Arts with a concentration in Theater Directing also from USP (2010).

    Guilherme is an artist and researcher with a diverse professional experience. He has worked in various roles in the theater field, including directing, acting, and producing. Furthermore, he has experience in facilitating pedagogical and creative processes in improvisation, composition and movement-based. His current research interest revolves around the relationship between movement (body) and architecture (space) in both artistic and everyday life situations. In the field of performance studies, he is particularly interested in the relationship between queer bodies and urban space.

References

AGAMBEN, Giorgio. O que é o contemporâneo e outros ensaios. Chapecó, SC: UniChapecó, 2009.

AKBAR, Arifa. Tate rebuilds installation that left the biggest impression. Independent, 2009. Disponível em: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/tate-rebuilds-installation-that-left-the-biggest-impression-1663392.html Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

BANES, Sally. Democracy’s body: judson dance theater (1962-1964). Durham, London: Duke University Press, 1983.

BANES, Sally. Greenwich Village 1963: avant-garde, performance and the effervescent body. Durham; London: Duke University Press, 1993.

BANHAM, Reyner. It was SRO and a disaster. The New York Times, May 23, p. 28, 1971. Disponível em: https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/itwas-sroand-a-disaster.html Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

BAUDRILLARD, Jean. Tela Total: mito-ironias do virtual e da imagem. Porto Alegre: Sulina, 2011.

BBC ARCHIVE. The Tate closed the Robert Morris exhibition, Bodyspacemotionthings, due to boisterous art fans. BBC, 2016. Disponível em: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/184Tvf7Now/ Acesso em: 3 nov. 2025.

BENJAMIN, Walter. A obra de arte na era de sua reprodutibilidade técnica. Porto Alegre: L&PM, 2019.

BIRD, Jon. Minding the body: Robert Morris’s 1971 Tate Gallery retrospective. In: Robert Morris. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2013.

BRYAN-WILSON, Julia. Robert Morris’s art strike. In: Robert Morris. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2013.

CORRÊA, Patricia Leal Azevedo. Robert Morris em estado de dança. 2007. Tese (Doutorado em História) – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2007.

DELEUZE, Gilles. Lógica do sentido. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1974.

EHRENZWEIG, Anton. A ordem oculta da arte: um estudo sobre a psicologia da imaginação artística. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 1969.

FISCHER-LICHTE, Erika. The transformative power of presence: a new aesthetics. New York: Routledge, 2008.

FORTI, Simone. Five Dance Constructions & Some Other Things. [performance]. Nova York: Loft Yoko Ohno, 1961.

FOSTER, Hal et al. Questionnaire on “The Contemporary”. October, [s. l.], v. 130, p. 3-124, 2009. Disponível em: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40368571 . Acesso em: 15 out. 2024.

FOSTER, Hal. O retorno do real: a vanguarda no final do século XX. São Paulo: Ubu, 2017.

GUYTON, Wade. Robert Morris by Wade Guyton. Interview Magazine, 2014. Disponível em: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/robert-morris . Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

HASKELL, Barbara. Blam!: the explosion of pop, minimalism, and performance (1958-1964). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1984.

HUDSON, Mark. Robert Morris’ ‘Bodyspacemotionthings’ at the Tate Modern, review. The Telegraph, 2009. Disponível em: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/5386206/Robert-Morris-Bodyspacemotionthings-at-the-Tate-Modern-review.html Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

HUYSSEN, Andreas. Mapeando o pós-moderno. In: HOLLANDA, Heloisa Buarque de (org.). Pós-modernismo e política. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 1992.

JAMESON, Frederic. Pós-modernidade e sociedade de consumo. Novos Estudos Cebrap, São Paulo, n. 12, v. 2, jun. 1985.

JUDSON dance theater: the work is never done. Nova York: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 2018.

KRAUSS, Rosalind. A escultura no campo ampliado. Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, n. 1, 1984.

LYGIA Clark: the abandonment of art, 1948–1988. Nova York: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 2014.

MARINA Abramović: the artist is present. Nova York: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 2010.

MICHAELIS: dicionário brasileiro da língua portuguesa. Cinestesia. 2024. Disponível em: https://michaelis.uol.com.br/moderno-portugues/busca/portugues-brasileiro/cinestesia/. Acesso em: 10 set. 2024.

MORRIS, Robert. Bodyspacemotionthings. Londres: Tate Gallery, 1971.

MORRIS, Robert. Continuous project altered daily: the writings of Robert Morris. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1993.

MORRIS, Robert. Simon Grant interviews Robert Morris. Tate Etc., [s. l.], n. 14, sep. 2008. Disponível em: https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-14-autumn-2008/simon-grant-interviews-robert-morris. Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

OTHER primary structures. Nova York: Jewish Museum, 2014.

PLYWOOD show. Nova York: Green Gallery, 1964.

PRIMARY structures. Nova York: Jewish Museum, 1966.

ROBERT Morris. Londres: Tate Gallery, 1971.

ROBERT Morris: recent works. Nova York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1970.

SMITH, Terry. Art to come: histories of contemporary art. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2019.

SPIVEY, V. B. Sites of subjectivity: Robert Morris, minimalism, and dance. Dance Research Journal, [s. l.], v. 36, p. 113-130, 2004.

SPIVEY, Virginia B. The minimal presence of Simone Forti. Woman’s Art Journal, [s. l.], v. 30, n. 1, p. 11-18, 2009.

TATE MODERN. Seminal Robert Morris exhibition re-created for UBS Openings: the long weekend. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.tate.org.uk/press/press-releases/seminal-robert-morris-exhibition-re-created-ubs-openings-long-weekend. Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

WESTERMAN, Jonah. Robert Morris exhibition, Tate Gallery, 1971; Bodyspacemotionthings,Tate Modern, 2009. 2025. Disponível em: https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/performance-at-tate/perspectives/robert-morris. Acesso em: 15 mar. 2024.

WHEN attitudes become form. Milão: Fondazione Prada, 2013.

Downloads

Published

2025-11-28

Issue

Vol. 23 (2025)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Guilherme Meletti Yazbek

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The responsibility for obtaining written permission to use in the articles materials protected by copyright law lies entirely with the author(s). Ars is not responsible for copyright breaches made by its collaborators.

The authors have the copyrights and grant the journal the right of the first publication, with the article licensed under the Creative Commons BY-CC License.

Licensees have the right to copy, distribute, display, and carry out the work and make derivative works from it, including with commercial purposes, granted that they give the due credit to the author or licensor, as specified by them.

Licensees compromise to inform the appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

Respected the terms of the license, the licensors/authors are not allowed to revoke the conditions above mentioned.

After the publication of the articles, the authors keep the copyrights and the rights to republish the text exclusively in unpublished books and collections.

How to Cite

Yazbek, G. M. (2025). The Successful Disaster of Bodyspacemotionthings, by Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009s, de Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009 Robert Morris: 1971 vs 2009. ARS, 23, e-222980. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2178-0447.ars.2025.222980