Rhyme and Reason

A video performance on the theme of poetry and politics was developed into several variations and performed in several locations. On the 26th of October 1977 at Concept in Performance, Internationaler Kunstmarkt, Cologne, October 26–31, 1977; on March 25, 1978 at Kunstraum de Appel, Amsterdam, under the title Zeitkontinuum – Zeitblut – Zeitsprung; on April 27, 1978 at the International Performance Festival, Österreichischer Kunstverein, Vienna, and under the Titel Blutglocke at Performances 79 February 2–18, 1979 in the Städtische Galerie of the Lenbachhaus in Munich. The present document shows only the version from Amsterdam as performed in 1978.

The order of reason and the order of rhyme can be seen as analogous. Rhyme is the high point of regularity that interlocks senseless words with sensible images of speech. Like verse that organizes language and brings it into rhythm and rhyme to create new meaning, reality can only be meaningfully altered through the violence of reason. This concept is supposed to be conveyed by images of actions based on the repetition of onomatopoetic and babble words, and reflections of the public and the subject.