Utterly Precarious: A Master Class with Carolee Schneemann

In April 2012, artist Carolee Schneemann discussed her life and work with a group of freshmen from the Department of the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania as part of a program sponsored by the Slought Foundation. This very simply filmed presentation documents their conversation, which is frankly not well-recorded (the students' questions are so muffled that subtitles are provided). The site of the colloquy is the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, where Schneemann's physician father had taken her as a child, a locale appropriate not simply because of the biographical connection, but also because the artist's work—whether in the form of painting, film, or performance—has centered on the individual body, particularly female, in relation to larger “social” bodies, an oeuvre that has helped shape discourse on sexuality and gender for half a century. Regarded as one of the most influential of feminist artists, Schneemann discusses her works' themes, but much of the content here is biographical, describing obstacles she overcame during her career and initial reactions to her art. Schneemann is not a dynamic speaker, but her observations should interest those who appreciate her artwork, as well as students of modern American art in general. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)