Identifications. Fernsehausstellung II

Gerry Schum’s television film Identifications was broadcasted on 30 November 1970. Twenty artists provided a recording of a short performance for inclusion in the film. The starting point for each performance was the artist’s own body. In To the Sea/On the Sea/From the Sea/At the Sea/Bordering the Sea, for example, Lawrence Weiner assumed five different positions in relation to the sea, literally using his body as the subject of his art. Hardly any action took place in Gilbert & George’s performance, in which they appeared as a ‘living sculpture’. The main focus of their contribution The Nature of our Looking was on presenting the artists themselves. Schum’s total film consists of eighteen recordings of performances, as two artists withdrew their work after the first broadcast.