Tino Sehgal's Immaterial Art

The New York Times Magazine has a very interesting article about Tino Sehgal, the Berlin-based conceptual artist. Sehgal experimented with dance early in his career, but his recent creations, which he calls "staged situations," are conceived as artworks rather than theater, and have been acquired by the Tate and the Museum of Modern Art, among others. Nevertheless, his work builds on the ephemerality of dance (unless it's recorded, a dance performance is gone as soon as it is performed) and takes that quality to its logical extreme. Sehgal is adamant that his work be completely intangible: it cannot be documented in any way, which means it can't be photographed or publicized and is bought and sold without involving any objects whatsoever.

The only objects in the works themselves are human beings. For example, in This situation, the viewer is greeted by six people who intone "Welcome to this situation" in unison and then engage in a conversation inspired by a quote spoken by one of the six, all the while making slow, tai-chi like movements and occasionally including the visitor in the discussion. The process is repeated each time a new visitor enters the gallery.

The legal aspects of buying and selling this art can be confounding. The Times writes: "Since there can be no written contract, the sale of a Sehgal piece must be conducted orally, with a lawyer or a notary public on hand to witness it. The work is described; the right to install it for an unspecified number of times under the supervision of Sehgal or one of his representatives is stipulated; and the price is stated. The buyer agrees to certain restrictions, perhaps the most important being the ban on future documentation, which extends to any subsequent transfers of ownership. 'If the work gets resold, it has to be done in the same way it was acquired originally,' says Jan Mot, who is Sehgal’s dealer in Brussels. 'If it is not done according to the conditions of the first sale, one could debate whether it was an authentic sale. It’s like making a false Tino Sehgal, if you start making documentation and a certificate.'"

So if you document the work in any way, you've suddenly got a forgery on your hands. Sehgal isn't kidding when he says his work is ephemeral.

Two of Sehgal's works will occupy the entire Guggenheim rotunda, January 29 - March 10, 2010. Information about the exhibit is here.

Related post: Another reason for choreographers to videotape their work.