The Puppet Show

 
 
 
Three year-old Emma dances with puppets to the soundtrack “It ain’t what you make, it’s  what makes you do it,” at  Santa Monica  Museum of Art's   'The Puppet Show' on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at Bergamot Station. The  multi-puppet installation is by artist Dennis Oppenheim and titled 'Theme for a  Major Hit, 1974' (motor driven marionettes, wood, cloth, felt, soundtrack, tape  player, and external speakers soundtrack). The marionettes dance for 2 minutes and rest for 8 minutes all day long.  ~  International in scope, the  exhibition brings together works by 28 contemporary artists who explore the  imagery of puppets in sculpture, film, video, time-based media, animation, and  2D work. The Puppet Show installation includes works by participating artists as  well as a collection of historic puppets, who are housed in Puppet Storage—the  exhibition's simultaneous entry and “backstage” or unconsciousness. Some works  in the show involve puppets as figures (marionettes, shadow puppets,  ventriloquist dummies). In others, artists perform as puppeteers. Others still  evoke such topics associated with puppetry (manipulation, miniaturization, and  control). The Puppet Show is organized by the Institute of Contemporary  Art, University of Pennsylvania. It is co-curated by Ingrid Schaffner, ICA  Senior curator, and Carin Kuoni, Director. The exhibition runs through August  9th at Bergamot Station.




















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