Rock My Religion, Dan Graham

Rock My Religion Dan Graham 1982-84 55:27 min, b&w and color, sound

Rock My Religion is a provocative thesis on the relation between religion and rock music in contemporary culture. Graham formulates a history that begins with the Shakers, an early religious community who practiced self-denial and ecstatic trance dances. With the “reeling and rocking” of religious revivals as his point of departure, Graham analyzes the emergence of rock music as religion with the teenage consumer in the isolated suburban milieu of the 1950s, locating rock's sexual and ideological context in post-World War II America. The music and philosophies of Patti Smith, who made explicit the trope that rock is religion, are his focus. This complex collage of text, film footage and performance forms a compelling theoretical essay on the ideological codes and historical contexts that inform the cultural phenomenon of rock ‘n’ roll music.

Original Music: Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth. Sound: Ian Murray, Wharton Tiers. Narrators: Johanna Cypis, Dan Graham. Editors: Matt Danowski, Derek Graham, Ian Murray, Tony Oursler. Produced by Dan Graham and the Moderna Museet.

Dan Graham's provocative art and theories analyze the historical, social and ideological functions of contemporary cultural systems, including architecture, rock music, and television. In performances, installations, and architectural/ sculptural designs, he investigates public and private, audience and performer, objectivity and subjectivity. Deconstructing the phenomenology of viewing, he manipulates perception with time delay, projections, closed-circuit video, and mirrors.
Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix On-Line Catalogue: www.eai.org

Dan Graham
Urbana, Illinois, 1942
Skowhegan Medal for Mixed Media, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, New York, 1992

Solo Exhibitions
Dan Graham, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal, January 30-March 2001;
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France, July - September 2001;
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Holland, November 2001 - February 2002;
KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland, April - June 2002
Dan Graham: The Complete Film Works, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, New York, March 30, 2001

Group Exhibitions
Flashing into the Shadows: The Artist Film in America 1966-76, The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, New York, December 7, 2000-April 1, 2001

Rock My Religion by Dan Graham will play continuously in the Gallery from September 8 - November 1, 2004.
An opening reception will be held on Thursday, September 9, 2004 from 5 to 7 pm.