Not I: Samuel Beckett

This artist’s book exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the writer Samuel Beckett, and complements events planned by the MCA and the Irish Cultural Center in Albany Park, Chicago. This show highlights the fundamental questions which Beckett and other artists have explored concerning human identity, communication of thought, and the question of subjectivity. While the exhibition does include a Beckett work, it draws primarily from the MCA artists’ book collection and from the work of Bruce Nauman, who was heavily influenced by Beckett. The central work of the exhibition is the 15-minute play by Beckett, Not I, which is to be presented as a film to be seen rather than read. The exhibit also includes Nauman’s drawings for Studies for Elliot’s Stones and his film Slow Angle Walk (Beckett Walk) (1968) which directly draws from Beckett’s play Watt, depicting an individual moving only at 90 degree angles.

On January 13, 14, and 15, 2006, five Beckett one-act plays will be performed by Chicago theatre companies within the MCA’s galleries. In addition, a small film series is being planned at the MCA and a panel discussion will be presented at the Irish Cultural Center. This exhibition is curated by Tricia Van Eck, Curatorial Coordinator and Curator of Artists’ Books.

Pressetext

Not I: A Samuel Beckett Centenary Celebration
Kurator: Tricia van Eck