Infinite Invisible Soft-shoe
Solo Presentation of artwork by Jamie Isenstein
Guild and Greyshkul, New York, NY
September 17 – October 9, 2004
Press release and work details below.
Infinite Invisible Soft-shoe, 2004
Player piano, single-channel video, velvet curtains, spot light, rigger or Will Return sign, autographed headshots
Dimensions variable
Infinite Invisible Soft-shoe, 2004 is an installation of three components. Invisible Disco Soft-shoe, 2004 is a shallow stage of red velvet curtains that I perform as the rigger, by pulling ropes inside the curtains to make the curtains appear to dance on their own. When I am not performing, I hang a Will Return sign on the closed curtains. Infinite Disco Soft-shoe, 2004 a video of me and an animatronic skeleton dancing a version of the Dance of Death is also included in the installation. In the video, I attempt to keep pace with the automated movements of the skeleton. The video is played on an infinite loop so that the dance never ends. Music for both works is provided by Infinite Invisible Disco, 2004, a player piano performing a two-player ragtime arrangement of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” The work is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY where it was installed and performed in 2016.
Guild and Greyshkul Press Release:
Jamie Isenstein
Infinite Invisible Soft-shoe
How do you present your own absence? How do you immortalize death? Drawing from a cross-spectrum of theatrical history and iconography, Jamie Isenstein ‘s Infinite Invisible Soft-shoe artfully addresses these opposing conditions through three interrelated performances.
Central to the exhibition is Infinite Disco Soft-shoe, 2002-2004, a continuous video loop of Isenstein and her animatronic skeleton dressed identically in top hats with canes doing a soft-shoe dance on a small spot lit stage. Exploiting the old tricks of the trade- lights, mechanics, and magic, Isenstein’s video is a contemporary vanitas contemplation of the transience of life. She is often slightly out of time with the robotic movements of her skeleton, staging with humor and acuity her fallibility as a human and performer. A lighthearted reference to Hans Holbein’s print series Dance of Death (1538), the video appears to be the dramatic yet hysterical end of Isenstein. But unlike the traditional dance of death, where the dance ends and death overcomes the living, Isenstein and her skeleton’s soft-shoe never ends and the two dance forever.
Accompanying music to the video is provided by Infinite Invisible Disco, 2004, a player piano playing a vaudeville version of the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive. The piano also plays for the velvet curtains of Invisible Disco Soft- shoe, 2004. Spot lit in anticipation of their absent performer; the curtains choose to perform instead. Parting and jumping to the music, the curtain’s performance is a testimony to the John Henry – esque endurance of Isenstein as she operates them hidden within their folds. Invisible to the viewer, Isenstein addresses questions of the presence of the artist in a work by her absence. Ironically, when she is unable to be un-present, a “Will Return” sign hangs in front of the closed curtains indicating when the performance will resume.
The Yamaha Disklavier player piano has been generously provided by Frank and Camille’s Fine Pianos on 57th
Works in the exhibtion:
Infinite Disco Soft-shoe, 2002-2004
Single-channel video
3 minute loop
Infinite Invisible Disco, 2004
Player piano playing the Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive arranged by Paul Damian Hogan
Invisible Disco Soft- shoe, 2004
Velvet curtains, spot light, rigging, rigger or Will Return sign