AGO the Kiss - keep it on the down low

We were lucky enough to get a personal tour of the AGO yesterday from one of my very gracious and amazing clients. We got the inside scoop behind the AGO philosophy and got lead to a room in the contemporary area that I never would have found without our guide, Paul.

He had told me about the Kiss by Tino Sehgal before we started the tour. As we entered the gallery, the two people creating a moving human sculpture were crawling along the floor in a seductive engagement (can't call it dance: see below).

The Toronto Star is one of the only publications that I've been able to find that has written about it. Anyone see anything else, let me know.

Murray Whyte, Visual Arts Critic from the Toronto Star wrote:

"Even for those involved, it's hard to say just what Kiss is, exactly. Don't call it performance art, Sehgal says: Defying that tradition, he prohibits it from being photographed. No record exists – even the gallery's ownership is an oral contract. He demands the only thing left behind is the trace memory in the viewer's mind.

While it appears gently spontaneous, it's tightly planned. "Every single movement is choreographed," Henderson said. But don't call it dance (Sehgal doesn't). "There's no duration to the work – it's all day, every day. No dance is like that," she says. "It's like we're the raw material necessary to make the piece."

Even for those involved, it's hard to say just what Kiss is, exactly. Don't call it performance art, Sehgal says: Defying that tradition, he prohibits it from being photographed. No record exists – even the gallery's ownership is an oral contract. He demands the only thing left behind is the trace memory in the viewer's mind.

While it appears gently spontaneous, it's tightly planned. "Every single movement is choreographed," Henderson said. But don't call it dance (Sehgal doesn't). "There's no duration to the work – it's all day, every day. No dance is like that," she says. "It's like we're the raw material necessary to make the piece."

The AGO isn't allowed to write about it, promote it, take pictures of it or post any print material about it anywhere in the gallery. There is no separation in terms of ropes or staging and every so often one of the people in the Kiss will make direct eye contact with someone watching.

Here's an article in W Magazine all about Tino Sehgal
. He just had some work run at the Guggenheim Museum January to March. He's sounds like a pretty interesting dude who believes "there's too much stuff in the world" and refuses to travel by plane anywhere.

I've never seen anything like the Kiss at any gallery. The AGO is really something else I tell ya. I'm no art history major but being there makes me want to grab a giant art history encyclopedia and learn about the artists and their work room by room. What does this have to do with fitness and sweat? Nothing but I'm interested in much than just being a gym bunny with a nice bum.

Ciao,
Jane