Topless cellist : the improbable life of Charlotte Moorman / Joan Rothfuss ; foreword by Yoko Ono
Author(s): Rothfuss, Joan
Library Item Details
- Main Title
- Topless cellist : the improbable life of Charlotte Moorman
- Author(s)
- Rothfuss, Joan
- Publisher
- Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2014
- Collation
- xiii, 447 pages, 12 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color)
24 cm - Summary
- "The Juilliard-trained cellist Charlotte Moorman sat nude behind a cello of carved ice, performed while dangling from helium-filled balloons, and deployed an array of instruments and sounds on The Mike Douglas Show that included her cello, a whistle, a cap gun, a gong, and a belch. She did a striptease while playing Bach in Nam June Paik's Sonata for Adults Only. In the 1960s, Moorman (1933-1991) became famous for her madcap (and often unclothed) performance antics; less famous but more significant is Moorman's transformative influence on contemporary performance practice--and her dedication to the idea that avant-garde art should reach the widest possible audience. In Topless Cellist, the first book to explore Moorman's life and work, Joan Rothfuss rediscovers, and recovers, the legacy of an extraordinary American artist"--Jacket.
- ISBN
- 9780262533584
- Dewey Class
- 787.4092
- Contents
- Foreword by Yoko Ono -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part one. Leaving Little Rock (1933-1961). 1. Good music and small towns ; 2. Austin, Buffalo, and New York City ; 3. Two debuts -- Part two. Queen of the avant-garde (1962-1978). 4. A vast new sound world ; 5. 6 concerts ; 6. A beautiful persuasion ; 7. The feast of astonishments ; 8. Salt and pepper ; 9. A typical American girl ; 10. Festival of the avant garde '65 ; 11. Johnny Carson and Coca-Cola ; 12. The unexpected is not a threat ; 13. Avant-garde in Central Park ; 14. Topless cellist ; 15. The people v. Moorman ; 16. Raisins in the audience dough ; 17. Destruction in art ; 18. Dear Charlotte ; 19. It isn't music, it's mixed media ; 20. TV bra ; 21. A mini world's fair ; 22. Getting by, with a little help ; 23. The liberation of TV ; 24. Ice music for London ; 25. A Southern girl in black ; 26. Cecil B. de Moorman ; 27. South Pacific ; 28. A condition of continuous festival -- Part three. Living while dying (1979-1991). 29. A piece, of sorts ; 30. Sky kiss -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Avant-garde festivals -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index.
- Language
- English
- Subject
- Performance artists -- United States -- Biography
Moorman, Charlotte, -- 1933-1991 - BRN
- 10279
Availability
| Location | Collection | Call No. | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Rotunda Library & Archive
|
Books
|
787.4092 ROT
|
Available
|
