UNIFYING THE ARTS

"The Music, Dance, Theatre, and the Visual Arts, the forms of expression, the arts of hope. This is where I think I fit in." 

- Keith Haring (date unknown)

Each art form is now more commonly used as a commentary on the World that surrounds us, and the issues that as both individuals and collective we face rather than beautifying and self-worshipping.

As a youth Haring's daily paper-round exposed him to politics and other issues that graced the front pages of his local newspaper, this ultimately had an effect on him and the issues he chose to confront within his work.

Like Haring and his work, this project looks to everything as a possible source of inspiration particularly influence coming from a broadness of interest within the arts.

Haring performing 'neo-dada' poems at Club 57, NY (date unknown)

Haring used the idea of unifying the arts and experimented with this particularly within his time spent at 'Club 57' and later curating the rotating gallery at the 'Mudd Club'.

Club 57 and the Mudd Club were nightclubs in New York (opening the late 1970's-1980's) where artists, musicians and dancers came together to not only have a good time but also to showcase their work, and work together as artists. 

Haring regularly performed at the Wednesday night poetry readings and performed inside a false-television set and read his neo-dada poems and curated the Black Light Show in Club 57 and the Rotating Gallery at the Mudd Club.

Haring regularly put on shows with his friends (that were often completely surreal and obtuse) including a collaboration with dancer and choreographer Bill T Jones entitled "Long Distance" (performed at The Kitchen-another arts gallery/centre based in New York) in which Haring painted at the rear of the stage allowing the sounds of his paintbrush against his board to be the accompaniment for the dance.

The Mudd Club and Club 57 soon became a great fixture on the underground music, fashion, art and counter-culture scene, The Kitchen still continues to be an active Centre for video, music, dance, performance, film, and literature.

Bill T Jones & Keith Haring performing Long Distance at The Kitchen, NY (date unkown)

At the time when Haring was sharing his work with his friends at the Mudd Club, Haring was attending the School of Visual Arts in New York. Where he experimented with performance pieces and film.

Films included both Haring himself and his friends and family as the subjects. One of the most notable being his film (and later live performance) depicting Haring speaking in Morse Code (Title Unknown).

(Haring was later expelled from the School of Visual Arts for using the interior of an SVA building as a canvas for graffiti in a project with Jean-Michel Basquiat)

Author's Note

Haring naturally collaborated and explored various art forms, this is something that I aim to achieve through this project and hope to do this as seamlessly as he did.

Given Haring's work as an example I challenge anyone who questions that a merge or unity within the arts cannot be achieved.

Sources:

• information retrieved from haring.com and The Universe of Keith Haring., 2008. [DVD]

•  figure 1 & 2: Screen-captures taken from The Universe of Keith Haring., 2008. [DVD]