Ruth Noack Examines Sanja Iveković's 'Triangle' in New Afterall Publication

Afterall has released a new monograph by Ruth Noack offering the first sustained examination of Sanja Iveković's canonical performance 'Triangle' (Trokut, 1979). The 18-minute performance took place on 10 May 1979 in Zagreb, during a motorcade of Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito. Iveković sat on her balcony reading a book, sipping whiskey, and making gestures as if performing masturbation until a security official asked her to leave. The work is exhibited as four black-and-white photographs and a short descriptive text. Noack's study focuses on the work's genesis, documentation, and the politics of canon construction, discussing it in relation to conceptualism, performance, and the position of women in Tito's Yugoslavia. She explores the subversive nature of Iveković's act and how the work participates in citizenship, challenging the terms through which we order our world. The publication is available in paperback via MIT Press and can be previewed on Google Books. It is part of Afterall's 'One Work' series, which includes titles on Sung Hwan Kim, Isa Genzken, Alfredo Jaar, and Donald Rodney.