Simone Forti's Performances Launch Furla Series at Museo del Novecento

The Furla Series, a new cultural program by Fondazione Furla replacing its former prize for young Italian art, launches with Simone Forti's performances at Museo del Novecento in Milan. Curated by Vincenzo de Bellis and Bruna Roccasalva, the project titled 'To Play The Flute' presents four of Forti's signature pieces from the 1960s, on view until September 23. Forti (born 1935 in Florence), an Italian-American artist, dancer, and choreographer who worked with Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, and Steve Paxton, could not attend but sent a video message. The performances include 'Huddle' (1961), a collective intertwining of bodies forming a sculptural mass; 'Censor' (1961), a clash of sounds with a pot of nails and a singing girl; 'Cloths' (1967), an action screened by black cloths with performers singing over prerecorded tracks; and 'Sleepwalkers' (1968), a meditative piece based on animal behaviors in zoos, performed by historical assistant Claire Filmon. The series, titled 'Time after Time, Space after Space,' will continue with four more international artists: Alexandra Bachzetsis (November 2017), Adelita Husni-Bey (January 2018), Paulina Olowska (March 2018), and Christian Marclay (April 2018). Forti's return to Italy in 1968 after years in the US and collaborations with Fabio Sargentini at Galleria L'Attico, including the 1969 festival 'Danza Volo Musica Dinamite' with Charlemagne Palestine, Joan Jonas, and La Monte Young, contextualize her work.