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The Year of the Rope:
An Interview with Linda Montano & Tehching HsiehBy Alex and
Allyson GreyNo two artists are more central to a discussion of the
Life/Art Experiment than Linda Montano and Tehching Hsieh. Foryears
on opposite coasts they had each cordoned off whole sections of
their daily li!es and called them art. "hen weheard that they were
wor#ing together on a one$year piece it seemed li#e a natural. "hen
we heard they had !owed tospend a whole year in New %or# &ity
tied to each other with a piece of rope it seemed perfect'yet
hardly possi(le. Alex
and Allyson )rey were artists married to each other and *ust as
o(sessi!ely concerned with coupling at the intersection ofart and
life. +n ,une -0 while the Hsieh/Montano piece was still in
progress High Performanceas#ed the four artists tomeet for a
con!ersation a(out it. 'Eds.
July, 1983
STATEMENT
We, LINDA MONTANO and TE!ING SIE, "lan #o do a one
year"er$or%an&e'
We ()ll s#ay #o*e#+er $or one year and neer -e alone' We ()ll -e
)n #+e sa%eroo% a# #+e sa%e #)%e, (+en (e are )ns)de' We ()ll -e
#)ed #o*e#+er a# #+e(a)s# ()#+ an 8 $oo# ro"e' We ()ll neer
#ou&+ ea&+ o#+er dur)n* #+e year'
T+e "er$or%an&e ()ll -e*)n on July ., 1983, a# / "'%', and
&on#)nue
un#)l July ., 198., a# / "' %'
0L)nda Mon#ano
'Tehching Hsieh
"ith masterful simplicity of means Tehching Hsieh and Linda
Montano created ayear$long art epic. Each of the artists1 past
wor#s had strangely prepared them forthe endurance of the rope. The
rope pro!ided an extended and controlled shoc# to
the patterns of their li!es. Not separate yet not a 2couple2 the
two artists1 wor#too# on layer after layer of meaning. The reality
of the rope (ecame the sym(ol ofrelationship...the difficulty of
relationships...the inescapa(ility ofinterdependence... The rope
made !isi(le the psychic (ond that exists (etween
any two people in close relationship and told the truth that we
are each alone yetconnected.
3ne of the most highly pu(lici4ed wor#s of performance art it
retains animpenetra(le pri!acy. No one will e!er #now 2what it was
li#e2 (ut the artiststhemsel!es. Those who ha!e seen or heard of
Tehching Hsieh and Linda Montano1sart/life performance will long
remem(er it.
Alex and Allyson )rey5 "hen did you first meet and what inspired
your colla(oration6
Linda Montano5 + was li!ing in a 7en &enter in upstate New
%or#. 8uring a trip to the city + saw one
of Tehching1s posters and literally heard a !oice in my head
that said 28o a one$year piece withhim.2 + was free to do that so +
as#ed Martha "ilson 9of the New %or# art space Fran#lin
Furnace:
for his num(er called him and we met at ;rinted Matter where we
tal#ed intensely for two hours.He said that he was loo#ing for a
person to wor# with...+ was loo#ing for him...so we continued
negotiating tal#ing and wor#ing from ,anuary to ,uly when we
started the piece.
A5 ?o you were loo#ing for some(ody to wor# with (efore you met
Linda6
TH5 %es. + 9had an: idea a(out this piece and + needed to find
some(ody for colla(oration. After +met Linda she told me that she
had done a piece handcuffed with Tom Marioni for three days.?omehow
+ feel !ery good a(out colla(oration (ecause Linda had done
something similar (efore.
Linda Montanoand Tehching
Hsieh' Ne( or2!)#y, 198., +o#o4Alex and AllysonGrey
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LM5 Actually +1m (eginning to ree!aluate guilt and lately ha!e
(een more willing to sacrifice not(ecause +1m guilty (ut (ecause
it1s an essential attitude. + also reali4e that not ha!ing sex is
as
interesting as ha!ing it. @esides touch is highly o!errated. +n
the past +1!e often grasped withoutenergy charge or significance
and called that touch.
TH5 "e do not touch. "e are sacrificing sex not denying it. "e
could in theory ha!e sex with otherpeople. @ut that would *ust (e a
way to try to escape. +t is not right for the piece.
LM5 3nce you gi!e the mind a command then you watch the (ody
carry out the process. "hen +went into the con!ent for two years +
informed myself that + would not ha!e sex and noticed that
the energy went to other things. This year + ha!e a chance to
experiment with desire. Am + turnedon6 To whom6 "hen6 How much6
Also since the (ody isn1t touched the mind is pushed into the
astral.
+ (elie!e that in the next GJJ years we will all (e in outer
space so why not practice outer$spacesex now (y letting astral
(odies merge.
A
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LM5 ;regnant women also respond (ecause we are ma#ing the
um(ilical cord !isi(le. "e also getresponses from policemen
feminists religious people ? < M practitioners people
wal#ing
dogs...the image e!o#es many pro*ections.
Actually the pu(licity has won o!er my father...He is a
(usinessman and read a(out it in the %all
treet 'ournal( so now he1s much more supporti!e of my wor#.
And (eing deluged (y the media has helped me come to a new
understanding of documentation. +t
seems that the primary document is the change inside the
performer and audience. The results arefelt and cannot always (e
photographed or expressed.
A
