Dan Graham: Rock my Religion
Malmö
MALMÖ 11-23 SEPTEMBER 2012
On 29 September, this autumn’s major exhibition THE SUPERSURREALISM will open. As of September 11, all the exhibition rooms are closed and only the entrance and the museum shop are open. On September 11 to 23, we will screen Dan Graham’s pioneering video work Rock my Religion outside of the Turbine Hall. Free admission!
Dan Graham
Rock my Religion, 1982-1984
Director: Dan Graham
Produced by: Dan Graham & Moderna Museet
Betacam SP, PAL, S/V och färg / B/W and colour, stereo
55:27 min
In the video work Rock my Religion, the American artist Dan Graham explores influences and similarities between rock music and religion. The use of ritual and dance in religious practices to achieve release and spiritual transcendence is comparable to how the social codes and rites of noise and rock music are used to build a strong group identity, a sense of community that nevertheless separates its members from everyday social life and sets them apart from the accepted social circles. But Rock my Religion is also a portrait of a new world, a post-war era based on consumerism, urbanity and mass culture.
Dan Graham has a long relationship to rock music, and has collaborated with groups such as Sonic Youth and Minor Threat. In this work, we meet musicians such as Henry Rollins and his band Black Flag, Patti Smith, Elvis Costello and Jim Morrison. His musical background and his fascination for the impact of TV on the post-war era and social processes are both strongly tangible in Rock my Religion.
Dan Graham’s Rock my Religion was a groundbreaking video work in its time, highlighting the relationship between moving images and culture. The work was produced by Dan Graham in association with Moderna Museet.
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