Although American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen currently lives in the Nederlands I think this article is about a different person, Eric Andersen, who lives in Denmark and is not American. I...
Although American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen currently lives in the Nederlands I think this article is about a different person, Eric Andersen, who lives in Denmark and is not American.
I think the interesting part here is the installation art aspect:
The most important aspect to me: Crying is the only human language that isn’t coded.
CRYING SPACES WORLD WIDE
The first Crying Spaces were made in Holland, England, and Scandinavia in 1959/60. They were made quite simply by drawing a circle on the ground and stepping inside to Cry. Later, they developed into platforms you could step onto to Cry.
The first platform appeared in Aachen, Germany, at the legendary festival at Hochschule Aachen in 1964.
Crying is the only means of human communication that cannot be decoded and interpreted with certainty. You can observe a person Crying but can never determine why without additional information. It could be sadness, joy, pain, exhaustion, pleasure, relief, or a particle of dust in the eye.
However, if you analyze the hormones and crystals in each tear, you can with scientific certainty declare the specific reason for that particular Crying session.
After innumerable Crying Spaces all over the world, I had an offer to work with the famous marble from the notorious town of Guilletta and Romeo, Verona, Italy—the Verona Rosso.
The editor Francesco Conz from Verona offered to publish an edition in Verona Rosso. Here, I found the opportunity to materialize the old Greek saying that the most fragile and ephemeral part of the human body—the Tears—eventually will change and shape the most solid parts of the world.
The Crying Stone saw the light of day. Unfortunately, not in an edition of 7 billion (one for each inhabitant of Earth) but in a number of 19. For each stone, a most elegant wooden box in mahogany was made. In this way, you could travel with your Crying Stone and have it handy for all occasions.
From the early ’80s, public facilities as Crying Spaces with Crying Stones were established in Galleries and Art Centers all over the world. The celebrated avant-garde galleries in New York, Paris, Vienna, and Milano were the first: Gallery Emily Harvey, Galerie Donguy, Galerie Krinzinger, Fondazione Mudima.
More than 50 Crying Spaces with the Verona Rosso Stone have been realized—even one in Queensland Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
Finally, in 1994, a permanent Crying Space was established in a chapel of a former church, now transformed into Nikolaj Art Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Now, in the next millennium, a Crying Space is for the first time established in Asia. The appearance here in Seoul is quite different from the rest. A special Korean stone, the Pocheon, has been chosen for the Crying Stone, and the tripod for it is essentially the traditional Korean tripod, the Gaesang, the stool influenced by Korean design as well.
The Crying Space for Seoul is entirely unique to celebrate the fundamental sentiments of the Korean People.
"The Crying Space" holds music and sounds to spawn tears. This double CD is comprised of two sound pieces by the Fluxus artist Eric Andersen (b. Denmark, 1940). The first CD, “Le Chemin Des Larmes,” is a sound collage made for French radio broadcast in 1990. Fragile narrations in French and English by the artist and other voice actors, played over a streaming assemblage of tragic classical music. The sound crying, that of a professional Karelian mourner, is infused periodically. The texts describe the social and scientific nature of tears, in the context of Andersen’s worldwide “Crying Space” installations, which the artist describes in detail:
“The first Crying Spaces were made in Holland, England and Scandinavia in 1959/60. They were made quite simple by drawing a circle on the ground and to step inside to Cry. Crying is the only means of human communication that cannot be decoded and interpreted with certainty. You can observe a person Crying but can never determine why without additional information. It could be sadness, joy, pain, exhaustion, pleasure, relief or a particle of dust in the eye. However, if you analyze the hormones and crystals in each tear, you can with scientific certainty declare the specific reason for that particular Crying session.
After innumerable Crying Spaces all over the world I had an offer to work with the famous marble from the notorious town of Guilietta and Romeo, Verona, Italy. The Verona Rosso. The editor Francesco Conz from Verona offered to publish an edition in Verona Rosso. Here I found the opportunity to materialize the old Greek saying that the most fragile and ephemeral part of the human body, The Tears, eventually will change and shape the most solid parts of the world. The Crying Stone saw the light of the Day. Unfortunately not in an edition of 7 billions (one for each inhabitant of Earth) but in a number of 19. For each stone a most elegant wooden box in mahogany was made. In this way you could travel with your Crying Stone and have it handy for all occasions.”
The second CD, “The Crying Place,” is the soundtrack to installations at Emily Harvey Foundation in 1990 and Galerie J & J Donguy in 1991. Scarce cassette editions were made for these exhibitions. This is a 30 minute complete recording of a professional mourner as they cry and holler in sympathetic pain. The crying becomes songlike, as the weeping modulates and ebbs.
Although American singer-songwriter Eric Andersen currently lives in the Nederlands I think this article is about a different person, Eric Andersen, who lives in Denmark and is not American.
I think the interesting part here is the installation art aspect:
CRYING SPACES WORLD WIDE
The first Crying Spaces were made in Holland, England, and Scandinavia in 1959/60. They were made quite simply by drawing a circle on the ground and stepping inside to Cry. Later, they developed into platforms you could step onto to Cry.
The first platform appeared in Aachen, Germany, at the legendary festival at Hochschule Aachen in 1964.
Crying is the only means of human communication that cannot be decoded and interpreted with certainty. You can observe a person Crying but can never determine why without additional information. It could be sadness, joy, pain, exhaustion, pleasure, relief, or a particle of dust in the eye.
However, if you analyze the hormones and crystals in each tear, you can with scientific certainty declare the specific reason for that particular Crying session.
After innumerable Crying Spaces all over the world, I had an offer to work with the famous marble from the notorious town of Guilletta and Romeo, Verona, Italy—the Verona Rosso.
The editor Francesco Conz from Verona offered to publish an edition in Verona Rosso. Here, I found the opportunity to materialize the old Greek saying that the most fragile and ephemeral part of the human body—the Tears—eventually will change and shape the most solid parts of the world.
The Crying Stone saw the light of day. Unfortunately, not in an edition of 7 billion (one for each inhabitant of Earth) but in a number of 19. For each stone, a most elegant wooden box in mahogany was made. In this way, you could travel with your Crying Stone and have it handy for all occasions.
From the early ’80s, public facilities as Crying Spaces with Crying Stones were established in Galleries and Art Centers all over the world. The celebrated avant-garde galleries in New York, Paris, Vienna, and Milano were the first: Gallery Emily Harvey, Galerie Donguy, Galerie Krinzinger, Fondazione Mudima.
More than 50 Crying Spaces with the Verona Rosso Stone have been realized—even one in Queensland Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
Finally, in 1994, a permanent Crying Space was established in a chapel of a former church, now transformed into Nikolaj Art Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Now, in the next millennium, a Crying Space is for the first time established in Asia. The appearance here in Seoul is quite different from the rest. A special Korean stone, the Pocheon, has been chosen for the Crying Stone, and the tripod for it is essentially the traditional Korean tripod, the Gaesang, the stool influenced by Korean design as well.
The Crying Space for Seoul is entirely unique to celebrate the fundamental sentiments of the Korean People.
June 5th, 2016
Eric Andersen
https://recitalprogram.bandcamp.com/album/the-crying-space