The Paula Cooper Gallery is pleased to present Christian Marclay’s Shake Rattle and Roll (Fluxmix) at this year’s edition of Art Basel Unlimited. The work, which consists of 16 videos playing on monitors arranged in a circle, was created in 2004 while Marclay was an artist-in-residence at the Walker Art Center. Inspired by the museum’s extensive collection of Fluxus objects (some 500 works by artists including George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Ben Vautier, Yoko Ono and Joseph Beuys), Marclay filmed himself manipulating individual objects to explore their sound-making potential. The monitors show close-ups of Marclay’s gloved hand rustling paper, opening and closing boxes, and activating toys. The result is a softly percussive, abstract and absurd symphony — at once a sonic détournement of Fluxus and a celebration of its iconoclastic spirit.

As the titular “Fluxmix” implies, the piece functions as a sampling or mash-up, echoing Marclay’s work as a performer and avant-garde DJ. Because the video loops are not synchronized and are of varying lengths (between 10 and 15 minutes each), the result is an ever-shifting combination of sounds and images.

Other editions of this work belong to important public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Jumex Coleccion, Mexico City.

For more information, please contact the gallery: (212) 255-1105 or
info@paulacoopergallery.com