Jim Burton
Performer Isolation Event

Jim Burton
Alan Finkel
Larry Nelson
Roger Nelson

Organized by Jim Burton.

“Performer Isolation Event” required four performers to remain in isolation by lying down in coffin-sized boxes for twelve hours. The event began at 9:00AM and ended at 9:00PM. Each box was equipped with a microphone fed to a public address system in the gallery. Each performer wore earplugs and blindfolds to minimize his contact with the environment. During the period of isolation, the performers were instructed to improvise vocal variations on the five vowels, in order. Each vowel was allotted two hours and the final two-hour period was for free improvisation. The performers could only estimate the two-hour divisions; thus, the vowel variations often overlapped.

Excerpted from Brentano, R., & Savitt, M. (1981). 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, artists & artworks. New York: New York University Press.