MoMA | Between Worlds

In conjunction with the New York performance biennial Performa 09, MoMA’s Performance Exhibition Series presents Between Worlds (2009), an evening-length work by New York artists Fischerspooner. Between Worlds, a pop spectacle developed in support of Fischerspooner’s 2009 album Entertainment, runs continuously over the course of three hours, with no clear beginning or end, on a large central stage that allows the audience to view the piece from all sides. With source material provided by The Wooster Group and with inspirations ranging from Japanese theater to the early years of the U.S. space program, this new performance continues Fischerspooner's interest in exploring the spaces between art and entertainment, reality and fiction, intentions and mistakes.

Fischerspooner is Casey Spooner (b. 1970) and Warren Fischer (b. 1968), who met at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Between Worlds originated in workshops with The Wooster Group, and the rehearsal process later became part of the group exhibition It's Not Only Rock N Roll, Baby at the Bozar Museum in Brussels. The piece was later performed at the twenty-eighth annual Sao Paulo Bienal in October 2008. In April 2009, Between Worlds was presented as an open dress rehearsal at The Performing Garage in New York City, and the piece has continually evolved over the course of Fischerspooner’s world tour.

Performa 09 (November 1–22, 2009) is the third edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century.