Robert Rooney, Jazz, Art
Before performance art, there was art and music. At the Eastside Gallery in Jolimont in the early 1960s, some artists would exhibit while others just jammed.
I caught only a brief twenty-second clip: a trio of guitar, violin, and electronics at the feet of the National Gallery of Victoria’s newly acquired Yayoi Kusama sculpture Dancing Pumpkin (2020). The performance was a launch event scheduled during the Melbourne Art Book Fair next door in The Great Hall. The ambient wash of sound gave a slightly awkward lobby-entertainment vibe, as the usual weekend throng sauntered around. The trio’s set consisted of interpretations of the graphic scores of Robert Rooney (1937–2017).
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Robert Rooney, Jazz, Art by Jarrod Zlatic is featured in full in Issue 4 of Memo magazine.
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Jarrod Zlatic is a critic and musician from Melbourne.
