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.
By Jarrod Zlatic
Issue 4, Summer 2025
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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