Whitney Biennial 2024: Even Better Than the Real Thing

Performance

Born 1989 in New York, NY
Lives in New York, NY, and Philadelphia, PA

Playing with language and narrative structure, Alex Tatarsky’s live performances are highly responsive to venue and audience, careening between scripted sequences and improvisation. A trained clown, Tatarsky embraces the figure of the bouffon, a European clown type said to live in the swamps at the edge of the kingdom, who was not only allowed to mock the king’s power but also rewarded for it. The artist’s contribution to the show incorporates remnants of past works alongside new investigations into the thematics identified in works by other artists in the Biennial—unpredictable weather patterns, intestinal discomfort, and the American flag as a poem and a warning. Over the course of the show, the artist is conducting covert research throughout the Museum. Techniques include eavesdropping on visitors, observation and mimicry of inanimate objects, and taking Lower Manhattan’s buried wetlands as a prompt: letting that which lies beneath the surface seep, leak, and flood.