The Monotone Symphony March 9, 1960 |
On a clear night in March at ten
pm sharp a crowd of one hundred
people, all dressed in black tie attire, came to the Galerie
International d'Art Contemporain in Paris. The event was the first
conceptual piece to be shown at this gallery by their new artist Mr.
Yves Klein. The gallery was one of the finest in Paris.
|
Mr. Klein in a black dinner jacket proceeded to conduct a ten piece
orchestra in his personal composition of The Monotone Symphony, which
he had written in 1949. This symphony consisted of one note.
|
Three models appeared, all with very beautiful naked bodies. They
were then conducted as was the full orchestra by Mr. Klein. The
music began. The models then rolled themselves in the blue paint that
had been placed on giant pieces of artist paper - the paper had been
carefully placed on one side of the galleries' wall and floor area
- opposite the full orchestra.
Everything was composed so
breathtakingly beautifully. The spectacle was surely a metaphysical
and spiritual event for all. This went on for twenty minutes. When
the symphony stopped it was followed by a strict twenty minutes of
silence, in which everyone in the room willingly froze themselves in
their own private meditation space.
|
At the end of Yves' piece everyone in the audience was fully aware
they had been in the presence of a genius at work, the piece was a
huge success! Mr. Klein triumphed. It would be his greatest moment
in art history, a total success.
|
The spectacle had unquestionable poetic beauty, and Mr. Kleins' last
words that night were, "THE MYTH IS IN ART".
|
- M.Lewis - |
|
|
|
|
|
![]() |