[Various Artists]
24 Stunden
Itzehoe. Germany: Verlag Hansen & Hansen, 1965
[400] pp., 10.5 x 7.4 x 4.3 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown
24 Studen (or
24 Hours) is a hybrid exhibition catalogue, artist book and multiple, which documents a legendary 24-hour long performance that took place at the Galerie Parnass, Wuppertal, Germany, on June 5, 1965.
The gallerist Rolf Jährling turned his home into performance space and invited six artists to perform in separate rooms for the full 24 hours - Joseph Beuys, Bazon Brock, Nam June Paik, Eckart Rahn, Tomas Schmit and Wolf Vostell. Charlotte Moorman was the lone female participant, as she was performing with Paik, her longtime collaborator.
The performance was timed to end at midnight on June 6th (the twenty-first anniversary of D-Day) but only Moorman and Vostell acknowledged this. Vostell performed wearing a gas mask and Moorman wept during her performance. "I've always tried to hold back the tears when I hear the [wartime sound effects on the] tapes, but this time I didn't hold back," she writes.
The book features documentation by Ute Klophaus and a small packet of flour hidden in the back pages of the book. This is part of Vostell’s contributions, along with the instructions: “occupy yourself with flour for twenty-four hours."
