Blank Forms

Blank Formsis anot-for-profitarts organization based inNew York City.It was founded by Lawrence Kumpf in 2016 as a platform for the preservation and presentation of experimental and time-based performance practices.Blank Forms frequently works with individual artists on a long-term basis in order to create "in-depth public programs and educational materials that provide a range of perspectives on inherently ephemeral practices."In 2017, the organization established Blank Forms Editions, a platform for disseminating texts and recordings related to their programming through anthologies, books, and audio releases.Blank Forms has additionally organized exhibitions byCatherine Christer Hennix,Loren Connors,Henning Christiansen,and Graham Lambkin.Although Blank Forms presents events on a largely nomadic basis through partnerships with a variety of spaces, in 2020 the organization opened their own exhibition space inBrooklyn'sClinton Hillneighborhood.

The Maryanne Amacher Foundation

Blank Forms was inaugurated on March 4, 2016 with Labyrinth Gives Way To Skin, the first of a series of seminars and listening sessions presented in collaboration with The Maryanne Amacher Archive to investigate the work of the late sound artistMaryanne Amacher.Seminars, listening sessions, and concerts of Amacher's work by Blank Forms have taken place atRedcat,Artists Space,Bell Labs,The Kitchen,St. Peter's Episcopal Church,University of Pennsylvania,the Emily Harvey Foundation, and Holy Apostles and the Mediator.In 2020, Blank Forms established the Maryanne Amacher Foundation and donated the composer's archives to theNew York Public Library for the Performing Artsfor use by researchers and artists.

Notable Projects

In 2018, Blank Forms began the ongoing project of preserving and promoting the work of Swedish polymath andminimal musiccomposerCatherine Christer Hennix.That year, Blank Forms co-curated two exhibitions of her artwork—Traversée du Fantasmeat theStedelijk Museum AmsterdamandThresholds of Perceptionat Empty Gallery in Hong Kong—and releasedSelected Early Keyboard Works,the first volume in their series of archival releases of her unheard music.Subsequent volumes have includedThe Deontic Miracle: Selections from 100 Models of Hegikan RokuandUnbegrenzt.In 2019, Blank Forms anthologized Hennix's writing in the two-volume setPoësy Matters&Other Matters.

In 2019, Blank Forms announced Intermediate States, a series of listening sessions, installations, and performances of the work of the French composerÉliane Radigue.The ongoing program has included diffusions of Radigue's tape worksTrilogie de la mort,Adnos I-III,Chry-ptus,andVice-Versa, etc...in addition to touring performances of her instrumental compositionOccam Ocean.

Exhibitions

In 2018, Blank Forms co-curatedTraversée du Fantasme,Catherine Christer Hennix's first solo museum exhibition since 1976, at theStedelijk Museum Amsterdam.Later that year, Blank Forms occupiedArtists Space's former space at 55 Walker St. inManhattan’sTribecaneighborhood for two art exhibitions with accompanying performance programs.Wildweeds,Loren Connors' first solo art show, was supplemented with performances by the guitarist as well as byCharalambides.Freedom Is Around the Cornerwas the first retrospective of DanishFluxusartistHenning Christiansen's work in America, with sculpture, painting, video, sound works, objects, works on paper, self-published magazines, and other work shown. The exhibition also included the presentation of performances by Werner Durand, Mark Harwood,Ute Wassermann,Thorbjørn Reuter Christiansen,Lucy Railton,James Rushford, Stíne Janvin, Graham Lambkin,Áine O’Dwyer,Lau Nau,and Apartment House, in addition to a screening of films byUrsula Reuter ChristiansenatAnthology Film Archives.Although Blank Forms continues to work using a roving curatorial model to present performances and exhibitions without a fixed space, in 2020 the organization opened their first dedicated exhibition space inBrooklyn'sClinton Hillneighborhood.That winter, they presentedTime Runs Through the Darkest Hour,an exhibition of drawings, mixed-media works on paper, and a sound piece by Graham Lambkin.

Blank Forms Editions

In 2017, Blank Forms began publishing an anthology in book form, consisting of interviews, essays, poetry, newly-translated texts, and artwork and envisioned as "a platform for critical reflection and extended dialogue between scholars, artists, and other figures working within the world of experimental music and art."That same year, they released a cassette byCharlemagne Palestine,inaugurating the record label branch of Blank Forms Editions.The label has also released music byCatherine Christer Hennix,Hairbone,Loren Connors,Maryanne Amacher,Graham Lambkin &Joe McPhee,Masayuki TakayanagiNew Direction Unit,Patty Waters,and Afuma.In 2019, they expanded their publishing wing by publishing three single-author books, byLoren Connors,Catherine Christer Hennix,andJoseph Jarman.In 2020, they announced the publication of a book of selected writings and interviews byMaryanne Amacherand a collection of poetry about music byThulani Davis.In 2021, Blank Forms Editions publishedAlan Licht's bookCommon Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020.

Artists

Some of the artists with which Blank Forms has sustained extended relationships include:

• Afuma
• Onyx Ashanti
• Maryanne Amacher
• Henning Christiansen
• Loren Connors
• Thulani Davis
• Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force
• Catherine Christer Hennix
• Graham Lambkin
• Okkyung Lee
• Alan Licht
• Joe McPhee
• Áine O'Dwyer
• Charlemagne Palestine
• TheSun RaArkestra
• Éliane Radigue
• Marianne Schroeder
• Akio Suzuki
• Masayuki TakayanagiNew Direction Unit
• Patty Waters
• Yarn/Wire