63 Bluxome Street at 4th Street, now 63 Bluxome Gallery

Richard Alpert, Probe (9th November 1974)

Description

The performance space was divided into a light half and a dark half. I began the performance by standing in the dark half, and kicking a ball into the light half of the space against the back wall. With each successive kick of the ball, I shortened the distance between myself and the back of the space, until the ball was against the wall and I could no longer kick it. I then moved back towards the dark half of the space in the same manner. The close I was to the wall, the more direct the path of the rebounding ball, and the more intense was the sound in the space. Conversely, the further from the wall, the more deviation in the rebound, the more energy expended in the return of the ball, and the more diffuse the sound. (Alpert 1976)