14 DAY TRIAL // Lady Gaga has always maintained that what she does transcends pop and goes beyond mainstream, right there, into the realm of art. Critics seem to think so too, having often labeled the outrageous performer one of the most refreshing and innovative presences on the music scene at the moment. On November 14, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Gaga will get to show just to what extend her music is art, as Style File Blog informs.
On the occasion of the special anniversary of MoCA – 30 years is no small thing –, Lady Gaga has been asked to be the main star of a very unique collaboration, the details of which are still kept heavily under wraps. What is known of the performance so far is that it will feature the extravagant singer alongside the famed Bolshoi Ballet and artist Francesco Vezzoli, who will ultimately be responsible for the mise-en-scene of the entire performance. Vezzoli, as far as he’s concerned, is very scarce when it comes to offering details to the media, as the aforementioned publication has learned.
“I am very grateful to MoCA, the Garage [Zhukova’s Moscow museum], and Gagosian for this commission. They basically offered me a social ritual as a blank canvas to be turned into an artwork. Some artists might see this as a nightmare, but for me it’s like a surreal dream, and in true surreal style I wanted to mix together the youngest and most daring pop icon, Lady Gaga, with the oldest and most classically trained group of dancers in the world, the Bolshoi Ballet. The performance will take many references from Le Bal (1935), the only one of the Ballets Russes ever designed by Balanchine in collaboration with an Italian artist, the Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico. The output will be flawlessly imperfect and unpredictable, just like any overambitious happening should be.” Vezzoli says in a statement to Style File Blogs.
Imperfect and unpredictable as it might turn out, it will certainly be a performance to remember, especially since it will only take place once. However, judging by Gaga’s previous performances (and the bloodied and shocking number she put on at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards comes to mind), it will certainly be something larger than life, whose memory lingers long after it’s over. Controversial, too, just like Gaga herself, some vouch.
Speaking of her art, Gaga was saying a while back that, “There’s an art to fame. Even in the most humiliating and defaming moment of your life, you’re still ready for the camera. What I want to deliver, as a message about fame, is that anyone can have it. My fame lives in my friendships, in my convictions about the power of art and love – you could have 500 pairs of shoes that cost 10 cents and still be famous. This isn’t the Lady Gaga newscast. Nobody gives a [expletive] what is really going on – everyone wants me to tell them a story. Art is a lie, and every day I kill to make it true.”