Charles Atlas is a video artist and film director who also does lighting and set design. He is a pioneer in developing media-dance, also called dance for camera. Media dance is work that is created directly for the camera. While Atlas’ primary artistic medium is video, he also began to experiment with live electronic performance in 2003. Atlas worked collaboratively with

Merce Cunningham Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...

from 1975 to 1981. Before his time as the Cunningham company’s filmmaker-in-residence (1978 – 1983), when he made 10 dance films, Atlas was an assistant stage manager for the company, and was already filming Cunningham in little experimental movement studies during breaks from rehearsal. Following his work with Cunningham, he worked independently in film while collaborating with other professionals in the field.

Works

Collaboration with Merce Cunningham

*1973: "Changing Steps" Atlas designed jumpsuits in various colors for the dance. *1974: "A Video Event" Cunningham and Atlas collaborated on a two-part program for CBS Camera Three, directed by

Merrill Brockway Merrill La Monte Brockway (February 28, 1923 – May 2, 2013) was an American television producer known for producing the PBS television series ''Dance in America''. Biography Brockway was born on February 28, 1923, in New Carlisle, Indiana. He ...

. *1975: "Blue Studio: Five Segments" solo-video collaboration with Cunningham created in such a small space that they choose to superimpose different backgrounds on the image, making the space seem larger than in actuality. *1976: "Event for Television" Cunningham, Atlas and Brockway collaborated on filming National Educational Television's "Dance in America" series. *1977 "Fractions" is a videodance showing multiple perspectives simultaneously of the same dance, one of the greatest achievements of dance on camera. *1979: "Locale" was one of the first short films of Cunningham's work. Atlas used a Steadicam shot shifting from one group of dancers to another, cross-cutting to jump from rehearsal to performance, close-ups, and distance shots. *1981: Channels/Inserts is a video performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company directed and edited by Atlas. Choreography and film maker as equal partners. Lighting establishes a somber mood, creating darkness and tunnels of light. Costumes are an intelligent mixture of street and dance-practice attire.

Independent work

*1999: "Teach" is a short film made in collaboration with the late British performer

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) perform ...

inspired by paintings of him done by

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

*2003: "Instant Fame!" An interactive show offering anyone the opportunity to create their own short video, which Atlas morphs using graphic magic and video technology. *2009: Danspace Project "What Does Dance Have to Say?" was the organizing theme of this year's festival, put together by Lucy Sexton and Charles Atlas.

Live performance work

(Selective) *1994 Delusional, multi-media performance/theater work; collaboration with

Marina Abramović Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audienc ...

; co-produced by Theater Am Turm (Frankfurt), Monty Theater (Antwerp), and Consort (Amsterdam) *2003 Muscle Shoals, live video and costume design; collaboration with

Douglas Dunn (choreographer) Douglas Dunn is an American dancer and choreographer based in New York City. Choreography Dunn premiered his professional company, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, in 1976, where he served as artistic director. He was commissioned by various companie ...

and Steve Lacy; performed at Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris and Danspace Project, New York *2004:

Turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...

, live video performance in collaboration with Antony and the Johnsons, St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, New York

Media work

(Selective) *1981: ''Channels/Inserts'', 16mm film, collaboration with Merce Cunningham. Produced by Cunningham Dance Foundation *1983: ''Secret of the Waterfall'', video/dance collaboration with choreographer, Douglas Dunn and poets, Reed Bye and Anne Waldman. Commissioned by New Television Workshop, WGBH-TV, Boston, Massachusetts *1986: ''

Hail the New Puritan ''Hail the New Puritan'' is a fictionalized documentary about the Scottish dancer and choreographer Michael Clark. It was directed by Charles Atlas. Production design is by Leigh Bowery, who also appears. Much of the music is by The Fall, and ...

'', a "mockumentary" broadcast featuring Michael Clark. Commissioned by Channel Four Television, London *1991: ''Son of Sam and Delilah'', video feature. Produced in association with The Kitchen, New York *1992-98: ''Teach, video portrait/installation, XL Gallery, New York. Collection Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany *1994: ''Superhoney'', eroto-horror video/dance collaboration with Thomas Hejlsen. Commissioned by The National Film Board of Denmark *1997: ''The Hanged One'', four multi-channel video works installed at the Whitney Museum, New York *1997-99: ''The "Martha" Tapes'', video collage. First shown at "Mother", New York *2000: ''Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance'', documentary film, commissioned by ARTE France, BBC, WNET-TV. Acquired by the Museum of Modern Art *2002: ''The Legend of Leigh Bowery'', documentary film, commissioned by ARTE France. First theatrical showing: Cinema Village, New York *2002: ''Rainer Variations'', video montage. First shown as an installation at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *2003: ''Instant Fame'', installation and real-time video performance, Participant, Inc., New York

Grants and awards

(Selective) *1986: Bessie Award for Costumes for Michael Clark Dance Company *1987: Bessie Award for Sustained Achievement in Video *1988: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship *1998: Bessie Award for The "Martha" Tapes *2000: Dance Screen, Best Documentary for Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance *2003: Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Best Documentary for Legend of Leigh Bowery *2006: Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award

References

Sources

External links

* Art21, Inc. (2001–2007). Art:21. Charles Atlas. Biography. Documentary Film PBS. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/atlas/index.html * Atlas, C. (2006). Charles Atlas: Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Retrieved March 26, 2010, from Foundation for Contemporary Arts: http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/charlesatlas.html * Kisselgoff, Anna. "Dance: World Premiere of a Cunningham Work." ''The New York Times''. 26 March 1981. Available Online: * https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/26/arts/dance-world-premiere-of-a-cunningham-work.html * Anderson, Jack. "Channel/ Interts (1981): Merce Cunningham Choreographs a Dance Movie." ''The New York Times''. 22, March 1982. Available Online: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9405EED81038F931A15750C0A964948260 * Macaulay, Alastair. "Light, Birds, Action! Cunningham and Company in Rehearsal." ''The New York Times''. 4, Nov 2009. Available Online: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/arts/dance/05dean.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1 * Macaulay, Alastair. "Dance: An Artist Turned Towards Complexity." ''The New York Times''. 20 Sept 2007. Available Online: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/arts/dance/20hist.html
Charles Atlas Artist Biography
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Electronic Arts Intermix Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a nonprofit arts organization that is a resource for video and media art. An advocate of media art and artists since 1971, EAI's core program is the distribution and preservation of a collection of over 3,500 new ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas, Charles American documentary film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bessie Award winners