Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Taryn Simon’s arresting AN OCCUPATION OF LOSS explores the act of mourning intimately, expansively

• By drediman
• September 27, 2016
• No Comments

Taryn Simon’s “An Occupation of Loss” at the Park Avenue Armory

Last weekend marked the final days of An Occupation of Loss, Taryn Simon’s arresting and expansive exploration of the act of mourning – utilizing professional mourners from around the world – at the Park Avenue Armory. On Sunday, I was lucky enough to catch the penultimate late night activation of Ms. Simon’s large-scale installation.

For the performance, the audience was asked to enter one of the armory’s modest side entrances, thereby bypassing the building’s gorgeous antechambers. This works well for a piece like An Occupation of Loss, which benefits from a sustained sense of solemnity and minimal bombast and fanfare. Upon quietly entering the drill hall, the audience was greeted by a panoramic view of Ms. Simon’s architecturally monumental installation, which is dominated by eleven cylindrical concrete towers arranged in a u-shaped configuration. In appearance, they called to mind massive pipes with open tops to the heavens. As the audience took all this in, the professional mourners paraded into each of the towers to prepare for their modes of grieving.

After the mourners were situated within their private grieving spaces, we were asked to walk down a flight of stairs to investigate the installation from a closer perspective. Shortly after descending, the mourners commenced their grieving, mostly vocal with a tinge of instruments in the aural mix. The rest of the 35-minute piece really depended on how you wanted to experience the work. You could choose to take in the blended cacophony of wailing voices (this must be what God feels like!) or you could focus on individual mourners within the stark and intimate grieving spaces within the towers.

An Occupation of Loss is a fascinating exploration that introduces some interesting observations about the act of grieving, particularly its impact on society and the human experience. To me, what’s clearly suggested by Ms. Simon’s work is the overt theatricality of the act. Indeed, semblances of music and other performance aspects are incorporated into the mourning. Also, absent language and knowledge of the subject of the grieving brings to the fore the authenticity of the act, which also harkens back to the whole theatricality of mourning, but also infers its deeply human ability to bind peoples together through times of intense sorrow.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

AN OCCUPATION OF LOSS
Performance / Art Installation
Taryn Simon at the Park Avenue Armory
35 minutes (without an intermission)
Closed