Bob’s New York: Bob’s New York

Bob’s New York

69th Regiment Armory Building

For 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, Rauschenberg choreographed a performance called Open Score. He asked engineer Pete Kaminski to implant an FM transmitter into the handle of a tennis racquet used in a match between artist Frank Stella and his tennis instructor Mimi Kanarek. Every time the ball made contact with the racquet, a sound was transmitted and a signal shut off a section of lights, until the space was in complete darkness. By the end of the performance, an infrared television system revealed to the audience a cast of nearly 500 performers gathered on stage.

Mimi Kanarek and Frank Stella (tennis players) in Robert Rauschenberg’s Open Score (1966), performed on October 14 and 23 as part of 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering, 69th Regiment Armory, New York, NY, October 13–23, 1966. Still from the actual footage shot in 16 mm film by Alfons Schilling. Courtesy Experiments in Art and Technology and Fondation Daniel Langlois