Water Light/Water Needle (St. Mark's Church in the Bowery) (1966)

Eight performers, suspended from ropes, move to a score of randomized encounter. Schneemann writes that this "kinetic theatre" work was "conceived as an aerial event with ropes rigged across the canal at San Marco... finally realized at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, then later rigged in a grove of trees. The illuminated aqueous planes of Venice motivated the performers on layers of ropes which enclosed and surrounded the audience seated below." One of two video documents of this early and influential performance, this version features original film footage by Elaine Summers.