Tino Sehgal

You walk into one of the Walker's galleries and find it completely bare. Before you've had a chance to leave, a museum guard appears, does a little hop, swings his arms, and shouts: "This is good! Tino Sehgal! 2007!" You've just entered the Sehgal zone, where the only allowable media occur naturally and all the documentation is in your mind: no paint, no photos, no objects, not even a goddamn plaque—just raw experience. Originally trained in economics and dance, the 31-year-old German enfant terrible boasts one of Europe's most vertical career trajectories and a place atop an evolutionary ladder braced by the likes of Duchamp and Yves Klein. The Walker will offer five of the pieces he claims aren't performance art—Sehgal's biggest U.S. show to date—all situated throughout the building for maximum surprise factor. "Is it art?" you ask. "Am I being bamboozled? Do gallery monitors get time-and-a-half for acting?" C'mon! When's the last time you got a free shot of adrenaline simply for, well, being?
Dec. 12-March 23, 2007