NEW YORK, NY - This fall, the New Museum on the Bowery presents “C.L.U.E. (color location ultimate experience), Part 1, 2007,” a special project coinciding with major surveys of work by painters Mary Heilmann and Elizabeth Peyton. A collaboration between artist A.L. Steiner and movement artists’ robbinschilds (Layla Childs and Sonya Robbins), “C.L.U.E.” morphs and changes to accommodate the spaces it temporarily occupies. In its rebirth at the New Museum, it takes the form of site-specific performance, multi-channel video and video projection, created specifically for the museum’s unique gallery located on its interior staircase between the fourth and third floor galleries.

Dressed in vibrant vintage clothing in each hue of the rainbow, robbinschilds performs a series of choreographed duets to an operatic rock score by the Seattle-based band Kinski while a camera follows them to locales as varied as a desolate desert and a darkened parking lot. The videographer, Steiner contributes to the choreography through the use of perfectly timed jump-cuts dividing the piece into discrete, color-coded sections. The symbiotic relationship between Steiner, robbinschilds, and Kinski propels the narrative of “C.L.U.E.” and encourages the viewer to accompany them on their journey.

The presentation consists of three elements: two performances by robbinschilds to take place throughout the building; an installation in the shaft gallery of a seven-channel version of C.L.U.E.; and an outdoor projection of a single channel version of the project. The outdoor projection can be viewed beginning at 4 pm each day from the museum’s interior staircase, as well as from the street after dark.

A.L. Steiner is a NYC-based photo/videographer who has collaborated with Chicks on Speed, robbinschilds, and Ridykeulous (with Nicole Eisenman). She has had solo exhibitions at Taxter & Spengemann (2007) and John Connelly Presents (2006). Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. robbinschilds (Layla Childs and Sonya Robbins) have presented choreographed works since 2003 that explore the relationship between architecture and human movement in venues including The Kitchen (2007), P.S. 122 (2007), and LACE: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (2007).