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Topless cellist : the improbable life of Charlotte Moorman
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Topless cellist : the improbable life of Charlotte Moorman

by Joan Rothfuss, Yoko Ono

This biography explores the life and legacy of classical cellist and avant-garde performance artist Charlotte Moorman. It details her boundary-pushing performances, collaborations with leading contemporary artists, and lasting influence on modern performance practice.

Accession 12791 ISBN 9780262027502 Publisher MIT Press
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Art Artists Authors Biography Music Professions
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True
position_updated_at
2026-06-05 14:16
orientation
vertical
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Physical

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Hard Back
dimensions
none captured
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:W2:7 4 Current vertical
3 days, 16 hours ago
G:W2:7 5 vertical
1 week, 1 day ago
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Updated 22 hours, 56 minutes ago
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Identity

name→ title
Topless cellist : the improbable life of Charlotte Moorman
vernon_id
19968
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12791
vernon_slug
topless-cellist-the-improbable-life-of-charlotte-moorman-joan-rothfuss-foreword-by-yoko-ono

Drives Pulse state

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On Shelf
location_name
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location_reason
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isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
9780262027502

Descriptive

production_date
2014
object_type
Books/Document genres/Information forms/Visual and Verbal Communication
object_status
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brief_description
The first book to explore the extraordinary career of musician and performance artist Charlotte Moorman, whose work combined classical rigor, avant-garde experiment, and madcap daring. In the 1960s, Moorman (1933--1991) became famous for her madcap (and often unclothed) performance antics; less famous but more significant is Moorman's transformative influence on contemporary performance practice--and her dedication to the idea that avant-garde art should reach the widest possible audience. Moorman's annual festival of the avant-garde offered the public a lively sampler of contemporary art in performance, music, dance, poetry, film, and other media. Deeply researched and profusely illustrated, Topless Cellist offers a fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking, often hilarious story of an artist whose importance was more than the sum of her performances.

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Yoko Ono, Joan Rothfuss
tags→ tags
Art, Arts, Persons, Artists, Modernism (Art), Aesthetic movement (Art), Performance art, Arts, Modern, Musicians, Musical instruments, Bowed stringed instruments, Stringed instruments, Avant-garde (Aesthetics), Cellists -- Biography, Bowed stringed instrument players, Stringed instrument players, Instrumentalists, Cello
subject_people
Charlotte Moorman (American, b.1933, d.1991), John Cage (b.1912, d.1992), Nam June Paik (b.1932, d.2006), Yoko Ono (Japanese, b.1933)
subject_objects
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Cover image

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Topics and Themes