Hanne Tierney, Love in the Afternoon, 1996. Photo Wanås Konst.
Hanne Tierney
Hanne Tierney
(Born 1940, works in New York)
Love in the Afternoon, 1996
Beech trees, 11 wood swings
Dimensions variable
When Hanne Tierney came to Wanås in 1996 to carry out an indoor performance, the idea to create an installation or a sculpture at the site took hold. It resulted in Love in the Afternoon, a swing tree. The swing as motif goes back to the Rococo tradition in Europe in the mid-1700s. An idyllic, carefree existence and romantic motifs were favored by many, including the French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806). One of his most well-known works, The Swing from 1767, depicts a swinging woman wearing characteristic Rococo fashion. For the opening in 1996, Tierney exhibited the performance work Trois Ménage à Trois, in which a girl wearing a Rococo style dress sat swinging high up in a tree, accompanied by music played on a double bass. Tierney, who mostly works with performance art, is also the founder and director of FiveMyles in Brooklyn, a space for performance and exhibitions.
