David Horvitz: R.U.in.ART Performance

The 2020 R.U.in.ART Performance is an interactive work entitled Air de LA by Los Angeles-based artist David Horvitz. Established in 2019 at the inaugural edition of Frieze Los Angeles, the R.U.in.ART Performance annually invites an artist to realize an immersive experience in the Ruinart Art Bar as part of the fair’s backlot program.

Air de LA will pay homage to Marcel Duchamp’s 1919 work Air de Paris (50cc de Paris), a medicinal phial which the artist filled with Paris air as a gift for US-based patrons Walter and Louise Arensberg.

For Air de LA, Horvitz will produce his own glass phials and fill each with Los Angeles air. Over the course of the fair, Horvitz will hand out the phials to visitors, performing an exchange of art that echoes Duchamp’s original gesture to the Arensbergs - celebrating the act of giving and cultural interchange.

While the air-filled phials subtly allude to the imperceptible but every-present bubbles in champagne, the work also addresses urgent ecological conversations. The quality of the Los Angeles air at the heart of Horvitz’s commission has worsened in recent years, not least due to the wildfires which, though a natural part of California’s ecosystem, have dramatically increased in the frequency and intensity as a result of climate change.

The second year of the R.U.in.ART Performance enhances the partnership between Frieze and Ruinart and their shared commitment commitment to collaborating with emerging artists in the creation of new work.