“Sculpture Kills” is a performative lecture that surveys fatal works of contemporary art—sculptures that slay and performances that murder. “Sculpture Kills” delves into the political and critical implications of deadly artworks. These accounts set a precedent to discuss power imbalances in the art world, when monuments lead to violence in the public sphere and the rebelliousness of objects that spring to life for a split second. “Sculpture Kills” is a reexamination of the barrier between life, death, and art.

“Sculpture Kills” opens with a slowed down, ear-shattering operatic track, as a figure wearing red in vast, empty space is spotlit. After the opera ends, she pops a red balloon with her red heel. The red heels she wears reference the film The Red Shoes (1948). Then, archival video footage of sculptures appear on a giant video projection behind her. As footage of the murderous works by Christo, Richard Serra, Luis Jiménez, Maurice Agis, Bas Jan Ader, and Calder play she lectures about each sculpture to a faint score of Russian adagios. She remains within the frame of the video and the footage of the sculptures project onto her as she recants their deadly stories.