Composer Folke Rabe speaks about the radical artistic experimentation that goes on in a little church in Greenwich Village in New York. As a means of reaching the young artists and intellectuals of the parish – the Beat Generation – the ministers opened the church to art exhibitions, theater plays and happenings after the war. Among others, Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow made their debuts there. Simultaneously, the church services have been affected by these profane activities, resulting in jazz music masses with dance.

Judson memorial Church; a Baptist church built just before the turn of the century [1800 – 1900, is situated at Washington Square in Greenwich Village, New York. Its exterior doesn’t catch your eye. On the contrary, like most buildings in the Village, it appears rather scruffy and dirty. Still it provides an important center for the radical artistic activities of New York. Perhaps this is characteristic for the city. The living, pulsating artistic activity that I’ve experienced so far in New York has seldom flourished in fashionable spaces but in obscure theaters, studios and similar realms in and around the Village, or – plainly – Downtown.

I met Rev. Alvin Carmines, one of the two ministers of Judson Memorial Church. He hardly makes the impression of a clergyman. He receives you in a striped shirt with t he sleeves tucked up, with the collar unbuttoned. He’s called neither Reverend nor Father, but Al, because Alvin sounds so corny. He makes a very relaxed impression.

Al Carmines says that The Judson Church was founded in 1892 by a man who believed that the relationship between church and parish ought to be based on the needs of the latter. At that time, Greenwich Village was something of a slum, which is why the church started out with medical and social programs and course activities. After the Second World War, when the Village became the focal point for the Beat Generation, the district was, to a great extent, populated by poor intellectuals and artists of all kinds. There was hardly any relationship at all between The Judson Church and the folks of its parish, and the ministers asked themselves: ”How can the church serve a parish like this one?” The first aspect that struck them was the artists’ need of space; a venue to exhibit their works, be it dance, theater plays, visual arts, concerts or happenings. Consequently, they arranged various programs with free access to the rooms of the church.

The very first venture was the gallery activity. Unknown artists – Claes Oldenburg and Allan Kaprow were two of them – which the commercial galleries didn’t dare invest in, got the chance to present things novel for the times, the early 1950s; assemblage and that which later was entitled trash culture.

The church functioned in a similar way within other disciplines. Theater productions are often risky ventures in New York, but within the Judson framework risks could be taken. The ministers invited writers to bring in manuscripts. As an example it can be mentioned that about 40 plays have been staged over the last three or four years. All have been premiers, and most of the time debuts.

The dance theater worked in a similar fashion. There were a host of dancers who had worked with Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and other leading choreographers, and who wished to try their own pieces. Judson Church provided the stage solution. Fairly large spaces were offered, and thus different happenings and dance shows developed. In conjunction with these programs music appeared. Young composers like Malcolm Goldstein, John Herbert McDowell and Richard Maxfield entered the circuit. Judson received a growing reputation as a modern art center, and lots of people came – oftentimes so many that the church ran out of seats.

The church’s bearing on these art activities was however not only a matter of providing performance space. The minister asked themselves, already at an early stage, why a play on Friday night or a dance act on Monday night drew a larger crowd than Sunday high mass. They arranged discussions with the artists on the possibilities of combining artistic work and liturgy, and the attempts that have been done have proven fruitful. There have been masses with jazz, and last Ash Wednesday a dance sermon was held. In one of the sections a dancer worked on a backdrop of film projections with himself in action. At the altar he smeared himself in red and green paint, where after he executed a choreography with the color, the film and his own body as elements of the composition. Certain movements were accompanied by six actors reciting the Bible.

Al Carmines regards this piece a continuation of the line that Carolee Schneemann laid out in her composition Meat Joy, which was premiered at the Judson Church last fall [1964]. Miss Schneemann is now working with a piece for NBC Television; a pretty outstanding opportunity for an artist of her kind. She is commonly a kind of sculptor/painter, working with rather ”dirty” – often kinetic and lit – box constructions. In Meat Joy she had gathered a host of human characters, whom, with paint, make-up, parts of dead animals and dance, presented what she called ”kinesthetic theater”. Al Carmines describes: ”We all became very enthusiastic, because in some way, what took place was a kind of agglomeration of what was to happen Sunday morning. It was a kind of total mix of the Holy Sacraments etcetera, and when we saw this, we thought: ”Why not in another context? Why can’t a sermon be like this, exciting, concentrated? I believe the dance theater has a lot in common with what we’re trying to achieve now in the church itself; with dance, with poetry and painting through the sermon.”

Al Carmines continues his story, talking about a sort of open theater piece based on text lines by Gertrude Stein. That work won acclaim as one of the best music-dramatic productions of last year [1964] – an honor that surprised all the more, since the Judson ministers hardly regard their church an off-Broadway theater with the possibilities of such esteem.

We peek into the sacral space. It is large, square, with a rather high ceiling and with a certain reverberation. Apart from the altar in the back, the interior comes in fin-du-siècle style. Along the walls pillars, and in back of the room a gallery with an organ. The floors are laid with linoleum plates, and the overall impression is that of a studio or a workshop for artists. The organ gallery is crowded with props: spotlights, light filters, cords and projectors. Al Carmines points his stogie at some embellished angels up amongst the organ pipes. ”Up there we once had a nice satire on cowboy life”. The benches down on the floor are movable, and there are numerous ways of arranging the relationship between stage and audience. I can imagine that this is a very rewarding space to work in.

Usually there is no admission fee for the shows in Judson Memorial Church, but at the end of the program a collection is made. The participants cannot expect any fee. The proceeds pay the expenses, since the enterprise operates within a very tight budget. Al Carmines still finds something very positive in this: ”Those who work here should not have to feel that people have come here, paid two dollars and therefore have the right to demand that something very valuable happen. On the contrary, we say that the most important thing is that something may fail. Our productions don’t have to be very successful, in the eyes of the critics or from an economical viewpoint. In the views of many, it may have been a failure, but we can still regard it an important step ahead.” It is worth pointing out that this may not be directly transferable to Swedish circumstances, and that the restricted economical frame will downsize the means of expression.

I ask Al Carmines if any conflict so far has risen between the church as a holy place and the works that have been performed there. He replies: ”Hardly. Our parish is youthful. The average age is 28. It mostly consists of artists, teachers, social workers and so forth. The church and its rooms have always been engaged for social causes: integration, better schools and improved housing. It’s probably telling that we call the church space 'the meeting place'. Theologically we feel that what is going on in there should be a part of what’s positive in life; a kind of life which is a part of creation, be it a meeting about some social activity or dance or a play. In one way or another it concerns the experience of what’s good in life, and in this sense I think we regard it religious.
There have been issues: about the language of theater plays, about details of the dances, but strangely, these issues have not been raised by members of the parish. They have originated in people who haven’t felt so upset themselves, but who have been amazed that we haven’t felt that way. We have met with these reactions quite often, but we’re usually able to explain our standpoint.”

And as this is being written, the activities in Judson Memorial Church continue undiminished. Carolee Schneemann rehearses her TV happening, Elaine Summers tries out a new dance composition…

Folke Rabe

Published in Dagens Nyheter [main Swedish newspaper] 5th June 1965

PS. fall 2006: While I digitize this old article I get email messages about ”EAR TO THE EARTH, A unique festival of music, sound and ecology” that is on in New York, and where there? Yes, in Judson Memorial Church! It seems the activities are in full swing still. DS.

(English translation 2006: Ingvar Loco Nordin)