In his new loft, Gordon Matta-Clark installed a sauna, which was to be the occasion of his first interior cutting of a construction in 1973.

This sequence shot films a view of the sauna in black and white, in which a group of friends have assembled. Throughout the whole sequence, people come and go in a festive atmosphere. At the start of the shot, the sauna is overflowing with people. Behind feet, we see bodies crammed in on top of one another. Some look through the fogged-up window. One person declares: “It is illegal to have more than six people in this sauna!” to the others’ amusement. With complete immodesty, men and women pass naked in front of the camera with beers in their hands. After five minutes, the stifling heat of the sauna calms the excitement and some start to leave. Gordon is called, and we see him appear on the screen.

The frame reveals the DIY aspect of the sauna, wires dangle amidst wooden planks that have been roughly adjusted. Someone zooms the picture after ten minutes, creating a close up, but the camera remains discreet, nobody pays attention to it. At the end of the reel, there is just one man left standing in the sauna, the frame lingers on his penis in close up. Then he leaves and the place is empty. This video shows the atmosphere that Gordon Matta-Clark generates around him in his artistic projects and in his life.

Patricia Maincent
Translated by Anna Knight