The Burning Boards

About The Burning Boards

Developed for the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2007, Glenn Kaino’s The Burning Boards explores concepts of winning through the medium of chess. Kaino uses the format of a unique competition to draw together friends from the worlds of art, chess, technology, and music. In the piece, thirty-two chess players, both expert and novice, compete in a dark room at sixteen closely-arranged tables. They use burning candles as chess pieces, imbuing the performance with a sense of danger and urgency. 

Kaino has used indeterminacy to structure the performance, meaning that each participant becomes a co-creator of the larger spectacle, choosing his or her moves, but unable to control the outcome of their game or the performance as a whole. The lighting in the playing hall builds and diminishes over the course of the performance. “Burning boards” is sometimes defined as the act of using fire to level a playing field. Here, the advantages of experts over novices are leveled, and the value of skill diminishes as the element of chance increases. Unidentifiable pieces cannot be played, nor can those burned out or stuck to the board. Soon players realize that they are battling their shared situation—the board and pieces, not each other. They can better survive through mutual accommodation than through zero-sum aggression. Competition gives way to comity and onerous constraints lead to comical, collegial outcomes. The World Chess Hall of Fame’s presentation of The Burning Boards is the third staging of the piece, which is intended to be performed anew rather than to be a static historical event.

Participant Pairings

Acknowledgements

The World Chess Hall of Fame acknowledges Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield, whose generous support has made this event possible.

Special thanks to Glenn Kaino, Luke Lizalde, Larry List, Honor Fraser Gallery, Kavi Gupta Gallery, and the participants in The Burning Boards.

Press

4/28/15: The Justice — Candles as chess pieces light up the Rose

9/24/14: ArtDaily.org — The World Chess Hall of Fame celebrates art and chess with Glenn Kaino’s The Burning Boards

9/16/14: Forbes — Artist Glenn Kaino On Ferguson, Equality And Tommie Smith’s Iconic Salute

9/3/14: Alive Magazine — Glenn Kaino’s ‘Burning Boards’ Candle Chess Performance Illuminates The Possible At The World Chess Hall Of Fame

9/1/14: Chess.com — Fire, Water and Sport During Sinquefield Rest Day

Downloads

The Burning Boards Event Program