7.3 Notable Fluxus Performances and Compositions
4 min read•august 9, 2024
artists pushed the boundaries of performance and composition, challenging traditional notions of art and music. From John Cage's silent piece 4'33" to 's interactive Cut Piece, these works redefined artistic expression and audience engagement.
Experimental compositions like and La Monte Young's sustained sound pieces explored new sonic territories. These innovative approaches, along with works, transformed the relationship between artist, artwork, and viewer in radical ways.
Iconic Fluxus Performances
Pioneering Silent and Conceptual Works
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- challenged traditional notions of music and silence
- Composed in 1952, consists of three movements of silence
- Performer sits at piano without playing for duration of 4 minutes and 33 seconds
- Emphasizes ambient sounds in performance space as music
- Revolutionized concepts of composition and listening
- explored themes of vulnerability and trust
- First performed in 1964, artist sits on stage with scissors nearby
- Audience members invited to cut pieces of Ono's clothing
- Addressed issues of gender, cultural identity, and social interaction
- Evolved over multiple performances, with Ono's reactions changing
Technological and Everyday Object Interventions
- merged technology with spirituality
- Created in 1974, features Buddha statue facing its own image on closed-circuit TV
- Explored relationship between traditional Eastern philosophy and modern media
- Pioneered video art and critiqued passive consumption of television
- Variations included using different objects or live performers as "Buddha"
- transformed mundane activity into art
- First performed in 1962, involves preparing a large salad for audience
- Elevated everyday actions to performance art status
- Emphasized process and participation over final product
- Reperformed multiple times, including at Tate Modern in 2008
Innovative Approaches to Sound and Language
- explored language and mathematics
- Series of performances based on counting and numerical patterns
- Included works like "Counting Song for La Monte Young" (1962)
- Combined elements of poetry, music, and performance
- Challenged traditional narrative structures in performance
Experimental Music Compositions
Minimalist and Conceptual Sound Pieces
- George Brecht's Drip Music redefined musical composition
- Score simply instructs: "a source of dripping water and an empty vessel"
- Performed various ways, from literal interpretation to metaphorical
- Emphasized and everyday sounds as music
- Influenced development of event scores and conceptual art
- explored sustained sounds
- Score consists of two notes (B and F#) with instruction "to be held for a long time"
- Pioneered drone music and minimalism in composition
- Challenged notions of time and duration in music
- Influenced development of psychoacoustic phenomena in music
Provocative and Boundary-Pushing Works
- series pushed limits of performance and safety
- Included pieces with instructions like "Scream! Scream! Scream!"
- Some scores intentionally impossible or harmful to perform
- Questioned relationship between art, artist, and audience
- Explored boundaries between music, performance art, and conceptual art
- blurred lines between sound and action
- Scores often consisted of simple actions or situations
- Included works like "Micro 1" (1964) (keep a straight face)
- Emphasized performer's presence and actions as musical elements
- Influenced development of sound art and performance art in Japan
Destructive and Reconstructive Approaches
- reimagined instrument as sculpture
- First performed at 1962 Fluxus International Festival
- Involved systematic destruction and exploration of piano's components
- Challenged traditional reverence for musical instruments
- Created new sounds and textures through deconstruction process
Audience Participation Pieces
Interactive Performances Exploring Social Dynamics
- Yoko Ono's Cut Piece invited audience to actively shape performance
- Audience members cut clothing off artist, exploring power dynamics
- Each performance unique based on participants' choices
- Addressed themes of gender, violence, and trust
- Reinterpreted by other artists, including Peaches in 2013
- engaged audience in collaborative sound-making
- First performed in 1960, involves distributing paper to audience
- Participants instructed to manipulate paper to create sounds
- Created immersive, unpredictable soundscape
- Challenged traditional roles of performer and audience
Collaborative Art-Making and Shared Experiences
- Alison Knowles' Make a Salad transformed audience into co-creators
- Large-scale salad preparation involves audience in chopping, mixing
- Blurred lines between art, performance, and communal activity
- Emphasized process and participation over final product
- Reperformed in various contexts, adapting to different spaces and cultures
- Emmett Williams' Counting Songs encouraged collective vocal participation
- Audience members often assigned numbers or words to speak
- Created complex soundscapes through simple numerical patterns
- Explored group dynamics and collective sound-making
- Performances varied based on number and enthusiasm of participants
Key Terms to Review (26)
Alison Knowles' Make a Salad: Alison Knowles' Make a Salad is a performance art piece that was created in the early 1960s, which involves the artist preparing a salad in front of an audience. This work embodies the principles of Fluxus, a movement that emphasizes the blending of art with everyday life and encourages participation and spontaneity in artistic expression.
Anthology: An anthology is a curated collection of works, typically encompassing a variety of authors and styles, often centered around a specific theme or genre. This concept is essential in experimental music, as it allows for the exploration and documentation of diverse artistic expressions, such as those found in notable Fluxus performances and compositions. By assembling multiple pieces, an anthology serves as a comprehensive resource that showcases the innovative approaches and ideas within a given movement.
Anti-art: Anti-art refers to a movement and philosophy that challenges traditional notions of art by rejecting the established standards and conventions in favor of subversion and experimentation. This concept seeks to provoke thought and question the purpose and value of art, emphasizing spontaneity, chaos, and often absurdity, which connects deeply with the philosophical foundations of experimental music and various avant-garde movements.
Audience participation: Audience participation refers to the active involvement of spectators or listeners in a performance, composition, or artistic event. This engagement transforms the relationship between the artist and the audience, making spectators integral to the overall experience. Through various forms of interaction, such as responding to cues or contributing their own ideas, audience participation blurs the lines between creator and observer, emphasizing collaboration and collective creativity.
Ben Patterson's Paper Piece: Ben Patterson's Paper Piece is a seminal work in the Fluxus movement that emphasizes the use of simple materials and the exploration of everyday sounds. This composition invites performers to interact with paper in various ways, creating an array of auditory experiences that reflect the movement's core values of anti-art and spontaneity. It connects with Fluxus by encouraging improvisation and breaking traditional boundaries of music and performance.
Chance operations: Chance operations refer to the use of randomization or non-deterministic methods in the creation of art, especially in music. This concept allows artists to incorporate elements of unpredictability into their work, challenging traditional notions of authorship and control while also exploring new dimensions of sound and expression.
Dick Higgins' Danger Music: Dick Higgins' Danger Music is a conceptual piece from the Fluxus movement that emphasizes the unpredictability of performance art and the potential risks involved. It invites performers to engage with elements of chance, using instructions that may lead to dangerous or unpredictable outcomes, reflecting the Fluxus ethos of breaking conventional boundaries and embracing chaos in art.
Emmett Williams' Counting Songs: Emmett Williams' Counting Songs are a series of performance pieces that blend spoken word, music, and visual art, highlighting the playful and conceptual nature of language in art. These works, which are often characterized by their minimalist structure and focus on the act of counting, reflect the Fluxus movement's ethos of integrating art with everyday experiences and challenging traditional forms of artistic expression.
Fluxus: Fluxus is the most radical and experimental art movement that emerged in the 1960s, known for its emphasis on the process of creation, playfulness, and the blending of different art forms. This movement sought to challenge the boundaries of traditional art by incorporating everyday activities, chance operations, and collaboration among artists. Fluxus performances and compositions often emphasized spontaneity and audience participation, making the viewer an active part of the artistic experience.
Fluxus East: Fluxus East refers to the branch of the Fluxus movement that originated and developed in Eastern Europe, particularly in countries like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, during the 1960s and 1970s. It is characterized by a blend of Eastern artistic traditions and Western avant-garde practices, resulting in unique performances and compositions that challenge conventional forms of art and music.
Fluxus Manifesto: The Fluxus Manifesto is a foundational document for the Fluxus movement, emphasizing the integration of art and everyday life through experimental practices, anti-commercialism, and collaboration. It seeks to redefine the boundaries of art by advocating for a playful, participatory approach that challenges traditional aesthetics and artistic hierarchies. This manifesto is key to understanding the philosophical underpinnings of the movement as well as its notable performances and compositions.
George Brecht's Drip Music: George Brecht's Drip Music is a conceptual composition that involves the simple act of water dripping, creating an open-ended and interactive musical experience. This work is significant within the Fluxus movement, as it emphasizes the process of sound generation over traditional musical structures and encourages audience participation and interpretation.
George maciunas: George Maciunas was a pivotal figure in the Fluxus movement, known for his role as a founder and organizer, bringing together various artists and thinkers to challenge traditional art forms. His vision of intermedia art emphasized the blending of disciplines, paving the way for performances and compositions that broke the boundaries between visual art, music, and theater. Maciunas's ideas were instrumental in defining Fluxus philosophy and practice, making him a central character in the development of avant-garde art in the 20th century.
Intermedia: Intermedia refers to art forms that blend different disciplines, such as visual arts, music, dance, and performance, creating a unique space for artistic expression. This blending allows artists to explore new possibilities and challenge traditional boundaries, leading to innovative forms of expression that often engage audiences in interactive ways.
John Cage's 4'33": John Cage's 4'33" is a groundbreaking musical composition that consists of a performer sitting in silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. Rather than being merely an absence of sound, this piece emphasizes the ambient sounds present in the environment, challenging traditional notions of music and performance. It connects deeply with Fluxus by pushing the boundaries of art and inviting audience participation in the experience of sound.
La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #7: La Monte Young's Composition 1960 #7 is a seminal piece in the realm of experimental music, specifically known for its emphasis on sustained tones and open-ended performance instructions. This composition is pivotal to the Fluxus movement as it challenges traditional notions of music, focusing instead on the experience of sound and the role of the performer in creating meaning through improvisation and interpretation.
Nam June Paik's TV Buddha: Nam June Paik's TV Buddha is an iconic video art installation that features a closed-circuit television displaying a live feed of a seated Buddha statue, which is watching its own image on the screen. This work explores the intersection of technology, spirituality, and self-reflection, highlighting the relationship between the viewer and the viewed. It serves as a commentary on the nature of existence and the impact of media on perception.
Philip Corner's Piano Activities: Philip Corner's Piano Activities refers to a series of experimental performances and compositions involving the piano, created by composer and artist Philip Corner. These activities challenge traditional notions of music performance by emphasizing physical interaction with the instrument, often involving unconventional methods such as prepared piano techniques and extended techniques that go beyond standard playing methods. Corner's work is closely associated with the Fluxus movement, which values spontaneity and the integration of art into everyday life.
Poemfield: A poemfield is a concept that merges poetry with performance art, where the experience of the poem transcends written text to create an interactive environment for the audience. This term emphasizes the fluidity of poetic expression, inviting participants to engage with the work in a dynamic and immersive manner. Poemfields often include visual, auditory, and spatial elements, blurring the lines between different art forms and fostering a unique dialogue between artist and viewer.
Readymade objects: Readymade objects are everyday items that artists present as art, challenging traditional notions of creativity and craftsmanship. This concept shifts the focus from artistic skill to the idea behind the work, emphasizing the context in which these objects are displayed and perceived. In the Fluxus movement, readymades were used to disrupt conventional artistic practices, inviting audiences to reconsider the definition and value of art.
Score-based performance: Score-based performance refers to the execution of a musical or artistic work as outlined by a score, which provides instructions for performers regarding how to interpret and present the piece. This concept is crucial in contexts where the artist's interpretation is guided by written notations, emphasizing both the importance of the score and the role of the performer in bringing the work to life. In experimental music, particularly within Fluxus, this approach allows for a variety of interpretations, encouraging spontaneity and interaction.
Takehisa Kosugi's Theatre Music: Takehisa Kosugi's theatre music is a unique blend of experimental sound and performance art that incorporates live music, improvisation, and multimedia elements, primarily developed in the context of Fluxus. His work emphasizes the interrelationship between sound, space, and movement, challenging traditional notions of theatre and composition. By integrating unconventional instruments and sounds, Kosugi aims to create immersive experiences that engage the audience on multiple sensory levels.
The collective: The collective refers to a group of individuals who come together to create and perform art, often emphasizing collaboration, shared ideas, and collective ownership of the creative process. In the context of notable performances and compositions, this term highlights how artists from various backgrounds interact, contribute, and challenge traditional notions of authorship and individualism in their work.
Vancouver's Fluxus Festival: Vancouver's Fluxus Festival was a significant event in the history of experimental art and music, held in 1970 as part of the larger Fluxus movement that originated in the 1960s. The festival showcased a series of performances, installations, and activities that blurred the lines between art and everyday life, emphasizing spontaneity and interactivity. This festival highlighted the essence of Fluxus through its innovative approaches and diverse range of artistic expressions, connecting audiences to new ways of experiencing art and performance.
Yoko Ono: Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, and peace activist who gained fame for her avant-garde work and her association with the Fluxus movement. She is known for her innovative approach to art, which often blends various forms and challenges traditional boundaries, embodying the principles of intermedia and collaboration that are central to Fluxus philosophy.
Yoko Ono's Cut Piece: Yoko Ono's Cut Piece is a seminal performance art piece that first took place in 1964, where the artist invited audience members to come up and cut away pieces of her clothing with scissors. This work challenges notions of vulnerability, audience participation, and the objectification of the female body, making it a key example within the realm of notable Fluxus performances and compositions.