----- Original Message ----- From: "rjoly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "oNoVoX" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 07, 2006 10:56 PM Subject: [~ oNoVoX ~] Making salad is art when the dressing is 'Fluxus'
> http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/do/2006/apr/06/566616233.html > > : A busy life after 'Raymond' 5 Apr. 07:21:23 > Printable text version | Mail this to a friend > > April 06, 2006 > Making salad is art when the dressing is 'Fluxus' > By Kristen Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Las Vegas Sun > On Friday night artist Alison Knowles will make a salad. She will remove > one piece of clothing. Very slowly. And she will play an instrument using > an orange. > Each "event" - there are 12 in all - has its own instructions that Knowles > is to interpret and perform before a small audience while her daughter > delivers a lecture titled "The Multiple Intelligences of Fluxus." > Why? > The organizers behind Fluxus Vegas say it's a time to celebrate the > ordinary, stop the clock and relish in the simplicity of everyday life. The > two-day festival will be at UNLV. > Fluxus is a movement that started in the '60s, bringing artists together to > focus on the process of art, rather than the final product as a commodity. > Founded by George Maciunas, other artists associated with Fluxus include > Yoko Ono, John Cage, Knowles and her late husband, Dick Higgins. > In a 1979 article, Higgins writes that "coffee cups can be more beautiful > than sculptures" and "the sloshing of my foot in my wet boot sounds more > beautiful than fancy organ music." > John Paul Ricco, assistant professor of art history and art theory at UNLV, > said Fluxus has to do with a sense that "midcentury American, > consumer-driven, ever-involved-with-a-spectacle culture required an > intervention." > Ricco organized Fluxus Vegas with UNLV sculpture professor Robert Wysocki. > He will also participate in a public conversation on Fluxus with Knowles > and her daughter, Hannah Higgins. > Recently Ricco took a few minutes to talk with the Las Vegas Sun. > > One of the great things about Fluxus is that it really goes so far to blur > that boundary. The radical impulse of Fluxus is that anything is art and > anybody can be an artist. > It really all began with (abstract painter Marcel) Duchamp when he took a > bathroom urinal, put it on its side and pushed the limits. Where does art > end? Where does everyday begin? > > How does Fluxus differ from performance art? > The difference between Fluxus and performance art would be the engagement > with the notion of the event. Performance art would involve a prewritten > script where you'd set the perimeters. > > And there really is no perimeter in Fluxus? > They're so minimal in instruction that they can be taken any number of ways. > > So "Make a Salad" performances could be construed as variations on a theme? > Yes. In one "Make a Salad," Alison cuts up various ingredients to make a > salad. She'll make one salad, make another salad (and then) make a number > of salads to give to the audience. > She's done it on a huge scale where you have dozens of people making a > salad and piles of carrots. > > Objects also have an important role? > Fluxus teaches us that we can have a relationship to objects and things > that are based upon a simple active engagement with the object. A simple, > plain, unadorned kind of experience. > It's very much about ourselves and our relation with things in this world > and achieves a sense that there is an aesthetic to an existence. It puts > forth the notion that one might live one's life as a work of art or as a > series of artful activities. > > Audience reaction? > Some of the pieces are very playful, so you can get a humorous response. > Some are very meditative. In "Nivea Cream" ... she scoops out a big blob > and massages her hands in front of a microphone. > The experience is so minimal that you become entranced. > > Has it seen its zenith? > It was much bigger in the '60s, when you had many of the artists engaged in > the activities. It's very hard to make a living doing Fluxus. > Fluxus Vegas events are free. Friday's lecture and performance will be from > 6 to 8 p.m. in Room A-108 of the Classroom Building Complex at UNLV. > Saturday's public conversation will be at 3 p.m. in the same room. > Kristen Peterson can be reached at 259-2317 or at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > -- > > -- Advertisment --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- > > ******Coming to Italy?***** > > TIM makes your phone "feel like home". > > http://pulse.ecircle-ag.com/re?l=o08fzI3abb0lI0 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- > > To unsubscribe from this group please click here: http://uk.domeus.com/public/unsubscribe.jsp?gid=328269&uid=25254117&mid=31475291&sig=CEPLEKJMCOPJEIPM > > The use of domeus is subject to eCircle AG's terms and conditions: http://www.domeus.co.uk/info/terms.jsp
