thanks for the responses people! here are some thoughts....
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> also went to the toronto panel discussion and it was a little of a let
>down for me too... felt like things went all over the place. didn't leave
>me with a better understanding of fluxus:undefinable...?
get the fluxus reader. dick higgins' writing is especially good.
the panel was not an acceptable introduction to fluxus. and the connection
of
dada, fluxus and so on to pop music sampling is weak at best. (it seems
like the power plant was merely trying to capitalise on beck's fame) yes,
john cage set a huge precedent for pop music by making the first musique
concrete piece and with all his work (and he had his influences too:
cowell, varese, russolo, shoenberg). but the avant garde is NOT rock and
roll. this is where terence failed in my opinion, however i did appreciate
his genuine interest and effort, and thought he was certainly the best
speaker and most familiar with the 'facts,' something i can't say for
michael snow (whose film wavelength is wonderful). (by the way,
terence said la monte young burned a violin but he didn't say it
was actually a piece by richard maxfield, performed by la monte young.)
also, i think the violin smashing piece is as wonderful
today as when originally performed.
an example of the kind of cross-over that i really like is sonic youth's
recent album 'goodbye 20th century' this is the conflation of two cultural
worlds, an honest negotiation of the high/low culture dichotomy, similar to
a central concern of fluxus and dada: the art/life dichotomy. don't get me
wrong, i like beck, i just think it's very commercial (and therefore
anti-fluxus) to conclude that a blood tie and some isomorphism between
assemblage and sound sampling constitutes some kind of artistic bond.
fluxus was avant garde, sook yin lee is not. i'm not uptight, hell i'm
willing to call tom green's humour avant garde, but because it's presented
as
humour we laugh, which is also important to fluxus and dada. my definition
of avant garde this: 'incomprehensible or incoherent to previous
perceptual habits'. it might make you laugh, but it probably won't make
you tap your foot (unless it's ken friedman's 'zen vaudville').
> what is a happening vs. a score?
a happening is the event itself, the score merely describes that potential
event. keep in mind that happening was a term used by allan kaprow, and is
not often used by fluxus artists, who tend to say 'event'. the dadaists,
cage, and joseph beuys are important precedents.
> did anyone stay for the music afterwards?
i was unable to, but the ccmc perform often.
incidentally, anyone in toronto interested in free improv should check out
the victory cafe (and bar) every other thursday.
the series, 'ulterior music,' is a great bunch of young, unique musicians.
i may be
performing there sometime in the future. the victory is in mirvish
village, on markham rd at the 1st intersection south of bloor.
> hey joshua let me know if do perform some pieces in t.o in the near
future...
will post on this list.
hey, i'm enjoying this discussion!
thanks all
HSOJ
