Firstly, I really wish Allen that you'd looked at the results but then again
I see the point of not looking.
Owen asked:
>As a side question do you think that if Alison had done the same event
do you think that it would have been seen differently or would the
reactions still have been the same? (and if so what might this tell us
of the nature and perception of performance art. . . . ?)<
I think this is a very interesting question that you have posed. Last night
I was listening to the CD of RayBeingRay that came with that Lightworks
issue. It's lots of snippets of Ray talking about work, life etc. but
there's one recording of Ray trying to get someone to join the New York
Correspondence School at a Gallery...clearly from the recording the woman
Ray is trying to persuade thinks he's some kind of nutter until Ray mentions
that they have his book in the bookshop. So basically there was this need to
justify himself as an artist otherwise the woman wouldn't have taken him
seriously:
I think that in a room filled with so many people who are making their
living from Fluxus art Allen is not going to be perceived as a performer in
the same way as Alison is. So when Allen hands out questionnaires people
will not view it as a performance unless told that it is such.
Next time Allen why not distribute
"a survey to assess the assertion that "All the authentic Fluxlist artists
consider Eric Andersen to be a truly absurd parody." " ;-)
cheers,
Sol
