about Al Hansen:
As Eric alredy pointed out there are millions of stories about Al Hansen.
Unfortunately I was never able to meet him, because I am too young and I fear that I
am missing something. So here is what I found out anyway(correct me if anybody knows
it better!): It seems that Al had lots of friends in the flux-community and Al
observed things with a very clear mind in a very precise way. He was not only a good
performer but also a clear thinker. He was friends with lots of recognized artists of
the time, but unfortunatly never gained any wide recognition in the art world himself.
As for his coming to cologne in the 80s (his warme Pantoffel, as he used to say) it
might also have been for the political situation in the US. He said he wouldn�t return
to the US as long as Ronald Reagan is President, but maybe that was again one of his
stories...
Did he do minimalistic music? Well he was in the Cage-Class, but I don�t know what he
actually did... or do you mean that one:
"I wanted to push a piano off a high roof and record the sound of it hitting. This
became 'Yoko Ono Piano Drop'. Somehow pushing the piano off a high building seems to
me to be Happening/Event Art. And recording it and selling cassettes would be Fluxus."
One of his main-oevres is his exploring of the venus-figure. Al himself said, that his
working on the same theme for years has to do with zen-buddhism and that the main goal
is the repetition of a simple act. Explorig the same figure over and over just for the
experiment. He used all kinds of trash for these figures, from hershey-wrappers to
cigarette-butts that he�d collected, describing this work as alchemistic: turning
something ordinary in something special, guided by art rather than seeing himself as
an artist.
Heiko,
if you are based in Bonn (as I guessed from your URL) you might want to check out "Al
Hansen: Oevre/Flashbacks, Ausstellungskatalog, Kunstverein Rosenheim" which is at the
Kunsthistorisches Institut/Uni Bonn. Also you can talk to Galerie Berndt in K�ln
(www.berndt.de). I think they knew Al quite well. (I did some research on Al a couple
of months ago and they were very kind and helpful)
Heiko wrote:
> But Al etc were in that class. And he dropped out of the best job, when
> they all dropped out. How would you describe this process ? Why did he go
> to Cologne etc ?
>
> I dont have anything specific, I dont like all he did, but I saw some
> posters, he made, maybe some of the strongest pieces from the 60s.
> Theories on Happenings etc. Maybe naiv, but so were the 60s..
>
> Best, H.
>
> On Thu, 30 Nov 2000, Eric Andersen wrote:
>
> > Dear Heiko,
> >
> > I wasn't concerned about naming things. And didn't deal with what could
> > be called Fluxus or not. I objected to your statement that Fluxus
> > started in Cage classes. It certainly did not. And it certainly did not
> > originate in New York.
> >
> > About Al. Millions of stories can be told. Anything specific you want to
> > know?
> >
> > Eric
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
