My first memories of hearing about Fluxus and Happenings--I was
about ten--in 1963. Some friends who visited a lot from New York City
talked about it--my brother who was seven and I were fascinated--
"Happenings"--"Fluxus"--sounded like the amazing things one saw
continually as small child in small Vermont village--daily things of
startling import and awe inspiring magic--that were always in "flux" or
"happening all around us"--
Like the man who came into town with a bear strapped to his truck
crying --he hadn't
t realized he was so "blind drunk" that he had shot this instead of a
deer!--or farmers who painted "COW" on all their cows so hunters from out
of state wouldn't
t shoot them by mistake during hunting season--prompting the question--can
people from out of the state READ?--as they shot them anyway--
Or the woman who escaped from the mental institution and arrived
in our general stare stark naked, walked around for some hours fingering
items on the shelves and talking to the populace at large--as no one
bothered to call the police or any authority figure as was far too
interesting a Happening to interupt!
The same friends had talked about Concrete Poetry so my father had
an anthology--this was a bit later--which also prompted quite some
enthusiasm--on or part--we got hold of lot of concrete blocks from various
half hearted unfinished construction projects now sinking into weeds and
made "Concrete" Poems by arranging the blocks in the back yard--
Were "Pooh Sticks" Fluxus we wondered? How about the man down the
street who periodically hung an effigy of his wife from the top of the
barn fro passersby to see--and she retaliated ted by slaughtering his dog--
in front of a group of invited friends, before serving a picnic lunch in
the pasture?
Or the time my mother wanted to make us boudin (french-canadian
blood sausage)--and she was so revolted by the sight of twenty jars of pig
blood a friend began unloading from his station wagon--she vomited and
ordered us to dispose of it--
so we hauled over the the jars and spread them paint-like all over
a despised neighbor's field, writing obscenities in blood--and all the
dogs for miles around came and madly began howling and licking the blood
from the grass and rocks and stubble--
the police were called and stood there laughing and applauding the
ingenuity of the wrong doers--as they also disliked the fellow--
we thought this all might have something to do with Fluxus and
Happenings--
so used to produce plays in the junked car lot in a pasture, where
the chickens laid eggs in back seats of trashed Chevrolets smelling of old
afternoons, cum and beer, cigarettes--and cows hid out from thunderstorms
among rust
corroded trucks--
plays in which we had "vanishing events"--ie. burning things!--and
we'd sing worldess sound songs to the smoke carrying away the trash--
or invade the town dump with an 8mm movie camera to film our idea
of Rimbaud's A SEASON IN HELL--
we had our friends bring up things from NYC about Fluxus and
Happenings--also of great interest were the journals EAST
VILLAGE OTHER
and Ed Sanders' FUCK YOU A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS--
all this was before went to live in France in 67-68, 69 and
'70--and discovered "action art" i.e. making bombs and grafitti--
posters and begin learning about the Paris Commune, Rimbaud, "les
petroleuses" (women incendiaries of the Commune)--
Situationism, Anarchism--
the only Flux person met in person--besides Dick Higgins in
97--was
Nam June Paik--audited a course he taught at MIT in the late '70's--
to me the great movements of the 20th century--beginning with
Futurism in Italy, then Russia, Cubist use of collage, Dada, (Schwitters i
think kind of the one artist one might say so many art forms in so many
media radiate outwards from--)--early modernism of William Carlos Williams'
SPRING AND ALL in america--in all of these what is important and is to
me in Fluxus--is th use of everyday materials, that art and life not
seperate--
and that things though they may be in Flux, are also concrete--
from the material world of the senses, not solely "conceptual"
"theoretical"
i like Fluxlist as only list I know of where we actually get
together and MAKE things, events, contacts, virtual sites, happenings as
well as materialized ones--not just talking "about", but making--
doing, living--
"What is not in the open street is false, derived, that is to say,
literature"
--Henry Miller "The 14th Ward" in BLACK SPRING
the only actual Fluxus dpcument i have left from back then is
'THIS IS A FLUXUS ADVERTISMENT"
wrap around cover strip for the Fall 1963 issue of FILM
CULTURE--corrugated carboard cover with a round hole in it so one eye of
Stan Brakhage peers out in silver--the whole issue is METPHORS ON VISION
by Brakhage
the Fluxus advertisment is for works available from Fluxus 1963
Edtions--includes V TRE magazine edited by George Brecht, works by
Vautier, Knowles, Watts, Nam June Paik, Chieko Shiomi. Spoerri and
Francois Dufresne, E. Williams, Filliou, Patterson, Higgins, Flynt, La
Monte Young, Ayo, Takehisa Kosugi--
so my knowledge of Fluxus history very sketchy to say the
least--never even heard of Beuys until years later--was more something
inspiring to make things--and keep one busy and having a grand old time--
was a huge shcok to see Conceptual Art exhibits in NYC in the
Seventies--a piece of string hanging on wall--with an explanation about it
on six foot high scroll--
reminded me of those mangled-all-the-same COWs painted words
lying keeled over in pastures, shot by some person--and made one wonder--
can people from out of state READ?--apparently when they had
learned to--they forgot how to make things!
"stringing up" "art" with accompanying "documents"--reminded one
of an
execution by implacable Legal Authorities!
which led to interest ever more in writing--as mysterious
activity--
i.e.--what is legible?--in relation with what is visible?--and
sounded out? and acted out?--
no barriers among any of them--leads to Visual Poetry--
probably oldest art form yet so much also part of modern world
since its "official" appearance with Mallarme's "Un Coup de des"--
to this day find the quiet Schwitters far more daily inspration
when out finding things in the street for works--than more bombastic
Beuys--
still, Schwitters could also make some mighty sounds--Sound
Poetry--the Ur-Sonate!--
and greatly inspired by the art/social action of Clemente Padin
and Luc Fierens, who just joined this list--
--david baptiste chirot
