Fluxus Scores

While I was in Chicago I got to sit through three days of Fluxus performances (some of which I got to participate in) enacted in the main lobby area of museum. Here are a few scores they performed that they also handed out to the audience.

(click on images to view larger version)

What I realized most about the Fluxus performances was that a lot of them were just plain old fun. One thing I think I had forgotten about in all my attempts to locate my work in academia was "play." I forgot about playing - playing music, playing the stage, playing characters, etc.

I had some wonderful conversations with Nancy Tien - a former sculpture undergrad from UF who's now in the performance department at SAIC - about performing, play, trust, absurdity, and fun. It was really refreshing. The simplicity of the performances caught me off guard at first. I found myself thinking a lot of it was dumb...until I participated in a few of the performances. While some were more successful than others I found that the space of the gallery itself changed. The relationship between audience members that were willing to participate and those that weren't changed. The relationship between the artists and the audience members changed. And probably most important of all - it was all relatively accessible. I think more people (including myself) were more confused at times because of the absurdity of the performances and not because they were over intellectualized. They were simple and poignant. I enjoyed that about them.