Day eighteen and nineteen: Fluxus!

With the Fluxus project I have found that the students have a better idea of what is going on if we spend a day or so talking about this kind of work before the projects are due. There are projects that I really do want them to go into blind and execute as best they can and then reflect on readings afterward. This, like the master narratives project, tends to work better the other way around. LaMonte Young’s randomized lecture always raises a number of good questions. Drawing a straight line, releasing a butterfly, building a fire all presented as “musical” ideas begs a number of interesting questions about sound. Beyond this it raises questions about the role of the “artist” or “composer” or “author.” Traditional artistic forms seem to want to clamp down on meaning in ways that the Fluxus stuff destroys. It really is right in line with what we have been discussing – more a refinement of ideas than new ideas. The role that indeterminacy has played in most of what we have discussed has been there, just not brought out until now. I am sure I made too big a deal out of it, but his straight line composition really is a foundational “drone” element in western music. Hard to imagine the last 50 some odd years without it.

I love the simplicity of the Fluxus stuff – and yet the pieces can be profoundly moving – it all depends on how they are interpreted. So – we looked at a few examples of pieces drawn from the fluxusworkbook. They all suggest a range of interpretive possibilities. The rest of the class period was left to talk about the implications of these pieces. What is the role of the “originator” of the piece? What is the role of the “interpreter”? Who ultimately “owns” it? Since the pieces are often designed to blur these boundaries you end up not asking these questions. This also allows for the question of concept art – ideas VS things. The fact of the matter is that just about every student on campus is trained to interpret texts in the same manner that the Fluxus pieces demand an interpretive approach. Rather than a play or screenplay, piece of music or choreography you have an idea. It is a genesis – a starting point – that can go in any number of directions. The difference is the level of control exerted by the starting point.

This is the whole point in having students create their own pieces. I typically don’t tell them that they won’t be performing them. So I have them write out three pieces – one sculptural, one musical, and one performative – without specifying which one – then we pool them and draw cards. In creating the piece students have an idea, an intention, a direction but that may or may not be seen by the person who now has the card. It is a simple way of giving up control. The students present/perform the pieces one at a time and only after the presentation do they read the card. The object is to create in the “composer” the role of watcher – of not knowing what will come next. For students trained to be specific in their choices this is often a different experience. But, it leaves room for surprises – for watching in a way that artists typically don’t watch their own work.

The last project was to be presented as an object or image – away from the creator – so they could reflect on it as others do. With these Fluxus pieces the work is taken completely away from the creator. The results are always interesting. The hard part is to make connections to arts training that is based in deliberate choices. I find the indeterminate quality liberating in that it often takes me to places I would not go otherwise. The same impulse behind using generative sound programs to create music. I need to follow this up with more examples so that the Fluxus state of mind doesn’t seem totally isolated. We will probably deal more specifically with generative art in the next class so that the examples of indeterminacy can be widened to include just about every artform. I suspect Eno will play a large role in that conversation. Having used this sequence last year it feels very different in this class primarily because of the timing – later in the term – as well as the growing list of terminology with which to address the ideas. Its hard to see what each project will become in advance. But that is the fun part. I get to watch along side of the students.