I think each time I have taught this class this way the post
break material, though very useful, creates a kind of lull in the class. The
Lyotard, PM architecture, intro to Fluxus is all a bit more about listening
than doing or creating. I realize that it is at this point in the class where I
want students to make connections to the material we developed in the first
half of the term. One way of getting at that was having them write papers – yes
a clearly academic exercise, but one that allows for a kind of synthesis of elements
from the first half of the term as well as letting me gauge if everyone is
getting this stuff. I should have gone with my instinct on this an pulled out a
handful of statements that were beautiful in how they wrestled with postmodernism,
but I didn’t. So the first half which seems very student driven gives way to
the second half that seems more instructor driven. How to fix this? The
information and conversations around these ideas have been fine, but ultimately
feel a bit more like a traditional seminar. The antidote for this can be the Fluxus
material. I typically rely on this activity as a way of regaining the momentum
from the first half of the term and returning the class to the students.
I have often thought of having students write and share Fluxus
event scores (sentences or instructions on index cards) somewhat fool-proof. I have
seen this activity produce some really wonderful and beautiful work. And while
on a limited scale it did so today, we never really reached that crescendo of
activity that I have seen in the past. And I am trying to figure out why. The
number of students – doing this with 15 as opposed to 20 or 25 gives us fewer
cards to work with. The space? Here I thought about containing the students in
the center of the space but didn’t – so they, naturally, gravitated toward the periphery.
It is far too easy to perform from that space rather than take the space in the
center. Some did, and some did try to raise the energy level, but we kept
coming back to neutral.
That said, there were a number of really lovely pieces. Some
simple, some complex. The pieces that spread out in time more seemed to be the
most engaging. There is something about settling into time that has its own
affect. What I like most about this activity is that it tends to frame all
activity as if it is an answer to a Fluxus card. So, as one student drops his
coffee, walks across the room to get paper towels, cleans up the spill it
appears, even though he told us it wasn’t, as another activity to be watched.
This part I think the students got. So while the activities never really
reached that crescendo level the conversation about the pieces went well. Here,
tiring of the expanse of space between students I gathered everyone in the
center of the room. A valuable lesson. Too much space can be as dangerous as
too little.
My hope is to change our relationship to space by bringing
students to the library to look out the window and discuss Stein’s notion of
theatre as landscape. That then listen to some Reich the following class and
then on to the hypertext projects. I did ask them to look at everyday
activities as if people were executing a Fluxus prompt – so perhaps a few more
observations next class. We shall see.
