Ben Davis of ArtNet writes about Tino Sehgal.  Good piece to be read in conjunction with the more general NY Times article from 2009 and the one from 2007.

Photos For Tino – artnet Magazine

“Artist Mai Ueda invites a selection of her friends–musicians, fashion designers, and artists–to perform, dine and play music at the same time. A not-to-missed neo-fluxus event that will recall the Fluxus Dumpling dinner staged by Maciunas in 1971 in SoHo.”

Emily Harvey Foundation
537 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Saturday, November 14 7:00pm
FREE

via Performa

This massive anthology collects scripts in the form of notes, instructions, drawings, graphs, charts, and more from artists of varied backgrounds and styles whose shared interest is in the performative. With contributions from Marina and Ulay Abramovic, George Brecht, John Cage, Peter Frank, Philip Glass, Dan Graham, the Living Theater, Claes Oldenburg, Rachel Rosenthal, Gertrude Stein, and Robert Wilson to name only a few. Over 700 pages.

PrintedMatter.org

For those that missed it or those who want to relive the magic, you can see FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21 above in time-lapse.  To see the regular speed version go to:

http://vimeo.com/3380253

Photos here

FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21 was a two-evening performance of historic Fluxus event scores written by Fluxus pioneer George Brecht.

The show presented more than 30 historic performance scripts over the course of two nights written by George Brecht between 1959 and 1966 – many rarely seen in the United States. Brecht introduced the concept of the event score: a performance script that is usually only a few lines long consisting of descriptions of actions to be performed rather than dialogue.

In tribute to Brecht’s recent passing, the evening’s show breathed new life into these historic scripts ranging from early seminal pieces (Drip Music, Word Event) from his artist book “Water Yam” to later collaborative endeavors with Robert Filliou from their publication “Games at the Cedilla.”

Following were three examples composed by Brecht and were performed in the show:

Drip Music (1959)
For single or multiple performance. A source of dripping water and an empty vessel are arranged so that the water falls into the vessel.

Three Aqueous Events (1961)
ice
water
steam

For a Drummer, Fluxversion 2 (1966)
Performer drums with sticks over a leaking feather pillow making the feathers escape the pillow.

FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21 was performed by Anthony P. Clune, Andrew Dickerson, Ryan Anthony Donaldson, Perry Garvin, Joseph Gross, Rick Herron, Ben Kerrick, Joshua Rubin, and Ethan Wagner. Organized and conducted by Perry Garvin.

Be sure to come to FLUXCONCERT 200920-21, a performance of George Brecht’s event scores that I’ve organized on Friday and Saturday Feb. 20 and 21, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY.  It’ll be a blast!

February 20 & 21, 2009 | 8:00PM
Triskelion Arts
118 North 11th St., 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY
$10 | Email info@triskelionarts.org to reserve tickets (highly recommended as seating is very limited)

FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21 is a two-evening performance of historic Fluxus event scores written by Fluxus pioneer George Brecht.

The show will present more than 30 historic performance scripts over the course of two nights written by George Brecht between 1959 and 1966 – many rarely seen in the United States. Brecht introduced the concept of the event score: a performance script that is usually only a few lines long consisting of descriptions of actions to be performed rather than dialogue.

In tribute to Brecht’s recent passing, the evening’s show will breathe new life into these historic scripts ranging from early seminal pieces (Drip Music, Word Event) from his artist book “Water Yam” to later collaborative endeavors with Robert Filliou from their publication “Games at the Cedilla.”

Following are three examples composed by Brecht and to be performed in the show:

Drip Music (1959)
For single or multiple performance. A source of dripping water and an empty vessel are arranged so that the water falls into the vessel.

Three Aqueous Events (1961)
ice
water
steam

For a Drummer, Fluxversion 2 (1966)
Performer drums with sticks over a leaking feather pillow making the feathers escape the pillow.

FLUXCONCERT 20090220-21 is performed by Anthony P. Clune, Andrew Dickerson, Ryan Anthony Donaldson, Perry Garvin, Joseph Gross, Rick Herron, Ben Kerrick, Joshua Rubin, and Ethan Wagner. Organized and conducted by Perry Garvin.

Top photograph: George Brecht, still from Entrance to Exit, 1965.

“We will stay together for one year and never be alone. We will be in the same room at the same time, when we are inside. We will be tied together at the waist with an 8 foot rope. We will never touch each other during the year.”  Artist Tehching Hsieh performed this piece with Linda Montano for the work Art/Life One Year Performance 1983-1984.

Other one-year performances included him living outside for a year, living in solitary confinement, and – one of my favorites – living without making, referring to, or talking about art.  All for durations of one year.  All with statements announcing his intentions.

See John Perrault’s Artopia post for more.

Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964

There’s a performance of Fluxus event scores this coming Thursday, October 22, 2008 at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn.  I’ll be in the audience eagerly watching.  Join me, will you?  Info here:

Issue Project Room
232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor
Thursday, October 23 at 8:00 pm

Fluxus scores interpreted by Bradley Eros, Lary 7 and others
Tony Conrad: 3 Loops for Performers and Tape Recorders (1961) interpreted by Lary 7
Yoko Ono: Cut Piece (1964) interpreted by Bradley Eros
Nam June Paik: Concerto for TV Cello and Videotapes (1971) interp. by M.V. Carbon
Emmett Williams: Duet for Performer and Audience (1961) interpreted by Ryan Tracy
Other performances TBA

Bradley Eros’s art practice includes expanded cinema, sound collage, performance, photography, writing, curating, mediamystics, subterranean science, and archival investigation. He is the co-founder of the Robert/a Beck Memorial Cinema and has presented work at the Whitney, MoMA, The Kitchen, Millennium, and Anthology Film Archives among countless others.

Lary 7 is an audio explorer using self-invented sound-producing objects involving the detritus of the twentieth century. He founded the Analog Society and was co-founder of the legendary Directart Productions Ltd. He has released work on Touch, Diskono, Ectoplasm, and his own Plastikville and Plastiktray imprints.

M.V. Carbon is a cellist, composer and improviser who plays and sings through tape loops, pedals and circuits. She occasionally incorporates film imagery into her performances. She is part of the electronic duo, Metalux. Her work has been released on 5RC, Load, No-Fi, and Atavistic, among others.

Ryan Tracy is a composer, writer, and performer with degrees in conducting and composition. He has fulfilled residencies at Yaddo and The Edward Albee Foundation. He is the founder of Collective Opera Company and blogs at CounterCritic.com.

Presented in part by Experimental Television Center’s Presentation Funds program, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts

Video of FLUXCONCERT 20080925-27: five overlapping performances in rumination on love, loss, and human bonding.

This Friday and Saturday is FLUXCONCERT 20080925-27, an instruction-based performance that I wrote and directed.

September 26 & 27, 2008 | 8PM
Abrons Arts Center (directions)
466 Grand St., New York, NY (map)
$10 – RESERVE TICKETS NOW

Five simultaneous instruction-based performances overlap and weave together to develop an oblique exploration of love, loss, and the ambiguities of human bonding.

A total of 71 performances occur simultaneously in 48 minutes, overlapping according to the following structure:

- An action occurs every 1 minute for a total of 48
- An action occurs every 3 minutes for a total of 16
- An action occurs every 12 minutes for a total of 4
- An action occurs every 24 minutes for a total of 2
- An action occurs every 48 minutes for a total of 1

Each action is different, generated according to concise textual instructions. Each of the five performances develops individually and in aggregate to present a quasi-narrative rumination on human emotion.

The performance draws on the legacies of Fluxus event scores and Conceptual Art to generate an evening of ambiguity, improvisation, and absurdist performance.

FLUXCONCERT 20080925-27 will be accompanied by a collectible poster-sized program designed by David Rager graphically articulating each performance action and explaining the overall structure guiding the show.

FLUXCONCERT 20080925-27 is performed by Anthony P. Clune, Ryan Anthony Donaldson, Joseph Gross, Rick Herron, Ben Kerrick, Paul Moreno, and Ethan Wagner. Written and directed by Perry Garvin.

I started FLUXCONCERT in 2007 with the mission of presenting instruction-based performance work.

We had our second official show on June 13, 2008: FLUXCONCERT 20080613, an instruction-based musical performance in 13 movements.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the show you can now watch the full 40 minute piece or download the audio CD.  Enjoy!

I’m pleased to see another group put on a Flux Concert.  This one was in England on June 27, 2008.  Differing from my group, FLUXCONCERT in America, their venue was a church and presented more of a performative installation than a straight ahead performance.

Good photos but I wish they had video.

More here