01 November 2009
30 October 2009
Text for Program
Below is the text for the event program. Miriam has revised the excellent text that Maddy composed and then added some necessary details (title, time, date, acknowledgments, etc.)
-------------
Re:Happening
The Phillips Collection Café
In conjunction with This is not that café series
November 5, 2009
6:30-7:15pm
“Ideas are one thing and what happens is another.”
- John Cage
Organized and performed by students from the Phillips’s Center for the Study of Modern Art, Re:Happening is a recreation of the legendary Theater Piece No. 1, which was orginally staged at Black Mountain College in 1952. Generally considered to be the first “happening,” Theatre Piece No. 1 simultaneously brought together music, dance, poetry, painting, photography and film into a single, multi-focus event. Conceived by the American avant-garde composer, John Cage, the piece was arranged according to a simple “score” that alotted each performer a set duration of time in which to perform. Outside of the score and the arrangement of props, nothing was pre-prescribed. Arranged as theatre-in-the-round, the performance took place both in front and around the viewers with the intent of integrating audience and performance. Theatre Piece No. 1 included readings by John Cage, M. C. Richards, and Charles Olson, a display of four Robert Rauschenberg White Paintings and one Franz Klien painting, projections of movies and still pictures by Tim LaFarge and Nick Cernovich, music on a prepared piano by David Tudor, and dancing by Merce Cunningham. Rooted in chance as a legitimate method of composition, Cage’s Theatre Piece No. 1 freed its performers to decide and develop their individual roles within its strict compartments of time.
Re:Happening grew out of a seminar on the legacy of Black Mountain College on the American avant-garde. This influential college that was located in Ashville, NC, operating from 1933-1956, treated art as central to liberal arts education and was a hotbead for new ideas in American art.
Learn More:
www.bmcrehappening.blogspot.com
Acknowledgements:
Our sincerest gratitude goes to everyone who helped to bring this project to fruition, with special thanks to Vesela Sretenovic for her support and creativity; Megan Kuck for amiably helping with coordination; Mark Weiner for technical assistance; Alec MacKaye, Shelly Wischhusen, and Bill Kolberg for answering all of our off-the-wall questions about spatial and material concerns; On the Fly Café for generously sharing their space; and Prof. Hannah Higgins for her encouragement and thought-provoking dialogue.
-------------
Re:Happening
The Phillips Collection Café
In conjunction with This is not that café series
November 5, 2009
6:30-7:15pm
“Ideas are one thing and what happens is another.”
- John Cage
Organized and performed by students from the Phillips’s Center for the Study of Modern Art, Re:Happening is a recreation of the legendary Theater Piece No. 1, which was orginally staged at Black Mountain College in 1952. Generally considered to be the first “happening,” Theatre Piece No. 1 simultaneously brought together music, dance, poetry, painting, photography and film into a single, multi-focus event. Conceived by the American avant-garde composer, John Cage, the piece was arranged according to a simple “score” that alotted each performer a set duration of time in which to perform. Outside of the score and the arrangement of props, nothing was pre-prescribed. Arranged as theatre-in-the-round, the performance took place both in front and around the viewers with the intent of integrating audience and performance. Theatre Piece No. 1 included readings by John Cage, M. C. Richards, and Charles Olson, a display of four Robert Rauschenberg White Paintings and one Franz Klien painting, projections of movies and still pictures by Tim LaFarge and Nick Cernovich, music on a prepared piano by David Tudor, and dancing by Merce Cunningham. Rooted in chance as a legitimate method of composition, Cage’s Theatre Piece No. 1 freed its performers to decide and develop their individual roles within its strict compartments of time.
Re:Happening grew out of a seminar on the legacy of Black Mountain College on the American avant-garde. This influential college that was located in Ashville, NC, operating from 1933-1956, treated art as central to liberal arts education and was a hotbead for new ideas in American art.
Learn More:
www.bmcrehappening.blogspot.com
Acknowledgements:
Our sincerest gratitude goes to everyone who helped to bring this project to fruition, with special thanks to Vesela Sretenovic for her support and creativity; Megan Kuck for amiably helping with coordination; Mark Weiner for technical assistance; Alec MacKaye, Shelly Wischhusen, and Bill Kolberg for answering all of our off-the-wall questions about spatial and material concerns; On the Fly Café for generously sharing their space; and Prof. Hannah Higgins for her encouragement and thought-provoking dialogue.
Cage/Cunningham
"Here is the Cage/Cummingham piece that features Merce's excellent rolling leap into the air."
-Miriam
Score
Below is an excel print screen of the score the Black Mountain seminar students will be following during the performance.
Thanks to Jess D., and Renwick for producing this fantastic colorful score!
"Also, there is a great film on Cage on Ubu Web:
John Cage :: Works and Interviews
It's a mixture of performances of some of his works and interviews with Cage. I found it really helpful in considering the rhythm of his pieces and for our event. At about the 15 minute mark, there is an actual illustration of the how Cage prepared a piano using screws and other materials..."
-Theresa C.
Thanks to Jess D., and Renwick for producing this fantastic colorful score!
"Also, there is a great film on Cage on Ubu Web:
John Cage :: Works and Interviews
It's a mixture of performances of some of his works and interviews with Cage. I found it really helpful in considering the rhythm of his pieces and for our event. At about the 15 minute mark, there is an actual illustration of the how Cage prepared a piano using screws and other materials..."
-Theresa C.
Process Photos
Below is a sampling of photos from our work in progress. For those of you who are interested, a Flickr account has been created to archive the photos more extensively:
BMC Re:Happening Flikr
BMC Re:Happening Flikr
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)