5. Happening, Land Art, Fluxus, Institutional Critique

Question 1

HAPPENING - Basic Traits

Answer 1

• Term coined by Allan Kaprow.
• A live event that combines element of painting, theatre, poetry, music, dance etc.
• A real-life situation triggered by an artist.
• The barrier separating performers and audience collapses.
• Never repeated.
• Cooperative, interactive, participatory, multimedia.
• Typically took place within an environment or installation.
• Influenced by Futurist and Dada performance and idea of art into life.
• Connections and exchanges with coeval movement such as Pop Art and Fluxus.
• Major figures: Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine.

Question 2

FLUXUS - BASIC TRAITS

Answer 2

• Term coined by George Maciunas.
• International movement.
• Produced events, performances, objects.
• Emphasis on process over the artistic product.
• Satirical look at “high art”.
• Production of multiples as a more democratic form of art.
• Interactive dimension aimed at involving the viewer.
• Begun in New York with events in the artists’ lofts, alternative galleries, cafes.
• Major figures: Dick Higgins, George Maciunas, Yoko Ono, La Monte Young.

Question 3

HANS HAACKE AND DANIEL BUREN

1960s–1970s

Answer 3

• Hans Haacke, a German-born artist who lives and works in New York City. Haacke is considered a “leading exponent” of Institutional Critique.
• Daniel Buren, a french artist, the writer of “Functions of the Museum”

Question 4

3 ROLES/FUNCTIONS

Answer 4

The museum has 3 roles:
– Aesthetic
– Economic
– Mystical

The museum has 3 functions:
– Preservation
– Collection
– Refuge

Question 5

Yves Klein

Question 6

The Artist as Subject Matter (1960s-1970s)

Question 7

The Exhibition as Subject Matter (1960s-1970s)

Question 8

LAND ART

Answer 8

• Art movement diffused mainly in US and UK.
• Based on the use of the natural landscape to create site-specific works.
• Rejection of art institutions and the market.
• Ecological dimension.
• Land Art projects also called Earthworks.
• References to geology, astronomy, physics.
• Use of natural materials available on the site: stones, water, gravel, and soil.
• Offshoot of the wider Conceptual Art Movement.
• Similarities with Minimalism in terms of primary shapes and scale.
• Similarities with Arte Povera for the use of natural materials.