Black Mountain College Re:Happening

Flyer

2009-11-01T11:14:00.004-05:00

Final Score

2009-11-01T11:05:00.002-05:00

Final Floor Plan

2009-10-30T13:08:00.001-04:00

Text for Program

2009-10-30T13:03:00.002-04:00

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.)

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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

2009-10-30T12:47:00.000-04:00

"Here is the Cage/Cummingham piece that features Merce's excellent rolling leap into the air."
-Miriam

Score

2009-10-30T03:18:00.004-04:00

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.

Process Photos

2009-10-30T01:45:00.017-04:00

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

Time and Location

2009-10-30T01:32:00.004-04:00

We're gearing up for the Black Mountain College Re:Happening and so far, the process has been exciting and remarkable for all of us. If you are in the Washington, D.C. area, please join us!

The Phillips Collection Café
1600 21st St., NW, Washington, DC 20009
Near 21st and Q Streets, NW

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

Floor Plan

2009-10-29T02:49:00.001-04:00

This is the floor plan the Black Mountain participants will be using to set up and execute the Re:Happening:

Greetings

2009-10-29T02:31:00.002-04:00

Below is the first draft of our text for the program of the Re:Happening

“Ideas are one thing and what happens is another.”

Welcome to the Center for the Study of Modern Art’s reinstatement of the celebrated first happening. Originally conceived by John Cage and performed at Black Mountain College in 1952, Theatre Piece No. 1 simultaneously brought together unrelated events in a single, multi-focus organization. The Black Mountain performance had no assignments or fictional characters, and integrated the performance with the audience space, allowing the performance to take place both in front and around the viewers. Theatre Piece No. 1 included readings by John Cage, M. C. Richards, and Charles Olson, a display of four of Rauschenberg’s all white paintings, 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.

Thanks to Maddy for creating this text.