Objects and Happenings

 In our everyday life, if someone is asked what contemporary art is, generally, they would think of some art installations, or some physical artwork. However, there's more to just physical arts and it's not just about the artists themselves. Sometimes, audience, ourselves play a big role in order for the contemporary art to be completed and what I am referring is the fluxus movement - the happenings.


   As simple as it sounds, happenings is something that happens, in the real time. It can be happened for a long period of time and artists usually use minimal events with maximum implications. The events/ happenings maybe some simple and short events. What I particularly like about this type of art movement is that it involves lots of direct audience participation. One example I found online from the website called the art story  is the artwork called Make a Salad (1962) by Alison Knowles. Just like the title, it involves audience members to make a salad by following the instructions by the artist, this is categorized as a happening but not just a follow-the-recipe-and-cook as it focuses more on the random sound created by the audience and also how certain sound is pre-scripted by the artists. It focuses on auditory component. I find this art so fascinating as it turns something that we usually do or see in everyday life to a whole new level into something more and lets us listen to something that we normally would not pay attention to. It also shows us how such small event can make us think more as an audience and this is what I believe would make happening successful.


   Another point I learned from class is "objects". Objects although seems so different from happenings for its tangible, yet, there are similarities between these two art movements. The main similarity is that both of them both provoke thoughts that is more than what you see or here. For example, for objects art, artists usually would change the function of objects, in order words, they would de-contextualize the objects such as a lobster on a phone. Things that doesn't seem to go together may create some symbol and it is for the audience's interpretation to understand what the artists are trying to say. I think this type of art is less interesting than the happenings as it involves less audience participation and sometimes it's hard to find out they symbolism behind the objects, yet, this type of art is also interesting for me as they also use the ordinary to create the extraordinary and I believe that is the essence of art.