Thursday, October 6, 2016

Ken Friedman | Mandatory Happening



Ken Friedman
Mandatory Happening
New York City, USA: Fluxus, 1966
12 x 10.1 x 1.6 cm.
Edition prototype

Friedman developed the programs at Radio WRSB when he was a student at Shimer College in Mount Carroll, Illinois, which brought him into contact with Dick Higgins, the Something Else Press and Fluxus. It was at Shimer, were he created the score for Mandatory Happening.

The multiple was prioritized in Fluxus newsletters and advertised in correspondence to collectors, but beyond the above prototype, seemingly never produced. As late as 1972, Maciunas wrote to Dr. Hanns Sohm that the multiple was "not produced yet". 

The work, from the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection, now at the MoMA, featured an offset label designed and printed by George Maciunas, and a hand-typed piece of paper with the work's instructions:

You will, having looked at this page, either decide to read it or you will not. 

Having made your decision, the happening is now over. 

KF, 1966

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