art-solo.org, show #1, Interview with Ben Patterson and Fluxus Art Movement in Wiesbaden, Germany
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In 2012, Susanne Nielsen had the honor of meeting FLUXUS artist Ben Patterson in Wiesbaden, Germany. He had been living there and making art for years, was known by friends and neighbors, but this was the 50th anniversary year of the FLUXUS art movement and now, Patterson smiled, as his face was on every arts and cultural publication, one memorable one showing him jumping high in the sky, so he could no longer even go to the baker without being followed by adoring fans.
The quiet artist lived for a few more productive years until he passed away “as quietly as he had lived”, as his friend, fellow artist Spiegel with whom he shared a studio, told me, in 2016.
Ben Patterson met and sat down with Susanne Nielsen for an interview at the literary café at Villa Clementine for coffee and conversation about his life and art. Close by were a number of art exhibits that would commemorate FLUXUS and the city’s icon Patterson.
Please listen to the conversation in the audio portion ( LINK below) of the show.
Museum entrance for the Museum of the Subconcious, created by Ben Patterson
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Interview with Ben Patterson and Fluxus Art Movement in Wiesbaden, Germany
In 2012, I had the honor of meeting FLUXUS artist
Ben Patterson in Wiesbaden, Germany. He had been living there and making art
for years, was known by friends and neighbors, but this was the 50th
anniversary year of the FLUXUS art movement and now, Patterson smiled, as his
face was on every arts and cultural publication, one memorable one showing him
jumping high in the sky, so he could no longer even go to the baker without
being followed by adoring fans.
The quiet artist lived for a few more productive
years until he passed away “as quietly as he had lived”, as his friend, fellow
artist Spiegel with whom he shared a studio, told me, in 2016.
Ben Patterson met and sat down with me for an
interview at the literary café at Villa Clementine for coffee and conversation
about his life and art. Close by were a number of art exhibits that would
commemorate FLUXUS and the city’s icon Patterson. The movement officially began
in 1962 in Wiesbaden, Germany, with the performance piece of the deconstruction
of a grand piano. “Patterson was among a small group of outré artists,
including La Monte Young, John Cage, and Yoko Ono, who pushed music and
performance to profound, radical extremes.” (MoMA)
In 2012 this 1962 performance would be repeated to
great success with Patterson, as one of the artists participating, as he had in
1962.
Today on the sidewalk, in front of the Arts Council,
the “KunstVerein” Wiesbaden, is a monument, a brass plate, as he described, the
door to his museum of the Imagination, in typical Fluxus manner, leaving the
onlooker with questions.
An article in ART Papers recaps the life of Ben
Patterson and his art, from his early work in the FLUXUS movement, along with
artists like Yoko Ono, his Paper Piece, his Lick Piece to his many imaginative
work and collaborations where he used his musical training on the cello, and his
late collages and assemblages.
Exhibitions at the MoMA or Museum Wiesbaden honor
his creative spirit, in visual art and in music he broke quite a few barriers. After
graduation from the university of Michigan, he experienced early rejection from
an American orchestra, but “played with
various orchestral groups in Canada, including the Halifax Symphony Orchestra
and the Ottawa Philharmonic Orchestra (as principal bassist).”
He created opportunities for young musicians through
his work with New York’s Symphony of the New World, the first racially
integrated orchestra in the United States; the city’s Department of Cultural
Affairs; the Negro Ensemble Company; and the Pro Musicis Foundation, among
other organizations, before returning to his own art practice, and to Germany,
by 1989.
I very much
enjoyed speaking with him and bringing you our conversation.
I thank Ben Patterson for his lovely interview and
leave you with a final quote, found in the MoMA article which I encourage you
to read, along with ANDREW RUSSETH’s article in ART NEWS of June 27, 2016. Wonderfully the writer
describes Patterson’s early “Paper Piece” that was to be repeated in FLUXUS’
many performances with audience participation, by quoting “the young, classically
trained double bassist’s … instructions: of five performers to “shake, break,
tear, crumple, rumple, bumple, rub, scrub, twist, poof, and pop” various sheets
of paper.
Here is Ben Patterson’s quote:
“[O]ne of the nice things about being a Fluxus artist, [is] that you can do more or less anything you want and nobody says, ‘Oh, but you are a visual artist; why are you doing music?’” Benjamin Patterson
Please listen to the conversation in the audio portion ( LINK below) of the show.
Museum entrance for the Museum of the Subconcious, created by Ben Patterson
"He
found another talent in arts administration, creating opportunities for young
musicians through his work with New York’s Symphony of the New World, the first
racially integrated orchestra in the United States; the city’s Department of
Cultural Affairs; the Negro Ensemble Company; and the Pro Musicis Foundation,
among other organizations, before returning to his own art practice, and to
Germany, by 1989."
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Footnotes:
Originally
published in Among Others: Blackness at MoMA, ed. Darby English and Charlotte
Barat (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019)
Note:
Opening quote is from Patterson, Benjamin. Oral history interview with Benjamin
Patterson, 2009 May 22. Interview by Kathy Goncharov, May 22, 2009. Archives of
American Art. https://www.aaa.si.edu/download_pdf_transcript/ajax?record_id=edanmdm-AAADCD_oh_282777.
Ben
Patterson, Cornerstone of Fluxus and Experimental Art, Dies at 82, In
ART NEWS BY ANDREW RUSSETH, June 27, 2016 3:27pm
(MoMA)
Benjamin Patterson, American, 1934–2016
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