11/30

The reading that captured my interest the most was “The Happenings Are Dead: Long Live The Happenings.” Remaining “underground” is a very important idea to artists because overexposure was seen as death. The artists want the events to remain brief and unrehearsed. I thought this was an interesting idea. It seems like the artists find that the most valuable works are the ones that few people have witnessed or have been involved with. Most other artists seem to have the opposite belief; the more famous the work is, the more value it has. The Happenings are very unconventional and do not always happen within a single “performance space” such as a single canvas for a painting. The works need to take up multiple, expansive spaces to provide freedom with minimal limitations to the artist. It is very counterintuitive that these artists desire minimal exposure.