Early life Robert Watts (artist)

1 life

1.1 yam festival
1.2 casual event (1962)
1.3 fluxus

early life

black eggs, 1964, piece included @ american supermarket exhibition @ new york s bianchini gallery. piece in national gallery of art, washington

after earning degree in mechanical engineering @ university of louisville, watts served officer in united states navy aboard aircraft carriers. watts left navy , moved new york in 1948, studied art @ art students league , later @ columbia university gained degree in history of art, majoring in pre-columbian , non-western art. after becoming professor of art @ douglass college, rutgers university, 1953, started exhibit works in proto-pop style. participated in pop art shows such new forms, new media exhibition in 1960 @ martha jackson s gallery; popular image exhibition @ washington gallery of art in 1963; , 1964 american supermarket exhibition @ new york s bianchini gallery, featured andy warhol, claes oldenburg , tom wesselmann. after exhibiting @ leo castelli s gallery in 1964, watts turned on gallery system, , concentrated instead on anti-art of emerging new york avant-garde centred around george maciunas.

[his] work related of pop artists had discovered few years before...watts chromed objects closely related johns cast beer cans , flashlights, instance. 1964 exhibition included watts sculpture of plaster cast loaves of bread on shelves. work, in particular, think of 1 of important inventions. m particularly fond of chrome eggs , egg carton in own collection appear in [posthumous] show. public surprised artist -so promising @ such date- did not receive through years appreciation deserved. leo castelli

the yam festival

lantern event; aspect of yam festival, 1962, mail art piece robert watts , george brecht; coloured paper scores watts.

watts met artist , chemist george brecht in 1957 after latter saw exhibition of watts work , sought acquaintance; 2 meet lunch every week, kaprow joining them, number of years discuss art , plan joint exhibitions. 1 of famous proto-fluxus yam festival (1962–3), used mail-art build expectations month-long series of happenings, performances , exhibitions @ rutgers, new york city , george segal s farm in new jersey. participating artists included alison knowles, ay-o, al hansen, ray johnson, john cage, , dick higgins. events ran parallel george maciunas fluxus festivals in europe (sept 1962-early 1963) -which had performed of watts event scores in düsseldorf- , 2 events officially joined when maciunas published brecht s event scores water yam, first of flux boxes published. watts own flux collection, robert watts events published year later , brought many of mail art event scores had been used publicise yam festival.

consider yam lecture chain of events arranged in such way sequence quite random, no performance other, changing performers, costumers, actions, sounds, words, images, , on. structure such flexible (nearly non-existent) , permits inclusion of 1 wished , possible future changes. loose , open thing. audience puts way wishes or not @ all.

similar ideas @ work in yam festival george brecht , carried out last year. in effect mailing audience, randomly chosen, of assortment of things. event cards similar above; others objects, food, pencils, soap, photos, actions, words, facts, statements, declarations, puzzles, etc. ones subscription. 1 might way of working way or manner of calling attention 1 wishes talk about; or way of talking it. or way hold scrutiny range of material ordinarily not directly useful art or has not yet been considered. robert watts, quoted in times literary supplement, 1964

one example of watts event scores around point casual event;

casual event (1962)

—drive car filling station

—inflate right front tire

—continue inflate until tire blows out

—change tire*

—drive home

—*if car newer model drive home on blown out tire

according henry flynt, maciunas [begged] watts not continue yam separately fluxus. maciunas desperate unite whole post-cage movement under command.

fluxus

a number of versions of flux timekit, 1967, robert watts, collecting objects exist in different time scales.

watts friendship maciunas cemented when latter confined hospital bed throughout may 1963. cheer him up, watts sent him hospital events (see [1]). maciunas enjoyed piece published fluxbox; many of watts contemporary event cards subsequently included in fluxus 1, 1963, maciunas first year box compiling works members of international avant-garde.

must have been alison knowles called me [george maciunas] in bad shape asthma in air force hospital in germany , needed or @ least encouragement.... decided send entertainment, stuck pistol caps on of old photos italian magazine of wwi vintage. remember there photo of priest blessing propeller of italian air force fighter plane. idea put photo on anvil , hit front hammer until caps exploded. later gm said got big kick out of procedure, since after exploded caps, set photos remains locals continue destruction.... said people beat shit out of photos until there nothing left fuzz. robert watts, 1980

over years watts contributed number of works fluxus including flux atlas, collection of rocks different countries, , flux timekit, series of boxes housed objects existed in different time scales, such seeds planted, time-lapsed photo of speeding bullet , pocket watch. set implosions inc. maciunas mass-produce novelty items, , helped run flux housing co-operative, artist-run scheme held responsible rehabilitation , gentrification of soho, offering cheap loft spaces artists throughout sixties , seventies. watts himself first resident of first working flux co-op @ 80 wooster street. jonas mekas cinematheque , maciunas apartment housed in same building became central fluxus loft . took part in notorious flux mass, , 1 of few original artists apart maciunas himself have neither distanced himself movement, nor have been expelled.