Idea, Score, Process, Object

This exhibition spotlights scores in three modalities: action, text/ephemera, and archive, centering on instructional pieces by original Fluxus artist Ken Friedman.

This exhibition spotlights scores, an artistic form that inspired the school’s attention practices and Attensity! Manifesto, in three modalities: action, text/ephemera, and archive. Centering on instructional pieces by original Fluxus artist Ken Friedman—one of which was specially created for the exhibition—alongside The Scores Project archive and ephemera from historical artists, we ask how scores continue to shift our everyday relationship to space and time as they circulate through institutional, commercial, and personal networks. Ken Friedman introduces a new piece, Not by Carl Andre (2025), a protocol inspired by a question he posed in “The Belgrade Text” (1990) on what can be considered an original “piece” by minimalist artist Carl Andre (1934-2024): what would happen if Andre’s assistant replicated his brick installation with a different set of bricks, and a collector unknowingly acquired the assistant’s version? Now in material form, the brick sculpture at SoRA that is indeed “not by Carl Andre” magnifies the strange dilemma of intentionality in art, and hints at alternative ways of defining artistic experience both for artists and audiences. Also on view is Friedman’s Rotterdam Exchange (1986), open for audience participation during the school’s open hours and DUMBO Open Studios on April 18 and 19, 1-6pm. We also present The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975 courtesy of author and researcher Natilee Harren, a publication she co-edited that offers a comprehensive view of the interdisciplinary experimental practices that exploded in the 1960s by pairing notations with scholarly essays and documentation of their performances. Displayed alongside physical ephemera from George Maciunas, Daniel Spoerri, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, Allan Kaprow, Ben Vautier, Philip Corner & Sean Miller, and Walker Art Center, that can be seen, listened, and grown (Spoerri) anywhere, we encourage viewers to compare different paths through which score-based works may circulate.

What to expect:
Audio / Sound, Sculpture, Mixed media, Multi-disciplinary, Installation