Fluxus won’t sit still and behave itself. Consequently, it is difficult to define what exactly Fluxus was, is, and will be. But, true to the term, it’s an art movement that keeps moving. The like-minded international community of subversive creators was named in the 1960s and embraces such avant-luminaries as John Cage and Yoko Ono.
In celebration of the 33rd anniversary of Woodland Pattern Book Center, Riverwest’s purveyor of small press publications, Fluxus-associated artist Alison Knowles will perform at the Milwaukee Art Museum (700 N. Art Museum Drive) on Friday, Nov. 8. Local artists will assist with the performance pieces, wherein, for example, they will be conducted in a symphony scored for rustling newspapers. Or, in the piece Shuffle, the artists simply shuffle about the performance space. Knowles explores the delights often overlooked in our engagement with simple objects and our performance of mundane activities. Her art is a cure for ennui.
The 2013 Anniversary Gala also includes a reception with a silent auction of items from local artists and organizations, an awards presentation to Gala Honorees, and a discussion with Alison Knowles. Tickets can be procured online for as little as $20.
“Endure: Ballet in the Mud”
Hanson Dodge Creative
220 E. Buffalo St.
That a “leisurely” pastime like cycling could be embroiled in a doping scandal makes more sense after viewing the photography from “Endure: Ballet in the Mud,” an exhibition of images from the 2013 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship. Considering the event took place in the grueling January conditions of Verona, Wis., the pervasive theme of mud-splattered grimaces is appropriate. Set against the stark beauty of wintery Wisconsin landscapes, this testament to human hardiness will be displayed Nov. 7, 2013 through Feb. 28, 2014.
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“Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography, War, and the Holocaust”
UW-Milwaukee Golda Meir Library
2311 E. Hartford Ave.
Charlie Chaplin claimed he never would have made his 1940 satire of Nazism, The Great Dictator, had he known the gruesome extent of their crimes against humanity. But it would be another two years before Jewish photographs from Soviet Russia became the first documentarians of newly liberated areas. Professor David Shneer has written a book on the individuals who chronicled the fresh devastation. In his free lecture, “Through Soviet Jewish Eyes: Photography, War, and the Holocaust” (Sunday, Nov. 10, 5 p.m.), Shneer will discuss and display their poignant images.
