Students make music from scratch with Fluxus

A bottle of Nivea lotion is not a musical instrument.

But tonight, it will be central to a performance at the Student Artery that highlights the musicality of everyday objects.

Students in David Colagiovanni’s first year seminar, “Artist and Site,” will be performing a “FluxConcert” to display what they’ve learned thus far.

The FluxConcert is co-sponsored by the Artery and the UNC Department of Art

Fluxus — from which the FluxConcert evolved — is an art movement that blends the boundaries between art, music and everyday objects. It began in the 1960s by students of experimentalist composer John Cage.

Fluxus event scores, like scripts, give the performers simple tasks from which unconventional music is created. They tend to be simple verbal instructions and can be as short as one word, Colagiovanni said.

One of the most famous FluxConcert’s is Yoko Ono’s “Grapefruit.”

At one point, Ono instructs: “Hit a wall with your head.”

“It’s like recipes for making a performance,” Colagiovanni said. “They’re all different.”

Students will perform their own Fluxus event scores, as well as those composed by originators of the movement in the 60s.

This is the first FluxConcert put on by the art department, Colagiovanni said.

Students have been studying Fluxus and composing their own scores since the beginning of the semester.

Though only one student knew of Fluxus at the start of the class, now, most all are almost hyperaware of it, the students said.

“Once you start writing your own score, you hear music everywhere,” said Margrethe Williams, a student in the class.

Colagiovanni said he chose to incorporate Fluxus into his curriculum because it highlights the ubiquity of art.

“Through Fluxus, students realize they can make art out of anything,” he said.

The FluxConcert will involve a lot of audience participation, Williams said.

Another student in the class, Edgar Harrell, said he expected it to be an interesting experience for audience members.

“The audience will get more and more confused, and then you get it,” Harrell said. “It defies expectations, every time.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.